VOA常速英语2014--Kerry: Tunisia's New Constitution is Model for Arab World 克里表示突尼斯新宪法是阿拉伯世界楷模

 

Kerry: Tunisia's New Constitution is Model for Arab World 克里表示突尼斯新宪法是阿拉伯世界楷模

TUNIS — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Tunisia's new constitution is a model for political reform in the Arab world. Kerry made an unannounced visit as part of a trip to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

突尼斯 — 美国国务卿克里说，突尼斯新宪法是阿拉伯世界政治改革的楷模。突尼斯是克里这次亚洲、中东和欧洲行程中未经宣布的一站。

Secretary Kerry said he was in Tunisia to show Washington's support for this young democracy.

克里说， 他访问突尼斯是要显示美国对这个年轻民主国家的支持。

"The Tunisian people have ratified¹ a new constitution, a constitution that is rooted in democratic principles - equality, freedom, security, economic opportunity, and the rule of law. And it is a constitution that can serve as a model for others in the region and around the world," he said.

美国国务卿克里說： “我们将提供更多的援助，我们正同突尼斯进行战略对话。那些是重要的声明，我们认为做出这些声明以及就突尼斯新宪法向突尼斯人民祝贺是非常重要的。”

As the birthplace of the so-called Arab Spring uprisings, Tunisia remained a powerful symbol, said Oxford² University researcher Monica Marks in an interview on Skype.

牛津大学的研究人员莫妮卡.马克斯通过SKYPE接受访问的时候说，作为所谓的阿拉伯之春起义的发源地，突尼斯仍然是一个强有力的象征。

"Tunisia is the country in the region that has the greatest chance of succeeding with its revolution. And if it fails, it’s going to be very difficult for democratically-minded reformers and revolutionary thinkers to stay inspired, to keep up the hope. Because if we look elsewhere in the region - in Egypt, in Syria, in Libya - the situation ranges from dire³ to depressing," she said.

莫妮卡.马克斯说： “突尼斯是在这个地区革命有极大机会成功的国家。要是它失败了，就很难让那些具有民主理念的改革者和革命思想家持续受到鼓舞并继续保持希望。因为要是我们看看这个地区的其他地方，如埃及、叙利亚以及利比亚，那里的局势并不乐观，甚至令人沮丧。

Tunisia's new constitution is the product of crisis negotiations⁴ between Islamists and more secular⁵ parties. But opposition⁶ politician Nadia Chaabane said it discriminated⁷ against women and non-Muslims.

突尼斯的新宪法是伊斯兰主义者和更为世俗的党派之间危机协商的成果。但是反对派的政界人士纳迪亚.沙巴纳说，这部宪法歧视妇女和非穆斯林。

If Islamists wanted a religious state, Chaabane said, they should make that clear so everyone else would know how to react. But, she said, they should not publicly support the idea of a civil state, then included things that violate its formation.

反对派政界人士纳迪亚.沙巴纳说，要是他们想要成立一个宗教国家，它们就应该明确表示，然后我们就知道如何做出反应。但是，他们不可以一方面声称支持建立文明国家的想法，另一方面又四处塞进一些违反文明国家标准的条款。

Marks said Tunisia was also facing considerable economic challenges with politicians under pressure to show they were improving people's lives.

突尼斯也面临着相当大的经济挑战，而从政人士也面临着压力，必须显示他们正在改善人民的生活。

"They’re seeing that the cost of food is higher relative to income than it was before the revolution. Believing that the revolution was a good thing, believing that democracy is a positive change becomes harder, and as a wonderful as the passage of the Constitution recently was, your average Tunisian needs to feel a difference," she said.

莫妮卡.马克斯说：他们看到，和收入水平相比，食物价格比革命前更贵了。人们越来越难以相信革命是件好事，难以相信民主是积极的改变。尽管最近通过的宪法非常美妙，但是，普通突尼斯人需要感受到变化。

Stability is central to attracting outside capital. And the United States continues to provide security assistance to counter threats from the terrorist group Ansar al-Sharia/Tunisia.

总理麦赫迪.贾马说，因此，新宪法的稳定就更加重要。

 

While that assistance was meant to help reinforce Tunisia's democratic trajectory⁸, a senior U.S. official traveling with Kerry said the Obama administration was looking for more aggressive action against those responsible for the September 2012 attacks on the American embassy and the American school in the capital.

突尼斯总理麦赫迪.贾马说：“我们要想成功，就需要恢复安全和投资者的信心，这样才能推动经济发展，才是帮助突尼斯人实现希望的途径。”

美国官员说，在突尼斯努力制定选举法来规范今年稍后举行的总统和议会选举之际，美国将继续支持突尼斯的民主进程。

1 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

2 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

3 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

8 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。