VOA常速英语2021--首次“普拜会”将至,拜登为普京划定红线

This is VOA News. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton. U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday he would lay down "red lines" to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at their upcoming meeting after rallying NATO allies to face up to challenges from Moscow. Speaking after his first NATO summit since being elected president, Biden insisted, "I'm not looking for conflict with Russia, but we will respond if Russia continues its harmful activities." Biden also called Putin "tough" and "a worthy¹ adversary²" ahead of their hotly anticipated meeting in Geneva on Wednesday. The warning to the Kremlin leader came as Biden pressed to renew Washington's transatlantic ties with allies after years of tensions under his predecessor³, Donald Trump⁴.

欢迎收听美国之音新闻，我是玛丽莎·梅尔顿，为您远程报道。美国总统乔·拜登星期一表示，他将在与俄罗斯总统普京即将到来的会面上就一些问题划定红线，此前他召集北约盟国共同应对来自莫斯科的挑战。此次是拜登当选总统后首次出席北约峰会，拜登在会后发表讲话时坚称，“美国并不寻求与俄罗斯发生冲突，但如果俄罗斯继续进行有害活动，我们将作出回应。”在提到他们热切期待的周三日内瓦会面之前，拜登还表示，普京很“强硬”，是“一个值得的对手”。在向克里姆林宫领导人发出这一警告的同时，拜登还敦促恢复与盟国的跨大西洋伙伴关系。之前在前任总统特朗普的领导下，美国与大西洋盟国维持了多年的紧张关系。

The World Health Organization said Monday that the virus continues to spread and kill people in Africa despite the fact that the number of new COVID-19 cases overall has fallen steadily⁵ for seven straight weeks. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the decline in cases obscures the fact that the virus continues to spread and kill in regions with limited access to vaccines⁶ and treatments. He cited a recent study in the British medical journal The Lancet showing the continent of Africa has the highest global mortality rate among critically ill COVID-19 patients, yet it has reported fewer cases than most other regions. He also said the virus is moving faster than the global distribution of vaccines. The WHO chief expressed his gratitude⁸ to the leaders at the G7 summit last week who pledged 870 million doses of vaccine⁷ through the WHO-administered global vaccine cooperative, known as COVAX. This is VOA News. 

世界卫生组织星期一表示，尽管新冠病毒新增病例数已经连续七周稳步下降，但该病毒仍在非洲继续传播并造成人员死亡。世卫组织总干事泰德罗·阿达诺姆·盖布雷耶苏斯表示，新增病例数的减少掩盖了一个事实，即新冠病毒继续在疫苗和治疗匮乏的地区传播并致死。他引用了英国医学杂志《柳叶刀》最近的一项研究，该研究显示，非洲大陆是全球新冠肺炎危重患者死亡率最高的地区，但非洲大陆报告的病例比大多数其他地区少。他还表示，新冠病毒的传播速度快于疫苗的全球分发速度。世卫组织主席对上周参与七国集团首脑会议的领导人表示感谢，他们承诺通过世卫组织管理的全球疫苗免疫联盟（简称COVAX）提供8.7亿剂疫苗。欢迎收听美国之音新闻。

1 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

2 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

3 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。