克林顿专访

Katie Couric: Out President Bill Clinton, since leaving office five years ago, he has spent a prodigious¹ amount of time on the road for his foundation, promoting AIDS awareness² and prevention. Earlier this week, I spoke³ with him from Johannesburg, South Africa, part of his six-nation tour of Africa. I began by asking him why Africa has been more affected⁴ by AIDS than any other place in the world.

Bill Clinton(Former US President): I think that'd got out of control partly because there were not systems in place both to prevent people (from) contracting it and spreading it. And I think we are beginning to make some headway not only in Africa, but in another places in the world where it's a problem and it is spreading worldwide, growing even faster now in terms of the rate of increase in the former Soviet⁵ Union and the Caribbean, India, China. We're working on it in all these places doing our best and the Africans are very brave and very resourceful and I think we're finally beginning to see some changes here.

Katie Couric: I know your AIDS foundation, Mr. President, is making a great deal of progress in terms of making treatment and healthcare centers more accessible to the poor as well as to children. And not only in Africa but in another countries. As you mentioned, I know in China and India, you've done a lot of work as well. Is it reasonable to expect that this can be brought under control or is the rate of the epidemic⁶ growing at such a fast pace that it is almost impossible to keep up with it?

Bill Clinton: Well, let me say, yes, it's reasonable to expect it can be brought under control but you have to attack education and prevention and care and treatment at the same time, and the two things speed up each other. When you get bigger infection rates, you've got to treat people, you've got to overcome any kind of cultural aversion, talking about it and get young people to behave responsibly and you've got to do whatever you can to get as many people tested as quickly as possible but keep in mind, this is a disease that's one hundred percent preventable, there is medicine that stops mother-to-child transmission, there is other medicine that gives most young adults who take it a normal life span and there was pediatric medicine that gives little kids that get the HIV positive a good chance to grow up and live normal lives.

Katie Couric: President Clinton, you're talking about education and prevention, but it seems to me in some of these areas, you're dealing⁷ with cultural practices and attitudes that have been in place for centuries. How difficult are those to combat?

Bill Clinton: Well, it's different in different places but I think when people realize the staggering magnitude of the threat, and parents worry about whether their children are going to grow up and live normal lives. And when all around them, there are grandparents who're raising their grand children alone because both parents have died of AIDS. That helps you overcome your inebriations. Within two to three years, we can actually have turned this epidemic around if we all work at it and do what makes sense.

Katie Couric: President Clinton, as you well know, President Bush has been under fire recently because Karl Rove allegedly released the identity of a CIA agent to reporters. President Bush has said it's fireable offence now if a crime was committed. But in your view, is the ethical⁸ violation⁹ enough to warrant dismissal?

Bill Clinton: Well, of course, that's a decision the President has to make about the people who work for him. But, I, let me say, I've been through some of these things. My view is we should wait until all the facts are in. And the prosecutor¹⁰ makes whatever report he's gonna make in , all the people who are involved make available whatever information will be made available. I know that Valerie's husband, Joseph Wilson, is a good man, a career diplomat¹¹ who voted for my opponent in 1992. He voted for former President Bush. But I think what happened to her and what's happened to him were terrible.

Katie Couric: What do you make of for Republicans who claimed Democrats¹² would like nothing better than to see Karl Rove out of the picture because he is such a brilliant political strategist.

Bill Clinton: Oh, there are something to that. He is a brilliant political strategist and he's proved a brilliantly effective at destroying democrats personally. I mean that God know I was murdered and he is really good at it. He is good at playing psychological head games that damage our side. But, you know, we're supposed to be good enough to be there. I don't think we should wish anybody ill personally. But this matter should be handled on the merits. Whatever the facts are, it was wrong to reveal a patriotic¹³ CIA agent's identity to punish her husband, a patriotic career diplomat, for telling the truth instead of telling a lie. No, that was not right. But before we all say what should be done and to whom it should be done, we need to have all the facts.

1 prodigious   

adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• This business generates cash in prodigious amounts.这种业务收益丰厚。
• He impressed all who met him with his prodigious memory.他惊人的记忆力让所有见过他的人都印象深刻。

2 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

9 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

10 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

11 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。