VOA慢速英语 2007 0901

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Abdullah Gul was sworn in this week as the eleventh president of Turkey. The fifty-six-year-old economist¹ formerly² served as foreign minister.

 
Abdullah Gul after his election
He easily won the election in parliament on Tuesday. But his victory came after four months of dispute over the idea of a president with an Islamic past. Mister Gul began his political life as part of an Islamist party that is now banned.

A political crisis followed his nomination³ earlier this year by the ruling Justice and Development Party, known as the AK party. Thousands of people went into the streets to protest his candidacy. The crisis resulted in early parliamentary elections in July which the AKP won.

The election of Mister Gul is widely seen as a vote of support for the economic gains that Turkey has made in recent years. The AK party was first elected in two thousand two.

But military leaders boycotted⁴ Mister Gul's swearing-in ceremony. The army considers itself the guardian⁵ of the separation of government and religion. The army has ousted⁶ four governments since nineteen sixty. Not since nineteen eighty, however, has this happened with force.

Turkey has had a constitutional separation of religion and government for more than eighty years. Mister Gul promises to honor it. 

The new president is an observant Muslim. Those who want to keep religion out of government are uneasy about the idea that his wife, Hayrunisa, wears an Islamic headscarf. So do more than half of all Turkish women. But the hijab has been banned in public offices and schools for almost thirty years.

What concerns the secularists most, however, is that Mister Gul will be able to appoint officials like constitutional court judges and the head of the military. He will also have the power to veto legislation.

As Turks were getting a new president this week, Pakistanis were considering the future of their country's leadership.

 
Nawaz Sharif at a news conference Thursday in London
On Thursday, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif announced that he will return to Pakistan on September tenth. The Pakistani Supreme⁷ Court ruled last week that he can return from exile. He says he will fight the re-election plans of President Pervez Musharraf.

General Musharraf overthrew⁸ him eight years ago and sent him into exile in Saudi Arabia. Now Mister Sharif is demanding that the general step down as both president and army chief.

President Musharraf is expected to seek another five-year term in a vote in parliament in the coming weeks. But his public support has fallen.

The president has reportedly been seeking an alliance with Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister. She lives in exile by choice but still heads Pakistan's largest opposition⁹ party. She said the president must leave the army before she would support his re-election.

In exchange, she wants the government to drop corruption¹⁰ charges against her and her family and let her serve a third term as prime minister.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. You can download transcripts¹¹ and MP3 files of our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

4 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

5 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

6 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

9 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。

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句