VOA慢速英语 2007 0929

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

 
Image from a video released by the Democratic Voice of Burma shows Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai after being shot in Rangoon. He later died.
Japan's new prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, took office this week -- and quickly faced a crisis. The unrest in Burma claimed the life of a Japanese cameraman. Kenji Nagai was shot Thursday as security forces moved to crush anti-government demonstrations¹.

Mister Fukuda rejected the idea of immediate² economic sanctions. He directed a Foreign Ministry³ official to go and push the government for a full explanation.

Japan provides aid but not as much since the military in Burma violently suppressed protests for democracy in nineteen eighty-eight. The next year, the generals ruling Burma changed its name to Myanmar, a name the United States and Britain do not recognize.

Mister Fukuda spoke⁴ Friday by phone with Chinese Premier⁵ Wen Jiabao about the situation in China's neighbor. He said he asked that China, given its close ties, exercise its influence and that "Premier Wen said he will make such efforts."

 
Yasuo Fukuda
Mister Fukuda of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party easily won election Tuesday in the lower house of parliament. The upper house rejected him. Opposition⁶ parties won control of the upper house in July. But the L.D.P. still controls the lower house. And the vote of the lower house decides the winner in such a split.

This was the first split vote of this kind since nineteen ninety-eight. Mister Fukuda's closest competitor was main opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa.

The new prime minister is seen as politically moderate. He says one of his goals will be to repair public trust in the ruling party. The L.D.P. has recently faced a series of investigations⁷ of financial wrongdoing involving cabinet members.

Mister Fukuda has kept much of Shinzo Abe's cabinet. Nobutaka Machimura, the foreign minister under Mister Abe, will serve as chief cabinet secretary. Former defense⁸ minister Masahiko Komura will serve as foreign minister.

Mister Abe resigned on September twelfth after only one year as prime minister. He has apologized for resigning suddenly. He said he did so only because of health reasons.

Mister Fukuda is seventy-one years old. He is the eldest⁹ son of former prime minister Takeo Fukuda. And he served as chief cabinet secretary under Junichiro Koizumi.

His success could depend on his ability to find a way to work with the opposition. An early test will involve Japan's naval¹⁰ refueling operations in support of American-led forces in Afghanistan.

The mission began in two thousand one. Legislation supporting it will end on November first unless Japan extends it. Mister Fukuda supports the idea. But opposition parties are expected to resist an extension.

He also faces a high government debt and a longtime budget deficit¹¹. Japan has the world's second largest economy after the United States.

Japanese newspapers found that more than half the public supported the new prime minister and his cabinet. He gives a policy speech next week.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 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。

5 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

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 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

10 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

11 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。