VOA慢速英语 2008 0119

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

President Bush returned this week from an eight-day trip to the Middle East. It was his most extensive travel there in his seven years as president, with one year left in office.

 
President Bush and Saudi King Abdullah during an arrival ceremony at the international airport near Riyadh
The trip included stops in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It began with the first visit of his presidency¹ to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Mister Bush urged greater progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Throughout the trip, he expressed concern about Iran's nuclear plans. He also called for more democratic reforms in the Middle East. 

After meeting with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia, the president voiced concerns about the effects of high oil prices on the American economy. He called on OPEC to put more oil on the world market.

But the Saudi oil minister said his country would increase production only if market conditions provide a reason.

As the president visited Saudi Arabia, his administration officially informed Congress of a planned weapons sale to that country. The offer involves one hundred twenty million dollars worth of technology for nine hundred satellite-guided bombs.

Some American lawmakers have questioned the sale but Congress appears unlikely to block it. The offer is part of a plan announced last year that could lead to twenty billion dollars in sales of weapons to Persian Gulf² countries.

The president did not visit Iraq, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit on Tuesday. She praised the Iraqi government for agreeing to permit members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party to reclaim³ government jobs.

This is one of several steps that the Bush administration has been urging the Iraqi government to take. The aim is to ease tensions between minority Sunnis and majority Shiite Muslims in Iraq.

The top American military commander in Iraq recently reported a sixty percent drop in attacks in that country since June. General David Petraeus warned that economic improvement must follow, or the violence could get worse again.

President Bush says the drop in violence should make it possible to withdraw twenty thousand troops by the middle of this year. But as some American troops return from Iraq, others are getting ready for Afghanistan.

Mister Bush this week approved the deployment⁴ of more than three thousand Marines to Afghanistan. They will bring the number of American troops there to about thirty thousand. The added forces will join the NATO-led security operation in southern Afghanistan. They will also help train the Afghan army and police.

Opposition⁵ to the war in Iraq influenced congressional elections in two thousand six. But in this presidential election year, studies show Americans growing more concerned about the economy than the war. On Friday, President Bush called on Congress to approve a one hundred forty-five billion dollar economic growth plan as soon as possible.

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

 

1 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

4 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

5 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。