VOA慢速英语 2008 0412

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

President Bush announced this week that he is not ready to order more troop withdrawals² from Iraq.

Fifteen months ago, he ordered a temporary increase of thirty thousand troops. The last of those troops return home in July.

After that, any withdrawals will be suspended for at least forty-five days while the American commander studies conditions in Iraq. General David Petraeus will decide if further reductions are possible. The president has told General Petraeus that he will have "all the time he needs."

But Mister Bush ordered a reduction in future deployment³ lengths from fifteen months to twelve months. The change will affect Army soldiers going to Iraq and Afghanistan after August first. Deployments were twelve months, but were lengthened⁴ a year ago as part of the so-called surge in Iraq.

After the extra troops leave, the United States will have about one hundred forty thousand troops in Iraq. Defense⁵ Secretary Robert Gates says he no longer believes troops levels will drop to one hundred thousand by the time Mister Bush leaves office.
　

President Bush meets with General David Petraeus and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker on Thursday

The president based his plans on the latest progress reports by General Petraeus and the American ambassador in Iraq, Ryan Crocker. They appeared before lawmakers in Congress this week. The war began in March of two thousand three.

Mister Bush said Iraq is the point where "two of the greatest threats to America" come together: al-Qaida and Iran. He said the war is difficult but not endless. And he said he expects that as conditions continue to improve, they will permit him to continue a policy known as return on success.

Democratic leaders are demanding answers about when American troops can return home. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the president of lengthening⁶ the war. She says he wants to leave the difficult decisions to the next president who replaces him in January.

All three leading candidates for the November election returned to Washington to attend this week's hearings on the war. The two Democratic senators fighting for their party's nomination⁷ renewed their calls for a withdrawal¹.

Hillary Clinton said it is time to begin an orderly process. Barack Obama called for setting a time period for a withdrawal, to increase pressure on the Iraqis to make political compromises.

Senator Obama often notes that he was an early critic of the invasion, while Senator Clinton voted for a war resolution in two thousand two. That was three years before Barack Obama became a senator.

Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate, warned against a withdrawal before enough security is established in Iraq. He said it could lead to a civil war with effects across the Middle East. And he said an American failure would most likely require the United States to return to Iraq for a wider and far costlier⁸ war.

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

1 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

2 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 lengthened   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
• He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。

5 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。

6 lengthening   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长

参考例句：

• The evening shadows were lengthening. 残阳下的影子越拉越长。
• The shadows are lengthening for me. 我的影子越来越长了。 来自演讲部分

7 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。

8 costlier   

adj.昂贵的( costly的比较级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather. 鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。 来自互联网
• Disagreements among creditors can be costlier still. 债权人之间的分歧会加大重组的费用。 来自互联网