VOA慢速英语2011--US, Australia Expand Military Cooperation

IN THE NEWS - US, Australia Expand Military Cooperation

 

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This week, Barack Obama became the fourth American president to speak to Australia’s parliament. Mr. Obama noted¹ the strong ties between the two countries. And, he described their security alliance as "unbreakable."

BARACK OBAMA: "From the trenches² of the First World War to the mountains of Afghanistan, Aussies and Americans have stood together. We have fought together; we have given lives together in every single major conflict of the past one hundred years, every single one. This solidarity³ has sustained us through a difficult decade. We will never forget the attacks of nine-eleven that took the lives not only of Americans, but people from many nations, including Australia."

Mr. Obama spoke⁴ in Canberra a day after he and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced plans for expanded military cooperation. They said the goal of the expanded cooperation is to improve security in the Asia and Pacific area.

Ms. Gillard said the new cooperation would strengthen the sixty-year-old ANZUS Treaty. The treaty created a defense⁵ alliance linking Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard with American and Australian troops in Darwin

JULIA GILLARD: "We are a region that is growing economically, but stability is important for economic growth, too; and our alliance has been a bedrock of stability in our region."

Mr. Obama said the United States is now moving from the war on terrorism to economic and security issues in East Asia and the Pacific. He said the American message to the area is, "We are here to stay."

Under the new agreement, the United States will deploy⁶ up to two thousand five hundred Marines to Australia. There also would be closer cooperation between the two countries’ air forces.

Officials say a major goal of the agreement is to increase the ability of the United States to quickly assist countries in East and Southeast Asia. They say another goal is to train and exercise with those countries, in areas like reacting to attacks at sea or disasters.

Also this week, the United States and the Philippines restated their support for a defense treaty between the two sides. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a declaration expressing support of the treaty during a visit to the Philippines.

Security experts have described the American moves as an unmistakable message to China. In Beijing, a Foreign Ministry⁷ spokesman expressed concern at the developments:

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Chinese spokesman Liu Weimin called for discussions about the increased American troop deployment⁸ in East Asia. He said China has never taken part in any kind of foreign military alliance like those formed by the United States.

President Obama and other American officials have repeatedly said they welcome a China that is strong and successful. And they say the United States has no plan of containing China.

During the past eighteen months, China and some of its neighbors have criticized each other for claiming territorial⁹ rights in the South China Sea. China says it wants to settle territorial disputes one on one with the countries involved. However, this way of dealing¹⁰ with the issue has often increased tensions.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. Go to voanews.cn for transcripts¹¹, MP3s and now PDF files of our stories. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I'm Christopher Cruise.
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Contributing: Richard Green

1 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

2 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

3 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

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 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 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

7 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。

8 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。

9 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

10 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。

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