VOA慢速英语2015 美国向乌克兰提供20亿美元的贷款

 

AS IT IS 2015-01-16 US to Provide $2 Billion Loan Guarantee to Ukraine 美国向乌克兰提供20亿美元的贷款

The United States plans to provide up to two billion dollars in loan guarantees to Ukraine this year. The U.S. Treasury¹ Department announced the plan on Tuesday. The move is part of an international assistance package to support Ukraine. The country faces a financial crisis, partly because of tensions with Russia and separatists in the east.

The U.S. Treasury said the loan guarantees would be tied to Ukraine’s government enacting² economic reforms. The International Monetary³ Fund proposed the reform measures. IMF officials are in Kyiv this week. They are negotiating the details of an addition to a deal, which was said to be worth billions of dollars.

The U.S. Treasury Undersecretary has been meeting separately with Ukrainian officials.

Four nation summit on Ukraine is cancelled

Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France have cancelled plans for talks this week on the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The nations did so because of a lack of progress in a truce⁴ agreement signed in September.

The summit between Ukrainian, Russian, German and French leaders was to take place in Kazakhstan on Thursday. However, fighting between Ukrainian government forces and separatists is continuing. Many people believe Russia is actively⁵ supporting the separatists. There is no sign that high-level talks on Ukraine will begin soon.

Violence claims lives in Donetsk

On Tuesday, an area spokesman said a shell struck a passenger bus, killing⁷ at least 10 people in the Donetsk area. At least 13 others were reportedly injured in the explosion.

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France did hold talks in Berlin on Monday. However, they said “further work needs to be done” in holding the ceasefire agreement known as the Minsk Protocol⁸ before officials can meet.

Ukraine says more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in separatist attacks since the truce was declared.

The separatists and Ukraine blame each other for violations⁹ of the cease-fire agreement. The conflict has killed more than 4,700 people and displaced hundreds of thousands since it began in April 2014.

In related news, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, said it is planning to increase its military capabilities¹⁰ in the Baltic area. 

On Tuesday, NATO’s top military commander spoke⁶ about the conflict in Ukraine. U.S. General Philip Breedlove accused Russia of continuing to support separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine. He expressed concern over Moscow’s “continued resupply, continued training and continued organization of the forces east of the line of conflict.”

Words in this Story

package - n. a group of related things that are put together

addition - n. something added, and extra part

protocol - n. a document describing a treaty or formal agreement between countries

capabilities - n. abilities, often relating to physical assets in a place that allow something to be done or carried out

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 enacting   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Generally these statutes apply only to wastes from reactors outside the enacting state. 总之，这些法令只适宜用在对付那些来自外州的核废料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• In addition, the complexion of enacting standards for live working is described. 另外，介绍了带电作业标准的制订情况。

3 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

4 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

5 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

6 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。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

9 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

10 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓