热那亚八国集团会议

46 热那亚八国集团会议

DATE=7-28-01
TITLE=IN THE NEWS#491 - Group of Eight Conference 
BYLINE=Cynthia Kirk

    (start at 1'5") This is Bob Doughty¹ with the VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS.
    Last week, the heads of government of the Group of Eight held a three-day meeting in (1)Genoa, Italy.  The members are the leading industrial nations --the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada--and also Russia.
    The leaders met to (2)discuss world (3)trade and (4)economic development.  They also discussed disease prevention, debt reduction, and other (5)issues.  Officials from several developing countries including (6)Nigeria, (7)Mali, (8)Bangladesh and (9)El Salvador were invited to take part in the (10)conference for the first time.
    During the talks, about one-hundred-thousand (11)protesters (12)demonstrated outside the historic² palace in Genoa where the meeting was held.  They gathered there to express their anger about world trade. 
    One person was killed during the protests.  The (13)Italian Interior³ Ministry⁴ says the (14)demonstrator was shot in an act of self-defense⁵ by a member of Italy's national police force. 
    Many protesters (15)condemned the deadly use of force by the Italian police.  The Group of Eight leaders expressed sorrow for the death and (16)urged demonstrators to (17)reject (18)violence.
    The protesters (19)represented trade unions, environmental groups, farmers, and the unemployed⁶.  Most shared a concern about the effects of international trade.  Many of the protesters believe world trade harms the people of poor countries.  They say major international companies are becoming wealthy while harming the poor and the environment. 
    (20)Opponents of world trade want wealthy nations to reduce debt in developing countries.  They also called for better education in poor countries and more money to treat diseases in Africa.
    The Group of Eight leaders said world trade helps all people.  They promised to work to bring the poorest countries into the world economy.  And they promised to continue to deal with issues important to all areas of the world.
    The leaders also discussed the (21)worldwide AIDS (22)crisis and other deadly diseases.  They agreed to provide more than one-thousand-million dollars to support efforts to prevent and treat AIDS, (23)tuberculosis and (24)malaria.  These (25)preventable diseases kill millions of people each year.  Most of the (26)victims live in poor countries.  
    One of the most (27)disputed issues at the G-Eight meeting was the Kyoto treaty to halt the warming of the Earth's atmosphere.  President Bush continues to reject the treaty.  He says it would harm the American economy.  Other leaders said they would work to put the treaty into effect.
    At the end of the conference, President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced they would hold new arms talks.  They said they want to link talks about reducing (28)nuclear weapons with American plans to build a (29)missile defense system.  
    This VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS, was written by Cynthia Kirk.  This is Bob Doughty.

(1)Genoa [ 5dVenEuE ]n.热那亚(意大利西北部的州及其首府)
(2)discuss [ dis5kQs ]vt.讨论, 论述
(3)trade [ treid ]n.贸易
(4)economic [ 7i:kE5nCmik ]adj.经济(上)的
(5)issue [ 5isju: ]n.论点
(6)Nigeria [ nai5dViEriE ]n.尼日利亚(非洲中西部国家)
(7)Mali [ 5mB:li: ]n.马里
(8)Bangladesh [ 7bB:N^lE5deF ]孟加拉国[亚洲]
(9)El Salvador [ 5sAlvEdC: ]n.萨尔瓦多(巴西港市)
(10)conference [ 5kCnfErEns ]n.会议, 讨论会, 协商会
(11)protest [ prE5test ]n.抗议
(12)demonstrate [ 5demEnstreit ] vi.示威
(13)Italian Interior Ministry n.意大利内阁
(14)demonstrator [ 5demEnstreitE ]n.示威者
(15)condemn [ kEn5dem ]vt.声讨, 谴责
(16)urge [ E:dV ]vt.力劝
(17)reject [ ri5dVekt ] vt.拒绝, 抵制
(18)violence [ 5vaiElEns ]n.暴力
(19)represent [ 7ri:pri5zent ]vt.表现
(20)opponent [ E5pEunEnt ] n.反对者
(21)worldwide [5w:ldwaId, -5waId]adj.全世界的
(22)crisis [ 5kraisis ]n. 危机
(23)tuberculosis [ tju7bE:kju5lEusis ]n.肺结核
(24)malaria [ mE5lZEriE ]n.疟疾
(25)preventable [prI5ventEb(E)l]adj. 可预防的
(26)victim [ 5viktim ]n.牺牲者, 牺牲品
(27)disputed vbl.争议
(28)nuclear [ 5nju:kliE ]adj. 原子能的, 核的
(29)missile [ 5misail, -sEl ]n.导弹

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

3 interior   

adj.在内的，内部的，内地的，国内的；n.内部

参考例句：

• There is water in the interior of the cave.在山洞的内部有水。
• They went into the interior room.他们进了内室。

4 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。

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 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。