2006年VOA标准英语-US Ambassador in Ivory Coast Presses for P

By Nico Colombant
Abidjan
16 February 2006

The U.S. Ambassador in divided Ivory Coast says time is running out for elections to be held before October 2006, as mandated¹ by the U.N. Security Council. 
 
 
Aubrey Hooks
  
U.S. Ambassador Aubrey Hooks says it is time for all parties involved in Ivory Coast to get to work.

The U.N. Security Council gave Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo an extra year in power and transitional Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny was appointed in December to ensure political reforms, disarmament, and elections take place before October 2006.

But there have been violent demonstrations² in support of the president and against a recommendation by an international working group to dissolve Ivory Coast's reform-blocking parliament, sanctions against two protest leaders and one rebel commander, and little else.

There has also been a war of words between Mr. Banny and the head of the armed forces Philippe Mangou.

U.S. Ambassador Aubrey Hooks tells VOA such wrangling³ must stop.

"We still have eight months or seven and a half to organize elections that is adequate time if there is political will to do so," he said. "I would, however, like to emphasize that this is a process that needs to get underway immediately because while there is adequate time to organize elections, there is no time to waste, because it takes time to go through the process of identification and training of poll workers and doing all the things that have to be done to make sure that the elections take place smoothly⁴."

Ambassador Hooks held a news conference in Abidjan after returning from a trip to the rebel-held north that has garnered⁵ lots of attention in the local media. He held discussions with representatives of the rebels, as well as local and international humanitarian⁶ agencies.

He told VOA why he made the trip.

Northern rebels want voting cards for their weapons  
  
"This was an opportunity to strongly urge the authorities of Forces Nouvelles [New Forces Rebels] to participate in the peace process, starting with disarmament, demobilization, reunification of the country, sending civil servants back in the north of the country and ultimately of course the organization of elections," he said. "It was also an opportunity to emphasize another point, and that is the integrity of the whole country. The American ambassador, of course, is accredited⁷ to the whole country. This was an opportunity to emphasize that Korhogo, Bouake and other parts of the north are all part of the same country and this was, as a matter of fact, the principle objective of this visit."

Ambassador Hooks' trip coincided with efforts to send teachers back to the north to organize school exams, possibly in March.

Friday, the ambassador will represent the United States in the international working group for Ivory Coast. The group will have new representation from Congo-Brazzaville, as its president now heads the African Union.

A new point of discussion for the group is how to get an independent electoral commission approved by all parties and working. Ivory Coast is under an arms and diamond embargo⁸, but some civil society activists⁹ say a ban on lucrative¹⁰ cocoa exports would be more effective in coaxing¹¹ peace.

1 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

4 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

5 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

8 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

11 coaxing   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应

参考例句：

• No amount of coaxing will make me change my mind. 任你费尽口舌也不会说服我改变主意。
• It took a lot of coaxing before he agreed. 劝说了很久他才同意。 来自辞典例句