2006年VOA标准英语-Rice Hails Moderation, Inclusiveness of In

By David Gollust
Jakarta
14 March 

 
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, shake hands with Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
  
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday praised Indonesia, the world's largest majority-Muslim country, as an example of social tolerance¹ and inclusiveness. She held talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top officials.

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The visit was the first by the secretary since she took office more than a year ago, and she used to it heap praise on Indonesia for its moderate course and assistance in the fight against terrorism, a stance rewarded by the Bush administration last November with the restoration of military aid and training.

At a news conference with her Indonesian counterpart, Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda, Secretary Rice acknowledged that the United States' image in Indonesia and elsewhere in the region still suffers from public resentment² over the invasion of Iraq and other aspects of the global war on terrorism.

But she also cited a lack of understanding about how much the United States respects Islam and Muslim countries, a fact underlined by the massive response by both the American government and public to the tsunami³ disaster in Indonesia at the end of 2004.

"The American people gave in huge amounts and huge numbers from their churches, and from their synagogues and from their mosques," she said.  "And so I would hope that while some of the policies that we pursue may not always be popular, that there is an understanding that we have a deep and abiding⁴ respect for the Indonesian people, for their various faiths, and a desire to see this great democracy prosper⁵."

Both the secretary and her Indonesian counterpart said their meeting had been productive and covered growing military ties.

But Rice declined to say whether the United States would accede⁶ to Indonesian demands for direct access to Hambali, the alleged⁷ mastermind of the 2002 terrorist bombings in Bali that killed more than 200 people, mainly foreign tourists:

"On counter-terrorism cooperation, including with Hambali, we are cooperating, we are sharing information and we will continue that cooperation and discussions of how we can best make certain that we are using this opportunity to bolster⁸ our counter-terrorism operations and efforts," she added.

Hambali, an Indonesian, has been held in U.S. custody⁹ at an undisclosed location since his arrest in Thailand in 2003.

The secretary began her day with a visit to an Islamic school or Madrassa in central Jakarta, where U.S. aid has helped improve the curriculum and quality of teaching under a five-year $157 million assistance program announced by President Bush in 2004.

She announced a further $8.5 million U.S. grant to upgrade childrens' programming on Indonesian public television.

She had a meeting later in the day with President Yudhoyono, the nation's first popularly elected leader following the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998.

A U.S. spokesman said they discussed, among other things, efforts to control the spread of avian flu and the human rights situation in Burma. Rice told her news conference that democracies like the U.S. and Indonesia cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the plight¹⁰ of those who live under oppression in Burma.

She is to cap her two-day visit to Indonesia Wednesday with a policy speech in Jakarta before flying on to Sydney for regional security talks with her Australian and Japanese counterparts.

1 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

2 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

3 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

4 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

5 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

6 accede   

v.应允，同意

参考例句：

• They are ready to accede to our request for further information.我们要是还需要资料，他们乐于随时提供。
• In a word,he will not accede to your proposal in the meeting.总而言之，他不会在会中赞成你的提议。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

9 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

10 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。