2006年VOA标准英语-Rumsfeld, Rice Restate US Commitment in Ir

By Al Pessin
Baghdad
27 April 2006

On their second day in Iraq, the American secretaries of state and defense¹ met with coalition² troops advising Iraq's army and police forces and restated the U.S. commitment to helping³ those forces and the new government build a peaceful, democratic society.

----------------------------------------------------------

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, center, speaks to the press as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, left, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad look on  
  

At a brief news conference at the U.S. Embassy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said her meetings on Wednesday and a dinner with Iraq's newly designated prime minister and other senior leaders that evening, convinced her they will work to establish a competent, diverse government and that they will try to move quickly to tackle the country's many problems.

"These Iraqi leaders recognize the challenges before them and the Iraqi people expect their government to meet these challenges," she said. "It is obviously going to take some time to do this work. We found government representatives who are focussed, who are inspiring - in listening to them - and, I think, who understand the work before them. Our message here was that the United States wants to be a supportive power in that work and that we are prepared to do whatever we can to help Iraq meet the challenges before it."

Standing⁴ with her, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the new leaders' first job is to form their government, which they must do within a month, and to work to finish the job of building the new Iraqi security forces.

"I think that the impression the people of this country have of the government will be the impression that Secretary Rice and I garnered⁵ from the meetings," he said. "They are serious people. They realize the difficulties of the task they are facing. They intend to get about the task of governing this country in a responsible way."

As the two senior U.S. officials spoke⁶, marking the end of their unprecedented⁷ joint⁸ visit, officials of Iraq's Interior Ministry⁹ reported that gunmen killed a sister of Iraqi Vice¹⁰ President Tariq al-Hashemi, Thursday morning. Violence against Iraqi officials, members of the security forces and their families continues, as well as attacks on ordinary Iraqis and coalition troops. American officials say they hope the expected formation of Iraq's first democratically-elected, four-year government will help turn the tide of the fight against insurgents¹¹, will convince militia¹² leaders to disband their forces and will stimulate¹³ much needed economic growth.

But officials acknowledge all that will be difficult. Wednesday, the top U.S. general in Iraq said he wants to see more progress toward stability before he will be willing to recommend substantial American troop withdrawals¹⁴. But General George Casey says the selection of the prime minister and other top officials is an important first step and he still expects to be able to make such a recommendation to President Bush soon.

1 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。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

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 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 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 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。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

12 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

13 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

14 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句