2007年VOA标准英语-Peace Activists to March on Washington Saturday

By Marissa Melton
Washington
24 January 2007

Peace activists² have announced they will hold an anti-war rally on the National Mall in Washington Saturday, the first since Democrats³ assumed control of Congress. Organizers say they have given up on swaying President Bush and plan now to take their demands to the halls of Congress. VOA's Marissa Melton reports.

Susan Sarandon on Capitol Hill (24 Jan 2007)

The anti-war group United for Peace and Justice is organizing Saturday's march on the National Mall. Veteran activist¹ Jane Fonda and Hollywood actors Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover are slated⁴ to speak, as well as an active-duty member of the U.S. Navy and a retired⁵ Army colonel and U.S. diplomat⁶. Organizers say they expect thousands of demonstrators from all over the nation.

This is the first peace march in Washington since Mr. Bush made the call earlier this month for an additional 21,000 troops to be sent to Iraq, in a new push to end sectarian violence there. Tuesday in his State of the Union address, he defended his plan, saying the new troops are necessary to win the war.

"This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we're in," said President Bush. "Every one of us wishes this war were over and won. Yet it would not be like us to leave our promises unkept, our friends abandoned, and our own security at risk."

California Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, who is scheduled to appear at Saturday's rally, said the president's new plan shows he is not listening to the American people even though they made their opinions clear in November's congressional elections.

"On November 7th, the American people spoke⁷ and they said we trust Democrats to run this country because they will get us out of Iraq," said Lynn Woolsey. "That was the mandate⁸ and it must be heard. First and foremost, we know the president won't hear it ... but the senators and representatives must."

Organizers of the peace rally are calling on demonstrators to remain in Washington through the weekend and visit the offices of their members of Congress on Monday, to demand legislation that would end the war. The Senate Armed Forces committee is discussing a nonbinding resolution criticizing the president's plan to send more troops to Iraq, but Tom Andrews, national director of the Win Without War organization, said stronger action is needed.

"This is all about Congress now," said Tom Andrews. "We have a system of checks and balances in this country, and this system provides for relief when the president so defies the will of his people. We are not going to be satisfied until there is binding⁹ action by this Congress to turn this situation, this disaster, around and bring our troops home."

 

Congressman¹⁰ Woolsey says she has introduced just such legislation: a binding resolution that would bring troops home, provide a framework to bring stability to Iraq, and fully¹¹ fund the veterans' health care system. She says the bill has 27 co-sponsors; all are Democrats.

However, the Democratic leaders of Congress, Senate Majority leader Harry¹² Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have proposed a third option: the phased redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq over the next four to six months.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 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》

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

7 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。

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

10 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。