2007年VOA标准英语-Bush: North Korea Must Abide by Terms of Nuclea

By Scott Stearns
White House
15 February 2007

U.S. President George Bush says North Korea must abide¹ by terms of an international agreement aimed at ending its nuclear program. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the White House is defending the deal reached Tuesday in Beijing.

 
President George Bush, 15 Feb, 2007
President Bush telephoned Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday to congratulate him on China's role in reaching the deal. White House officials say he told the Chinese leader that it is now up to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to live up to its terms.

Pyongyang has agreed to shut down and seal its primary nuclear facilities within 60 days and allow inspectors² to verify the process. In exchange, North Korea will receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil from South Korea.

Once it discloses and verifiably abandons all of its nuclear programs, the deal says, North Korea will receive additional economic, humanitarian³ and energy assistance.

The agreement has been criticized by some of President Bush's political opponents for being no better than a deal that could have been struck four years ago, before North Korea tested a nuclear bomb.

It has also been criticized by some of the president's political supporters for being too accommodating to Pyongyang by easing financial pressures.

The politically conservative editorial page of The Wall Street Journal described the deal as "something close to faith-based nonproliferation."

White House Spokesman Tony Snow says that is not so.

"What we have done is put together an agreement that in fact is not faith-based," he said. "It is performance-based. And that is the most important thing to understand. The North Koreans don't get anything for free."

Snow says the White House and State Department are working to better explain the plan. Even within the administration.

One of the president's deputy national security advisers⁴, Elliot Abrams, sent a series of e-mails questioning a provision that says the United States will begin the process of removing North Korea from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Snow says Abrams' concerns have been satisfied.

"He had the same concerns that many people have had, which is, 'Is this a political deal? Are you trying to offer a political deal to the North Koreans, saying that, 'if you come to the table, all is forgiven, we will de-list you?'' And the answer is no," he said.

 
John Bolton 
The president's former U.N. ambassador, John Bolton, says it is a bad, disappointing deal that contradicts fundamental premises⁵ of Washington's previous approach to North Korea.

President Bush Wednesday told White House reporters that he strongly disagrees with Bolton. Those who believe it is not a good deal, Mr. Bush says, are flat wrong.

"This is a phased approach that will enable all of us to say to our respective populations: 'We are watching carefully, and there is an opportunity for the North Koreans to prove that this program can work,'" he said.

The deal is backed by a U.N. Security Council resolution that retains economic sanctions. In his phone call with President Hu, White House officials say, President Bush emphasized the need to fully⁶ implement⁷ that resolution, which was imposed after North Korea's nuclear test in October.

1 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

2 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

5 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

6 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。

7 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。