2007年VOA标准英语-Rice Begins Mideast Peace Mission in Jerusalem

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
17 February 2007

Condoleezza Rice and her host Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni shake hands in their press conference before their meeting

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has begun a new peace mission to the Middle East. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, there are low expectations after Palestinian moderates and militants² agreed to join forces in a national unity³ government.

Secretary Rice arrived in Jerusalem to prepare for a rare summit on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. But it did not take long for her to lower expectations. "It is in fact a complicated time," she said.

Rice was referring to a decision by Mr. Abbas to join a national unity government with the ruling Islamic militant¹ group Hamas. However, Hamas has rejected key international conditions for the lifting of crippling sanctions, namely, recognition of Israel and renunciation of violence. "It only makes sense that you have to renounce⁴ violence, it only makes sense that you have to recognize the right of your partner to exist and to respect international agreements. And so those principles remain the foundational principles for the formation of two states," she said.

The creation of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace is the goal of the internationally-backed "Roadmap" peace plan.

Rice spoke⁵ at a joint⁶ news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who said the Palestinian unity government is unacceptable. "I think that also the moderates on the Palestinian side need to understand that the path toward a Palestinian state goes through the renunciation of violence and terrorism and not by compromising with terror," she said.

Rice will meet with Mr. Abbas on Sunday in the West Bank town of Ramallah. He is expected to tell her that he made the best possible deal that he could with Hamas and he will urge the US to recognize the new Palestinian government.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

5 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。

6 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。