2007年VOA标准英语-France's Strauss-Kahn Chosen to Head IMF

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
28 September 2007

Former French Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn was tapped Friday to become the next head of the International Monetary¹ Fund. From Paris, Lisa Bryant has more on the leftist politician who has vowed² to build consensus³ as the IMF's new director.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 58, brings plenty of experience to Washington, when he takes up his new post as IMF chief. He is a trained lawyer and former economics professor who served as French finance minister in the 1990s. He is also a leading figure in the French Socialist⁴ Party, who bid unsuccessfully for the French presidency⁵ earlier this year.

Ali Fatemi, dean of the business school at the American University of Paris, believes Strauss-Kahn is just the right man to make much-needed reforms at the IMF.

"It takes a man of his imagination, his background and his political base to bring about something like this," Fatemi said. "This can be the most important contribution he can make within the next five years that he serves at the IMF - to restructure the IMF and make it a real international central bank."

Strauss-Kahn was virtually a shoe-in to take over the post from current IMF director Rodrigo Rato, who steps down next month. Leadership of the IMF traditionally goes to a European, while that of another key international financial institution, the World Bank, goes to an American. Strauss-Kahn's candidacy was backed both by the European Union and by the Bush administration.

But not everybody supports him. Britain's Financial Times newspaper called Strauss-Kahn the wrong candidate chosen in the wrong way. It argued the bidding process should be widened to include non-European candidates. Strauss-Kahn himself has made a similar proposal.

During an interview before the IMF's executive board last week, the French politician said he would be a consensus builder, if he was selected for the job.

French political analyst⁶ Etienne Schweisguth also believes Strauss-Kahn will not force through changes.

Strauss-Kahn will not be a brutal⁷ reformer, Schweisguth said. Rather, he'll rely on discussion and collaboration⁸.

Strauss-Kahn is among several leading leftist politicians picked for key political posts by France's center-right president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Another top leftist politician, Bernard Kouchner, is the country's foreign minister.

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

8 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。