VOA标准英语2008年-Bush to Meet Former Israeli PM Sharon's Family

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
09 January 2008

President Bush on Thursday will hold an early morning meeting with the family of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - the man who served as Mr. Bush's host on his first visit to Israel 10 years ago when he was the Governor of Texas. VOA's Jim Teeple reports that two years after Mr. Sharon suffered a massive stroke and fell into a coma¹, his absence is keenly felt in Israel.

Tucked away in Mr. Bush's hectic² schedule during his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories is a note saying he would have a private visit with Gilad and Omri Sharon, Ariel Sharon's two sons. It is a reminder³, if one is needed, of the extraordinarily⁴ close personal relationship between the two men.

Nearly 10 years ago when Mr. Bush first visited Israel, it was Ariel Sharon, then foreign minister, who showed him around. Raanan Gissin, a close aide to the former prime minister, says the two men formed an instant bond.

"I would say it was a relationship that goes beyond words," said Gissin. "How should I put it, like two farmers, two cowboys, ranchers, and there were things among them that they understood about each other without talking."

After he became president, one of the first people to pay a personal visit to Mr. Bush at his ranch⁵ in Crawford, Texas was Ariel Sharon. The two men spent hours discussing a variety of topics, but both said what they really enjoyed talking about was farming and ranching⁶.

Two years ago, Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke.

He was at his farm in the Negev Desert when he began experiencing stroke symptoms. He had suffered a mild stroke one month earlier, but this one was massive. By the time he was wheeled into the emergency room at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital, Mr. Sharon was in a coma.

Now, two years later, he lies in a hospital outside Tel Aviv, connected to a feeding tube in what a hospital statement recently described as a deep coma.

Hours before his stroke in his last public comments, Mr. Sharon said he planned to form a new government and push ahead with disengagement from Palestinian areas.

Mr. Sharon said the disengagement that he had carried out from the Gaza Strip had been a success and that it was a model he would carry forward.

Just weeks earlier, Ariel Sharon had left the right-wing Likud Party and formed a new centrist party he called Kadima. He said his goal was to draw Israel's final border with the Palestinians, a task now left to his successor, Ehud Olmert, who succeeded him as Kadima's leader and as prime minister.

Mr. Olmert's tenure⁷ has been rocky. His conduct during Israel's war in Lebanon is under official review, and could end his political career within weeks or months. He presides over a government made up of an uneasy coalition⁸ of politicians -- many of whom say they do not support his pledge to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians by the end of this year.

Raanan Gissin says Ariel Sharon had his enemies - he was disliked by many Israelis - and he was hated by Palestinians. But Gissin says Ariel Sharon offered Israelis a rare commodity: peace of mind.

"Sharon enjoyed a very rare commodity in politics: trust," said Gissin. "And that trust has never waned⁹, even when his chips were down and his popularity was very low. I think that is what the people of Israel today crave¹⁰ for - not peace - they know peace is a long way away - but someone that can instill in them peace of mind."

Ariel Sharon's two sons visit him almost every day although they said they did not mark the anniversary of his massive stroke. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Omri Sharon said the only anniversary he will mark will be when his father rises from his bed. And the topic of conversation with Mr. Bush? That will be farming.

1 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

2 hectic   

adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的

参考例句：

• I spent a very hectic Sunday.我度过了一个忙乱的星期天。
• The two days we spent there were enjoyable but hectic.我们在那里度过的两天愉快但闹哄哄的。

3 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

4 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

5 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

6 ranching   

adj.放牧的

参考例句：

• They cleared large tracts of forest for farming, logging and ranching. 他们清除了大片的森林以经营农耕、采伐与畜牧。
• This is a trade center in a ranching and oil-producing region. 这是一个牧场与产油区的贸易中心。

7 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

8 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。

9 waned   

v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• However,my enthusiasm waned.The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. 然而，我的热情减退了。我在做操上花的时间逐渐减少了。 来自《用法词典》
• The bicycle craze has waned. 自行车热已冷下去了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。