VOA常速英语2008年-Bush Heading to Europe for NATO Summit

By Paula Wolfson
White House
28 March 2008

President Bush is heading to Europe Monday for visits to Ukraine, Croatia, Russia and the NATO summit in Romania. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports it will be a return trip to Bucharest for Mr. Bush.

"I am proud to be in this square and bring the good wishes of the American people," Mr. Bush said on that trip, which was one of the high points of his presidency¹.

On a gray November day in 2002, tens of thousands of people jammed Revolution Square in Bucharest.  On the very spot where mobs once forced the Communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, to take flight, they celebrated² a formal invitation from the members of NATO.

"I'm honored to carry a message to the people of Romania: We proudly invite you to join NATO, the great alliance of freedom!," Mr. Bush told the crowd.

The rain-soaked crowds cheered the news, swaying under umbrellas and looking up as a rainbow tried to pierce the blackened sky.

The president, fresh from a NATO summit in Prague, the Czech capital, spoke³ of Romania's transformation⁴.

"Your country brings moral clarity to our NATO alliance," he said.  "You value freedom because you have lived without it. You know the difference between good and evil, because you have seen evil's face."

Those days of celebration echo as Romania prepares to host a NATO summit of its own. White House National Security Adviser⁵ Stephen Hadley says the site is only fitting.

"The holding of the NATO summit in Bucharest is testimony⁶ to how the process of NATO enlargement has contributed to the successful transformation of Romania and other new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe," he explained.

In Romania, NATO will vote on whether to admit three more members: Albania, Croatia and Macedonia. And the alliance will take up a sensitive request to put two former Soviet⁷ Republics - Ukraine and Georgia - on the path to membership, by offering them a set of guideposts they must meet.

"And certainly the President is strongly inclined to want to help countries, aspiring⁸ democratic countries, on the road to greater democracy, to use all the instruments we can to help encourage that activity," he added.

The other sensitive issue topping the summit agenda is Afghanistan. President Bush will call on NATO countries to step up their commitment.

"I'm going to thank our allies for standing⁹ with the people, the brave people of this young democracy," he added.  "I will remind them that we're not only in a mission to protect our own security; we're on a humanitarian¹⁰ mission that will free young girls to be able to realize their dreams."

Convincing others to up their deployments may well be the biggest challenge facing the president at the summit as many NATO members are reluctant to commit more forces to areas where heavy combat is likely.

"Now is the time for nations to make the hard decisions necessary so our children can grow up in a more peaceful world," he said.  "I will call upon more international assistance to help Afghanistan on the road to freedom. We know what is at stake, and we know what we have to do. And so we're going to help the people of Afghanistan realize the blessings¹¹ of liberty."

President Bush will stop in Ukraine before the NATO summit, and he will visit Croatia after the meeting to welcome the new members of the alliance. He will then head to Russia for what is expected to be his last meeting with President Vladimir Putin as heads of state.

1 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。

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 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。

4 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 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。

11 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》