VOA标准英语2008年-US Leaders Break Ground for Peace Institute

By Scott Stearns
White House
05 June 2008

American political leaders gathered in Washington Thursday for the ceremonial groundbreaking of a building for a nonpartisan group helping¹ to resolve international conflict and promote peace. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.
　

Computer model of new US Institute of Peace headquarters

This will be the first permanent headquarters for the U.S. Institute of Peace, founded by Congress in 1984 as an independent, nonpartisan organization to resolve conflict and promote post-conflict stability and development.

Former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz said the group is focused on trying to better understand what factors lead to violence and how are they resolved.

"How did something violent go to something more stable and peaceful? How did that breakdown² and all of a sudden there is violence, from the killing³ fields of Cambodia to something more stable," he said.
　

President Bush, former Secretary of State George Shultz, center, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi take part in a ceremonial groundbreaking of the United States Institute of Peace, 5 Jun 2008

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the U.S. Institute of Peace helped resolve some of the worst violence of the last century and continues that work today.

"The Institute has played a role in helping to find peaceful solutions from South Africa to Rwanda in Kosovo and now in Sudan," she noted⁴.

U.S. President George Bush said it is in America's vital interest to help resolve conflict because people who live in free societies are less likely to turn to ideologies⁵ of hatred⁶ and fear.

"Freedom is universal," he said. "We believe that freedom is the birthright of every man, woman, and child. Free societies are peaceful societies. Freedom helps supplant⁷ the conditions of hopelessness that extremists exploit to recruit terrorists and suicide bombers⁸."

The president again spoke⁹ of the ideological¹⁰ struggle against extremism and three primary ways it challenges free societies. He said countries including Colombia, Lebanon, and Pakistan are facing drug cartels or terrorist networks that are threatening to overwhelm state institutions.

"There are developing nations, many on the continent of Africa, that are facing extreme poverty and health epidemics¹¹ and humanitarian¹² catastrophes¹³ and are therefore vulnerable to extremists who take advantage of chaos¹⁴ and instability," he added.

And in Afghanistan and Iraq where U.S. forces have removed previous governments, Mr. Bush said the United States has a special obligation to help build free societies by providing the security necessary for that freedom to grow.
　

US Institute of Peace construction site, 15 May 2008

The U.S. Institute of Peace is currently working on conflict and post-conflict analysis in Afghanistan, Nigeria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and Liberia.

Its headquarters near Washington's Lincoln Memorial will include a public education center, a research library, archives, classrooms, and a conference center.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 ideologies   

n.思想（体系）( ideology的名词复数 )；思想意识；意识形态；观念形态

参考例句：

• There is no fundamental diversity between the two ideologies. 这两种思想意识之间并没有根本的分歧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Radical ideologies require to contrast to their own goodness the wickedness of some other system. 凡是过激的意识形态，都需要有另外一个丑恶的制度作对比，才能衬托出自己的善良。 来自辞典例句

6 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

7 supplant   

vt.排挤；取代

参考例句：

• Electric cars may one day supplant petrol-driven ones.也许有一天电动车会取代汽油驱动的车。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

11 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

12 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。

13 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

14 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。