VOA标准英语2009年-EU Reaches Agreement on Climate Aid

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
30 October 2009

European Union leaders overcame differences on funding for climate change, and moved forward on new leadership posts for the 27-member block as they wrapped up a two-day summit.

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels hailed an agreement on climate change, reached after weeks of wrangling² over how much members should contribute to developing countries to adapt to global warming.

 
Jose Manuel Barroso gestures during a media conference at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, 30 Oct 2009
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the deal an important breakthrough at a joint³ press conference with Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, which currently holds the rotating European Union presidency⁴.

"We can now look the rest of the world in the eyes and say we Europeans, we have done our job," he said. "We are ready for Copenhagen. We have agreed on a negotiating mandate⁵, we have a clear endorsement⁶ on some of the [European] Commission's proposals, notably⁷ on financing. I think this is essential.

Under the deal, the 27-member bloc¹ would contribute to an overall annual aid fund of $74 billion for poorer nations. But they didn't specify⁸ how much Europe would contribute compared with other nations. Mr. Barroso and Mr. Reinfeldt will be discussing climate change next week with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.

The Europeans also began discussing the broad outlines of future leadership posts for the European Union, once a reforming charter known as the Lisbon Treaty is fully⁹ ratified¹⁰. Members hope that will happen before the year's end. The charter sets up new offices, including the powerful post of president of the European Union.

And Mr. Barroso says they agreed to keep in place stimulus¹¹ measures to fight the economic crisis.

"We must maintain efforts until the moment we finally overcome the crisis," he said. "At the same time, we must prepare exit strategies in a coordinated¹² way."

The heads of state are expected to hold another summit next month to discuss candidates for the new EU presidency job. Possible contenders include former prime minister Tony Blair of Britain and current prime minister Jean-Claude Junker of Luxembourg.

1 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

2 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 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。

5 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

6 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

11 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

12 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法