VOA标准英语2009-Gates Hopeful of Missile Defense Progress at

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates says that when President Barack Obama visits Moscow next month, he may find increased interest in cooperation in the effort to defend Europe from a potential Iranian missile attack. The secretary spoke² during a hearing at the U.S. Senate.
　
Defense Secretary Robert Gates (l) arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington to testify before the subcommittee's hearing on the Defense Department's fiscal³ year 2010 budget, 09 Jun 2009

Secretary Gates says Russian officials have updated their analysis of Iran's missile program, and now agree with the U.S. intelligence assessment⁴ that Iran is close to being able to strike targets in much of Europe, including Russia.

Gates recounted a meeting he had a couple of years ago with then-Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"When I first met with President Putin and talked about this, he basically dismissed the idea that the Iranians would have a missile that would have the range to reach much of Western Europe and much of Russia before 2020 or so," he said. "And he showed me a map that his intelligence guys had prepared. And I told him he needed a new intelligence service."

Russia has long opposed the U.S. plan to put anti-missile missiles and a sophisticated radar⁵ complex in Poland and the Czech Republic, calling the plan a threat to Russian security.

But Gates reported that more recently, the Russians have changed their assessment of the Iranian threat.

"The Russians have come back to us and acknowledged that we were right in terms of the nearness of the Iranian missile threat and that they had been wrong," he said. "And so my hope is we can build on that, and perhaps at the president's summit meeting with President [Dmitri] Medvedev perhaps begin to make some steps where they will partner with us and Poland and the Czech Republic, in going forward with missile defense."

The Obama administration has been reviewing whether the anti-missile system is technologically⁶ feasible and cost-effective, and whether there are other ways to counter or reduce the Iranian threat.

But Secretary Gates said U.S. concern about Iran has increased as it has moved forward with uranium enrichment and missile development, and rejected international efforts to discuss curtailing⁷ the programs, including overtures⁸ from Russia.

Gates promoted the European missile defense system as an official of the Bush administration, but backed off when the Obama administration began its review. The results of that review have not been announced, but Gates indicated on Tuesday that President Obama and his team would like to move forward.

"I think the administration is very interested in continuing to pursue this prospect⁹ with the Russians," he said. "And it may be that our chances are somewhat improved for making progress."

But Secretary Gates did not say whether the Obama administration is willing to move forward with the European missile defense plan without Russian cooperation, as the Bush administration was.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 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。

3 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

4 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

5 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

6 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。

7 curtailing   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They will be curtailing the discussions at two thirty. 他们将把讨论缩短至两点半。 来自互联网
• Individually, banks are acting rationally by retaining their capital and curtailing lending. 此外，银行们正在合理地保留其资本和减少贷款。 来自互联网

8 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句

9 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。