VOA标准英语2012--'Friends of Syria' to Meet for Opposition Support

'Friends of Syria' to Meet for Opposition¹ Support

When the friends of Syria's uprising meet in Istanbul, they will be looking for a clearer picture of what President Assad's opponents intend to do with the country if they take power. 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that is crucial for Syrians to unite in support of political change.

“They must come forward with a unified² position, a vision if you will, of the kind of Syria that they are working to build," she said. "They must be able to clearly demonstrate a commitment to including all Syrians and protecting the rights of all Syrians.”

The Syrian National Council is the largest opposition group to emerge from the year-long government crackdown on dissent³. 

"This new government will represent everyone in Syria," said SNC spokesman George Sabra. "The Syrian president will be elected freely, either by the parliament or by the people. This elected government will assure the independence of the legal system and also assure the rights of individuals and groups."

Middle East analyst⁴ Steve Heydemann says the diversity of Syria's opposition complicates⁵ agreement on a common strategy, especially in the midst of armed conflict.

“There are a huge number of groups with very different priorities and agendas that define the Syrian opposition," said Heydemann. "So bringing them together under an umbrella like the Syrian National Council and expecting that they would easily or quickly move toward some kind of coherent set of goals and objectives is probably a little bit unrealistic.”

With government forces driving back opposition fighters, the Friends of Syria group is urging closer cooperation between civilian⁶ and military leaders of the uprising to help rally skeptical⁷ civilians⁸ to their cause.

“I think the international community is concerned that the opposition has been a bit too vague about what the future of Syria might look like," he said. "And that uncertainty⁹ has kept a lot of Syrians on the sidelines - people who might support the opposition if they were confident about what a post-Assad Syria would mean for them.”

The United States and Turkey are considering non-lethal assistance for the uprising in hopes of building momentum¹⁰ for President Assad's opponents as U.N. and Arab League envoy¹¹ Kofi Annan pushes a Russian-approved peace plan for a cease-fire and humanitarian¹² assistance.

The Syrian government this week accepted the Annan plan. But Western diplomats¹³ and the Syrian opposition are skeptical about any plan that doesn't call for Assad to leave power.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

3 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

8 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

9 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

10 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• 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。

11 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

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 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》