VOA标准英语2012--Colombian Competes for World Bank Presidency

Colombian Competes for World Bank Presidency¹

 International experience

Jose Antonio Ocampo won praise as the head of Colombia’s Ministries² of Finance, and Agriculture and as chief of its central bank, for boosting economic growth and investment.

Ocampo says he is the only candidate who has headed national, regional, and global organizations.

Now a professor at Columbia University, he previously³ researched and taught development economics at Britain's Cambridge University and other schools. 

Ocampo also served in high-level posts at the United Nations, including undersecretary- general for economic and social affairs, making him well-known to experts in the field like Uri Dadush of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

"[Ocampo is] one of the recognized development experts in the world today. Huge experience, said Dadush. "Whether he has the management skill, the kind of determination that you need to run a large organization like that is a question in my mind."

Ocampo worked on a book with Nancy Birdsall of the Center for Global Development.

"He is a very esteemed⁴ academic, has written a lot, has done a lot of good work," said Birdsall.

"I’d say he is stronger on some of those macro [economic] issues than some of the microeconomic issues and sectoral⁶ issues where the World Bank tends to be involved, education, health, infrastructure⁷, and so on.” 

Focus on poverty reduction

Ocampo thinks the World Bank should do more to help small-scale agriculture as part of its mission to reduce poverty. He says the bank should put more emphasis on middle-income nations that are home to so many of the world’s poor and make more efforts to improve gender⁸ equality.

He says the effects of global warming are already visible and should be high on the bank’s agenda along with food prices and problems with the financial sector⁵.

Ocampo believes one step in coping with global warming is helping⁹ emerging nations find and manage the energy they need to grow while minimizing the impact on the environment.

He admits these tasks will require more money. He says major emerging nations are the most likely source of funds and would be more likely to increase their support if they got a greater say in the bank’s activities, including the selection of its president.

Ocampo is in a three-way race with U.S. nominee¹⁰ Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-American health expert, and Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. 

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 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 sectoral   

adj.扇形的

参考例句：

• Is agriculture actually taxed by sectoral policies, or is It'subsidized? 按照部门政策，农业实际上是上缴了税还是得到了补贴呢？ 来自辞典例句
• In the 1980s this concept was used to buttress several so-called sectoral reciprocity proposals. 80年代这一原则曾被用来支持几个所谓部分互惠建议。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 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。

10 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。