VOA标准英语2013--G20峰会有望讨论叙利亚问题

 

World Leaders Begin G20 Summit in Russia G20峰会有望讨论叙利亚问题

Leaders of the world's 20 major economies, both developed and developing, are meeting in the Russian city of St. Petersburg Thursday and Friday to discuss economic and other issues.  The eyes of the international community are on these G20 leaders as they discuss, among other issues, how to end Syria's bloody¹ civil war.  The world's economy remains² the official number one topic at the annual forum³.

For days ahead of the G20 summit, President Obama has urged world leaders to support punitive⁴ action against Syria for breaking the international ban on the use of chemical weapons.  But during a stop in Sweden Wednesday, he made it clear that the economy remains his top priority.  

"And as I head into the G-20, I shared my view that here in Europe and around the world, weve got to stay focused on creating jobs and growth," Obama said. "Thats going to be critically important not only for our economies but also to maintain stability in many of our democracies that are under severe stress at this point."  

Some people see the two issues as inseparable.

"The dampening of growth is really impacted by what's happening in Syria, that's a core G20 agenda, but at the end of the day, G20 has to deliver on the expectations of people in their countries and they're all looking at the utter impotence of the world when it comes to 2 million refugees, a million of them kids, 100,000 dead in Syria.  So I think it's inescapable,'' said Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision, Australia's largest charity organization.

Russian political analyst⁵ Konstantin Eggert said it is unrealistic to expect any practical decisions on global issues from the 20 nations of different and sometimes conflicting interests. He cited the tense relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama.

"President Putin doesn't like, or I would even put it stronger, despises President Obama -- sees him as an inexperienced politician, a person too much focused on his own public relations, who has too much trust in ratings and his spin doctors, a person who has changed his Middle East policies twice in the last two years,'' Eggert said.

The annual G20 gathering⁶ is an opportunity for world leaders to hold bilateral⁷ talks on the sidelines of the summit.  But President Obama is not expected to meet with his Russian counterpart.  He cancelled a planned state visit to Moscow last month after Russia granted temporary asylum⁸ to fugitive⁹ U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.  Mr. Obama is planning instead to meet with a group of Russian rights activists¹⁰.  

President Putin defended his government's human rights record on the eve of the summit.

"This year, the funding from government sources of the NGO  [non-governmental organization] activity, including human rights protection, has more than tripled," Putin said. "More than $100 million were allocated¹¹  to implement¹² socially important projects."

The 20 countries represented at the summit account for two-thirds of the world population and 90 percent of its economic output. 

1 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

4 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

5 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。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

8 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

9 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

12 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。