VOA常速英语2014--缅甸东盟峰会不会产生突破

 

Myanmar ASEAN Summit Won’t Be About Breakthroughs 缅甸东盟峰会不会产生突破

BANGKOK— 

Myanmar is to host leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit next week. The gathering¹ includes the U.S. and Russian presidents, China’s paramount² leader and the Indian prime minister, as well as Southeast Asian leaders. Expectations are limited for the gathering.

曼谷— 缅甸下周将接待东南亚国家联盟（东盟）领导人并主办东亚峰会。与会者包括美俄总统、中国元首、印度总理以及东南亚各国领导人。外界对对这次会议并无太高的期待。

The ASEAN way of consensus³, conciliation⁴ and non-intervention has helped keep the peace in recent years in a historically volatile⁵ region.

东盟秉持的寻求共识、调解和不干预原则使一个历史上动荡的地区近年来维持了和平。

And that is the only effective way for ASEAN to function, contends  Rodolfo Severino, a former secretary general who heads the ASEAN Studies Center at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

前东盟秘书长、现新加坡东南亚研究院东盟研究中心主任鲁道夫.塞韦里诺在接受美国之音Skype采访时说，这是东盟发挥作用的唯一有效途径。

 “No, ASEAN is not about breakthroughs. ASEAN works on an incremental⁶ basis,” he told VOA during an interview via Skype.

鲁道夫.塞韦里诺说：“不，东盟的目标不是带来突破，而是从点点滴滴做起。”

But that can be an obstacle to tackling critical issues, according to Professor Jason Briggs at the Bangkok campus of Webster University.

但是，韦伯斯特大学曼谷校区教授杰森.布里格斯认为，这样做可能阻碍严重问题的解决，

“ASEAN, typically at summits and when the members are meeting, the outcomes are memorandums, declarations and joint⁷ statement - soft law type mechanisms⁸ instead of more hard law type binding⁹ instruments," he said.

 杰森.布里格斯教授说：“东盟峰会和成员国会议的结果无非是发表被网络、宣言和联合声明，这些文件不像法律文件那样具有约束力。”

Cross-border trade, travel 

One of its most significant accomplishments¹⁰ is expected to be next year’s inauguration¹¹ of the ASEAN Economic Community, facilitating cross-border trade and travel. But details remain vague, something that should be clarified at this year’s summit says Severino, the former ASEAN Secretary-General from the Philippines.

其中最重要的成果之一是将于明年诞生的推进跨国贸易和旅游的东盟经济共同体。但是来自菲律宾的前东盟秘书长塞韦里诺说，细节仍待今年峰会进一步明确。

“... meaning what kind of community are we looking at and here the leaders have to define it because it’s not so far away. And it will happen during Malaysia’s chairmanship. It will have to happen,” he said.  

塞韦里诺说：“这意味着我们将看到的是怎样的一个共同体。这些领导人必须作出决定，因为它离我们并不遥远。这将在马来西亚当轮值主席的任期内发生。这是一定会发生的。”

At last year’s summits, President Barack Obama cancelled his trip amid the U.S. government shutdown, allowing China’s leaders to grab the spotlight¹².

去年，美国总统奥巴马由于政府关门而取消峰会行程，让中国领导人占尽风头。

Critical for U.S. diplomacy¹³ this year will also be the face time, one-on-one, with government heads from outside ASEAN’s ten member states.

与东盟十个成员国以外的政府首脑一对一的会谈，将是美国今年在峰会期间的重要外交活动。

“The leaders from India with the new Modi administration and Russia - of course we have many bilateral¹⁴ concerns with Russia in the U.S. - they are also invited. It’s also an opportunity for there to be potentially some constructive¹⁵ dialogue on the side between President Obama and those leaders,” he said.

布里格斯教授说：“印度新上任的莫迪政府和俄罗斯领导人也都受到了邀请，尽管美国和俄罗斯有许多双边问题。这也是一个重要的机会，因为奥巴马有可能在会议期间和其他领导人举行建设性对话。”

Obama’s sideline discussions will cover a number of critical issues, including the Islamic State extremist movement, the continued trouble in Ukraine, difficulties with the trans-Pacific trade talks, China’s maritime¹⁶ expansion and how to contain west Africa’s Ebola epidemic¹⁷.

奥巴马讨论的副话题将涵盖一系列重大问题，其中包括伊斯兰国极端主义运动、乌克兰问题、泛太平洋贸易谈判的困难，中国的海上扩张以及如何遏制西非的埃博拉疫情等等。

1 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。

2 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 conciliation   

n.调解，调停

参考例句：

• By conciliation,cooperation is established.通过调解，友好合作关系得以确立。
• Their attempts at conciliation had failed and both sides were once again in dispute.他们进行调停的努力失败了，双方再次陷入争吵。

5 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

6 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

10 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

12 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

13 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

14 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。

15 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

16 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

17 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。