VOA常速英语2020--自由民主是人权的最佳保障

Next, an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government.

以下是一篇反映美国政府政策立场的社论。

Religious freedom is a fundamental right enshrined in the First Amendment¹ of the U.S. Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Peter Berkowitz, the Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, said there is a correlation² between countries that protect religious freedom and those that respect other basic rights:

宗教自由是美国宪法第一修正案所载的一项基本权利：“国会不得制定确立一种宗教或禁止信仰自由的法律。”美国国务院政策规划办公室主任彼得·博尔考维茨表示，保护宗教自由的国家和那些尊重其它基本权利的国家之间存在关联性。

“We know as an empirical matter the high correlation between countries that protect religious liberty and countries that protect all the other freedoms that the United States has traditionally cared about. And this of course makes sense if you’re protecting the liberty to have a difference of opinion about one of the matters that human beings have fought over most. Differences of opinion about God.” The United States Declaration of Independence and the U.N Declaration of Human Rights, said Director Berkowitz, set forth³ a universal standard for judging all forms of government and is what all governments should aspire⁴ to. He also expressed his hope that “people come to an appreciation⁵ that . . .liberal democracy, is the form of government best suited to vindicating⁶ human rights.”

“我们通过经验得知，保护宗教自由的国家和保护美国过去一直关心的其它自由的国家之间存在高度的关联性。如果你是在保护在人类争斗最多的一件事情上持有不同意见的自由，这当然是可以理解的。也就是关于上帝的的不同看法。”博尔考维茨表示，《美国独立宣言》和《世界人权宣言》阐述了评判所有不同形态的政府的普遍标准，所有国家政府都应该渴望遵循这一标准。他还表示，希望“民众能够理解，自由民主是最适合维护人权的政府形态。”

That was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government.

这是一篇反映美国政府政策立场的社论。

1 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

2 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

5 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

6 vindicating   

v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的现在分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护

参考例句：

• Protesters vowed to hold commemorative activities until Beijing's verdict vindicating the crackdown was overturned. 示威者誓言除非中国政府平反六四，否则一直都会举行悼念活动。 来自互联网