VOA常速英语2020--蓬佩奥论不可剥夺的权利

Next, an editorial reflceting the views of the United States government.The founders¹ of the United States, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, “changed the course of history when they established a nation built on the premise² that government exists not to diminish or cancel the individual’s rights at the whim³ of those in power, but to secure them.”On July 8, 2019, Secretary Pompeo commissioned a group of scholars and activists⁴ to “furnish advice on human rights grounded in America’s founding principles and the principles of the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights.” This endeavor, known as the Commission on Unalienable Rights, recently issued a draft report.Welcoming the release of the commission’s draft report, Secretary Pompeo confirmed that the United States was founded on certain unalienable rights without which “our efforts to protect and promote human rights is unmoored, and therefore, destined⁵ to fail:”“America’s founders didn’t invent ‘unalienable rights,’but stated very clearly in the Declaration of Independence that they are held as ‘self-evident’ that human beings were ‘created equal’ and ‘endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. . .among those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’”

接下来是一篇反映美国政府观点的社论。美国国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥表示，美国的创立者们“改变了历史进程，他们创建这个国家的前提是，政府的存在不是为了单凭掌权者的意志削减或取消个人的权力，而是要去保障他们的权利。”2019年7月8日，美国国务卿彭佩奥委托一批学者和活跃分子，“根据美国的建国原则和1948年《世界人权宣言》的原则，就人权问题提供建议。”美国所做的这次努力，即不可剥夺权利委员会，最近公布了第一份报告草案。国务卿彭佩奥对不可剥夺权利委员会这份报告草案的发布表示欢迎，他确认美国是建立在某些不可剥夺的权利之上的，没有这些权利，“我们为保护和推进人权所做的努力就会脱节，这注定会失败：”“美国的缔造者们并没有发明‘不可剥夺的权利，’但在《独立宣言》中非常明确地指出，我们认为下列真理是‘不言而喻的’：人人‘生而平等’，他们‘都被他们的造物主赋予了某些不可转让的权利’……其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。’”

Secretary Pompeo went to say:“No one can enjoy the pursuit of happiness if you cannot own the fruits of your own labor⁶, and no society can retain its legitimacy⁷ or a virtuous⁸ character without religious freedom."It is clear that “unalienable rights are central to who we are as Americans,” and so they too, must “underpin our foreign policy,” said Secretary Pompeo:“If we truly believe that rights are unalienable, inviolate⁹, enduring, indeed, universal, just as the founders did, then defending them ought to be the bedrock of our every diplomatic endeavor.”Indeed, America’s commitment to unalienable rights at home has proved a beacon¹⁰ of hope for men and women abroad pursuing their own liberties. One such example is Soviet¹¹ dissident Natan Sharansky. When he heard of President Ronald Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech while imprisoned¹², he said it was a “ray of hope” in the darkness of his punishment cell.“I am confident,” said Secretary Pompeo, “that the American star will shine across the heavens, so long as we keep a proper understanding of unalienable rights at the center of our unending quest to secure freedom for our own people and all of mankind.”That was an editorial reflceting the views of the United States government.

国务卿蓬佩奥表示：“如果你无法拥有自己的劳动成果，那么任何人都无法享受对幸福的追求，如果没有宗教自由，任何社会都无法保持其合法性和美德。”显然，“不可剥夺的权利是我们作为美国人的核心，”因此它们也必须“支撑我们的外交政策，”国务卿蓬佩奥表示：“如果我们真的像开国元勋那样，相信权利是不可剥夺的、不容侵犯的、持久的、确实普遍的，那么捍卫这些权利应该是我们进行一切外交努力的基石。”事实证明，美国在国内践行不可剥夺的权利的行为，是海外追求自由的人们的希望灯塔。苏联异见人士纳坦·夏兰斯基就是一个例子。当他在狱中听到里根总统的“邪恶帝国”演讲时，他说，这是他在黑暗的惩罚牢房里看到的“希望之光”。“我有信心，”国务卿蓬佩奥表示，“美国之星会照耀天空，“只要我们能够正确的认识到，不可剥夺的权利是我们为自己的人民和全人类争取自由的不懈追求的核心。”这是一篇反映美国政府观点的社论。

1 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

2 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

3 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

4 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》

5 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

8 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

9 inviolate   

adj.未亵渎的，未受侵犯的

参考例句：

• The constitution proclaims that public property shall be inviolate.宪法宣告公共财产不可侵犯。
• They considered themselves inviolate from attack.他们认为自己是不可侵犯的。

10 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。