G8 Summit Ends With Harsh Words, Promises

     President Barack Obama and other G8 leaders wrapped up a two-day summit in the French coastal¹ town of Deauville with harsh words for the governments in Libya, Syria and Iran but promises of billions in aid for democratic transitions in Egypt and Tunisia.

    Following talks Friday with French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, President Barack Obama said the two were united in their call for Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi to go.

    "We agreed that we have made progress on our Libya campaign but that meeting the UN mandate² of civilian³ protection cannot be accomplished⁴ when Gadhafi remains⁵ in Libya directing his forces in acts of aggression⁶ against the Libyan people," the president said. "And we are joined in resolve to finish the job."The push for Gadhafi's departure got a boost from Russia, which has offered to mediate⁷ the Libyan leader's departure. G8 leaders in Deauville also condemned⁸ Iran's nuclear program during their two-day meeting. Summit host, President Sarkozy, said he agreed with President Obama that Syria's leader Bashar al-Assad should either allow a democratic transition in his country - or step aside.

    But the G8 leaders also offered major incentives⁹ to two Arab nations on the road to democracy - promising¹⁰ $20 billion in aid to Egypt and Tunisia via multilateral institutions. President Sarkozy said another $20 billion was available to the two countries in bilateral¹¹ assistance and other aid.

    Tunisian Finance Minister Jalloul Ayed told reporters the country's top priority was to boost the economy and create jobs for hundreds of thousands of unemployed¹² youths.

    "The consolidation¹³ of democracy goes hand in hand with prosperity," Ayed said. "Because if Tunisians don't feel very quickly that democracy is creating the conditions for them to feel better, to feel more prosperous, then we run the risk to see that democratic process fail in the end."Democracy was the hallmark of G8 talks with several leaders from sub-Saharan Africa.They included those from three countries - Ivory Coast, Guinea and Niger - who have recently held democratic elections.

    Sarkozy said African countries understand the new G8 partnership¹⁴ with Africa will give priority to those countries who fight against corruption¹⁵ and for democracy.

    Nongovernmental activists¹⁶ say the G8 summit should have given more priority to the environment and helping¹⁷ the poorest and most vulnerable. But some, like Save the Children's Global Campaign Director Adrian Lovett said this year's G8 also delivered good news.

    "Well we think there are some good signs coming out of this French G8. We didn't have the highest hopes for the outcome for Africa but some signs of progress," said Lovett. "The critical thing for us is that the package that's been agreed for Arab countries musn't divert attention away from the existing promises that leaders have made to Africa, to the very poorest countries."Besides supporting the so-called "Arab spring" declaration, G8 leaders also pledged to help Africa achieve peace, stability, economic development and growth.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 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。

6 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

7 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

8 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

9 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

11 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。

12 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

13 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

14 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

15 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

16 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》

17 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。