Obama backs Mexico's war on drugs

US President Barack Obama has said the US is a "full partner" with Mexico in its fight against the drug cartels.

Speaking in Mexico City, he said the US must stem（组织） the flow of guns across the border that is fuelling（加燃料，供以燃料，这里指加剧）the bloodshed.（流血事件）

Following talks with his Mexican counterpart（对应的物或人）, Felipe Calderon, Mr Obama said he would push the US Senate to ratify（批准，认可） a small arms trafficking treaty.（条约，协定）

The two leaders also agreed on a new partnership¹ to fight climate change and promote green energy production.

Hours before Mr Obama arrived, 15 gunmen and one soldier were killed in a shoot-out in southern Mexico, officials said.

Mexico's defence department said soldiers on a drug patrol（巡逻，巡查） came under fire from gunmen in a vehicle（传播媒介，工具，手段） in the remote, mountainous state of Guerrero.

Mr Obama again acknowledged America's shared responsibility for the violence which has killed more than 6,000 people over the last year.

'New era'Speaking at his welcoming ceremony, Mr Obama said the US needed to do more to help.

"At a time when the Mexican government has so courageously² taken on the drug cartels that have plagued （折磨，使。。。苦恼）both sides of the borders, it is absolutely critical that the United States joins as a full partner in dealing³ with this issue," Mr Obama said.

He said he preferred to focus on enforcing(例行，强迫，执行) existing laws to keep US assault（攻击，突袭） weapons out of Mexico, rather than trying to renew a US ban which expired （到期，解散）in 1994.

Backtracking on a campaign pledge to reinstate(恢复) the ban, Mr Obama said that doing so would be politically difficult.

The Mexican leader hailed a "new era" where Mexico and the US faced challenges together.

Aside from combating the drug menace（威胁，胁迫）, Mr Calderon said the two leaders had agreed on a new framework （结构，构架，框架）on clean energy and climate change that set out a legal framework and bilateral⁴ market mechanisms（机制） for carbon emissions⁵(发射).

He said proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would also be discussed.

Regional summit

Mexico is Mr Obama's only stop on the way to the Summit of the Americas, being held in Trinidad and Tobago.

For most Mexicans, the main concern is reviving（返青）the economy, says the BBC's Stephen Gibbs in Mexico City.

Mexico sends 80% of its exports to the US and millions of Mexican families rely on remittances⁶ from relatives working north of the border, our correspondent says.

Relations between the US and Mexico hit a low point earlier this year when a US military report said drugs-related violence was in danger of turning Mexico into a failed state.

Over the past two years, some 8,000 people have been killed as gangs battle for control of the lucrative（有利益的，有利可图的）drug trafficking routes into the US.

But President Obama's administration has since expressed solidarity（团结） with Mr Calderon who has sent hundreds of troops（部队） to regain⁷ control of the  worst-affected areas.

During a visit to Mexico City in March, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US shared responsibility for the drugs problem.

She said America's "insatiable（贪求无厌的） demand" for illegal drugs fuelled the trade and that the US had an "inability" to stop weapons from being smuggled⁸ south.

Mr Obama has sent hundreds of federal agents along with high-tech⁹ surveillance （监视，监督）equipment and drug-sniffer dogs to help Mexico fight the cartels.

On Wednesday, the US placed three Mexican organisations on its list of suspected drug syndicates（联合组织） and Mr Obama also charged a senior official with stopping drugs-related violence crossing from Mexico into the US.

(本文由在线英语听力室编辑整理)

1 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。

2 courageously   

ad.勇敢地，无畏地

参考例句：

• Under the correct leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the army and civilians in flooded areas fought the floods courageously, reducing the losses to the minimum. 在中共中央、国务院的正确领导下，灾区广大军民奋勇抗洪，把灾害的损失减少到了最低限度。
• He fought death courageously though his life was draining away. 他虽然生命垂危，但仍然勇敢地与死亡作斗争。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 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。

5 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

6 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

7 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

8 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

9 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。