美国国家公共电台 NPR--Biden is wrapping up a week of high-level meetings with allies in Europe

Biden is wrapping up a week of high-level meetings with allies in Europe

Transcript¹

While in Europe, President Biden committed more U.S. troops to NATO and worked with G-7 leaders on Russia. Before heading home, he'll take questions about the domestic issues waiting for him.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

President Biden is wrapping up a week of high-level meetings with allies in Europe.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Russia has been the focus, and the president says NATO and the G-7 have sent a unified² message. But that message has been overshadowed here in the U.S. by other big news events. Before he leaves for home today, President Biden will face questions at a press conference.

MARTINEZ: NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith joins us now from Madrid. Tam, how's the trip gone for President Biden?

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE³: Well, you know, he has had some success here at the NATO summit. Most notably⁴, Turkey dropped its opposition⁵ to the application from Finland and Sweden to join the alliance. And the White House says that during this trip, President Biden played a big part in that. He called the Turkish president on Tuesday and talked about Turkey's concerns about Finland and Sweden. And he said that this would be a great opportunity to resolve all of those issues so that the two presidents could sit down together and talk about other things at the NATO summit, and then that is exactly what happened. The White House insists that there was no sweetener offered by President Biden, though we do know that Turkey has been eager to buy U.S. fighter jets and the Defense⁶ Department is saying that it supports that. That is something that would have to work its way through the contracting process, and Congress would need to sign off. But that is something I am sure President Biden will be asked about at the press conference today. Like, were there really no sweeteners?

MARTINEZ: Yeah. Yeah. Now, while he's been away focused on NATO and Ukraine, there's been a lot happening back home. Has that affected⁷ his trip at all?

KEITH: Yeah. I mean, he has mostly just kept his head down here and stayed focused on these summits. I have been struck by just how little we've heard from him other than occasional brief remarks at the start of a meeting. He hasn't given any major speeches or addresses. He's barely responded to shouted questions. And this trip started and will now end with big Supreme⁸ Court decisions. First, the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe⁹ v. Wade¹⁰ - that happened the day before he left. It has dominated the news - you know better than I do - in the U.S. ever since. And there's been a lot of frustration¹¹ from his supporters that he hasn't said more about it in the last week. And now we know that there are going to be big decisions on immigration and environmental regulations today as he heads home. There was also that January 6 hearing on Tuesday with stunning¹² revelations that really overshadowed that news about Finland and Sweden clearing the hurdle¹³ to join NATO.

MARTINEZ: You know, it's been a minute since President Biden's had a formal news conference. What do you expect he'll be asked today?

KEITH: Yeah. The last major news conference that Biden held - I was actually there - it was in March. It was also at the end of a NATO summit, that one in Brussels. So it has been a long time. This will be the first time that Biden has faced questions - that weren't shouted from a distance, at least - on what he plans to do now that abortion¹⁴ rights have been overturned. He did set up a commission some time ago to examine the Supreme Court, but he's never said whether he supports changes like term limits.

He might be asked about the economy. People's lives are really being affected by high gas prices and food prices, and some of that is being driven by big global forces. But there was not a lot of obvious or immediate¹⁵ progress on those issues in these meetings that Biden had this week. At least, they didn't talk about it much publicly. A new poll yesterday from the Associated Press showed 85% of people say the country is on the wrong track. That includes nearly 8 in 10 Democrats¹⁶. So there is a lot of discontent ahead of the November elections. He could get asked about that, and I expect he could even be asked if he still plans to run again in 2024.

MARTINEZ: That's NPR's Tamara Keith in Madrid. Tamara, thanks a lot.

KEITH: You're welcome.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

10 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

11 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

12 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

13 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

14 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

15 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

16 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》