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46 热那亚八国集团会议
DATE=7-28-01
TITLE=IN THE NEWS#491 - Group of Eight Conference
BYLINE=Cynthia Kirk
(start at 1'5") This is Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS.
Last week, the heads of government of the Group of Eight held a three-day meeting in (1)Genoa, Italy. The members are the leading industrial nations --the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada--and also Russia.
The leaders met to (2)discuss world (3)trade and (4)economic development. They also discussed disease prevention, debt reduction, and other (5)issues. Officials from several developing countries including (6)Nigeria, (7)Mali, (8)Bangladesh and (9)El Salvador were invited to take part in the (10)conference for the first time.
During the talks, about one-hundred-thousand (11)protesters (12)demonstrated outside the historic palace in Genoa where the meeting was held. They gathered there to express their anger about world trade.
One person was killed during the protests. The (13)Italian Interior Ministry says the (14)demonstrator was shot in an act of self-defense by a member of Italy's national police force.
Many protesters (15)condemned the deadly use of force by the Italian police. The Group of Eight leaders expressed sorrow for the death and (16)urged demonstrators to (17)reject (18)violence.
The protesters (19)represented trade unions, environmental groups, farmers, and the unemployed. Most shared a concern about the effects of international trade. Many of the protesters believe world trade harms the people of poor countries. They say major international companies are becoming wealthy while harming the poor and the environment.
(20)Opponents of world trade want wealthy nations to reduce debt in developing countries. They also called for better education in poor countries and more money to treat diseases in Africa.
The Group of Eight leaders said world trade helps all people. They promised to work to bring the poorest countries into the world economy. And they promised to continue to deal with issues important to all areas of the world.
The leaders also discussed the (21)worldwide AIDS (22)crisis and other deadly diseases. They agreed to provide more than one-thousand-million dollars to support efforts to prevent and treat AIDS, (23)tuberculosis and (24)malaria. These (25)preventable diseases kill millions of people each year. Most of the (26)victims live in poor countries.
One of the most (27)disputed issues at the G-Eight meeting was the Kyoto treaty to halt the warming of the Earth's atmosphere. President Bush continues to reject the treaty. He says it would harm the American economy. Other leaders said they would work to put the treaty into effect.
At the end of the conference, President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced they would hold new arms talks. They said they want to link talks about reducing (28)nuclear weapons with American plans to build a (29)missile defense system.
This VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS, was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Bob Doughty.
(1)Genoa [ 5dVenEuE ]n.热那亚(意大利西北部的州及其首府)
(2)discuss [ dis5kQs ]vt.讨论, 论述
(3)trade [ treid ]n.贸易
(4)economic [ 7i:kE5nCmik ]adj.经济(上)的
(5)issue [ 5isju: ]n.论点
(6)Nigeria [ nai5dViEriE ]n.尼日利亚(非洲中西部国家)
(7)Mali [ 5mB:li: ]n.马里
(8)Bangladesh [ 7bB:N^lE5deF ]孟加拉国[亚洲]
(9)El Salvador [ 5sAlvEdC: ]n.萨尔瓦多(巴西港市)
(10)conference [ 5kCnfErEns ]n.会议, 讨论会, 协商会
(11)protest [ prE5test ]n.抗议
(12)demonstrate [ 5demEnstreit ] vi.示威
(13)Italian Interior Ministry n.意大利内阁
(14)demonstrator [ 5demEnstreitE ]n.示威者
(15)condemn [ kEn5dem ]vt.声讨, 谴责
(16)urge [ E:dV ]vt.力劝
(17)reject [ ri5dVekt ] vt.拒绝, 抵制
(18)violence [ 5vaiElEns ]n.暴力
(19)represent [ 7ri:pri5zent ]vt.表现
(20)opponent [ E5pEunEnt ] n.反对者
(21)worldwide [5w:ldwaId, -5waId]adj.全世界的
(22)crisis [ 5kraisis ]n. 危机
(23)tuberculosis [ tju7bE:kju5lEusis ]n.肺结核
(24)malaria [ mE5lZEriE ]n.疟疾
(25)preventable [prI5ventEb(E)l]adj. 可预防的
(26)victim [ 5viktim ]n.牺牲者, 牺牲品
(27)disputed vbl.争议
(28)nuclear [ 5nju:kliE ]adj. 原子能的, 核的
(29)missile [ 5misail, -sEl ]n.导弹
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