VOA慢速英语20060204a

IN THE NEWS - 'The United States Will Not Retreat From the World,' Bush SaysBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Saturday, February 04, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.


George Bush, delivering his 2006 State of the Union address

President Bush gave his State of the Union speech to both houses of Congress and the American people Tuesday.

This year, one of the major subjects was the nation's dependence¹ on oil. Mister Bush said, in his words, America is addicted² to oil, which is often imported from unstable³ parts of the world. He promised to help reduce the need for foreign oil. He called for twenty-two percent more federal money for research into other kinds of fuel.

The president said his goal is to reduce oil imports from the Middle East by seventy-five percent by two thousand twenty-five. Energy officials say oil from the Persian Gulf⁴ is now eleven percent of all the oil used in the United States. The largest suppliers are Mexico and Canada.

Mister Bush also spoke⁵ about helping⁶ the Gulf Coast recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. And he again called on Congress to make his tax cuts permanent.

He also called for additional programs to improve public education. One proposal is to train seventy thousand high school teachers to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science. Students can get college credit for such classes.

On another subject, Mister Bush called for a commission to study the increasing costs of social and health programs for poor and older Americans. These are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

And the president spoke again of his goal to spread freedom and democracy around the world. He called on the government of Egypt to open paths of peaceful opposition⁷. He urged Saudi Arabia to press forward with what he described as the first steps of reform.

And he discussed the first Palestinian legislative⁸ elections in ten years. On January twenty-fifth, the Islamic movement Hamas defeated the longtime ruling party, Fatah. Mister Bush said now the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm⁹, reject terrorism and work for lasting¹⁰ peace.

Also in his speech, the president dismissed calls to withdraw troops from Iraq. And he said the nations of the world must not permit Iran to gain nuclear weapons.

Mister Bush also spoke about support at home for the fight against terror. He told Americans they cannot find security by retreating within our borders. He said, The United States will not retreat from the world, and we will never surrender to evil.

The new governor of Virginia gave the Democratic Party response to this year's speech. Tim Kaine accused the Bush administration of what he called poor choices and bad management.

Governor Kaine said all Americans support the goal of winning the war on terrorism. And that, he said, leads Democrats¹¹ to ask this question: Are the president's policies the best way to win this war.

IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English was written by Nancy Steinbach. Our reports are online at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

2 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

3 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 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。

7 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。

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

9 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

10 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

11 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》