VOA慢速英语-IN THE NEWS - Wars, Politics and Memories of a Day T

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Thursday marked seven years since the attacks of September eleventh. Americans and others remembered the day al-Qaida terrorists crashed hijacked¹ planes into New York's World Trade Center.

A third plane hit the Pentagon, the Defense² Department building just outside Washington. And a fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought the hijackers. The attacks killed almost three thousand people.
　
A man sits on one of 184 new, stainless-steel benches, each with the name of a victim of the attack on the Pentagon

President George Bush attended his last observance in office for the anniversary of a day that set the direction for his presidency³. He was at the opening of a memorial park for the one hundred eighty-four victims at the Pentagon. Permanent memorials are also planned in New York and Pennsylvania.

Soon after the attacks, the president declared a War on Terror. The United States and Britain launched operations in Afghanistan. One goal was met: to oust⁴ the Taliban government that sheltered Osama bin⁵ Laden⁶. But two others were not: capture or kill him and destroy al-Qaida.

Then, in two thousand three, the United States led an invasion of Iraq. President Bush later said there was no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the eleventh, as officials suggested in defense of the war. Critics argued that the Iraq war took away military resources needed in Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, President Bush announced he is sending more troops to Afghanistan. About four thousand five hundred will be redirected from Iraq by February. But others are set to leave, so the result will be an increase of only about one thousand five hundred. Top commanders want many more.

President Bush also announced that about eight thousand troops will come home from Iraq by February. He said the withdrawal⁷ is possible because of security gains made since the surge -- last year's temporary troop increase.

Last week, Anbar became the eleventh of Iraq's eighteen provinces to return to Iraqi control. Violence in Anbar has dropped sharply.

Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee⁸, supported the surge. Democrat⁹ Barack Obama did not. Senator Obama has since agreed it was successful, but says the Iraqis have still not taken enough responsibility. He wants to remove all American combat forces from Iraq within sixteen months in office. Senator McCain says setting a date is irresponsible.

Both candidates, though, support more troops for Afghanistan. On Thursday they suspended their campaign advertising¹⁰ and appeared together at Ground Zero in New York.

President Bush says the United States must also help Pakistan defeat Taliban and al-Qaida militants¹¹ in tribal¹² areas along the Afghan border. American officials confirmed this week that he approved raids inside Pakistan without Pakistani approval.

That news led an opposition¹³ leader in Pakistan on Friday to call for parliament to meet, saying the nation is under a threat of war. Pakistan's army chief says the country will defend itself "at all costs."

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

 

1 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

2 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。

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

5 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

6 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

7 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

12 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

13 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。