VOA慢速英语2015 奥巴马称美国和沙特之间有着特殊的友谊

Obama: US, Saudi Arabia Have 'Extraordinary Friendship' 奥巴马称美国和沙特之间有着特殊的友谊

U.S. President Barack Obama praised U.S.-Saudi ties Wednesday as he welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin¹ Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for talks at the White House. Mr. Obama said the United States and Saudi Arabia have an “extraordinary friendship.”

The Saudi officials were in Washington for a US-Persian Gulf² leaders’ meeting. The summit begins late Wednesday with a dinner at the White House. Thursday, the meeting continues at Camp David the presidential home in Maryland.

Gunmen enter guest house in Kabul

Several gunmen have entered a guesthouse in a rich neighborhood of Kabul. Witnesses said gunshots were fired from the Park Palace Guest House Wednesday night.

An official of the Afghan Ministry³ of Interior said Afghan police have surrounded the area, but did not say whether there were hostages. He said fighting was continuing.

The guest house is popular with foreign visitors and nongovernmental organizations. It is close to the offices of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

North Korean defense⁴ minister reportedly executed

South Korean intelligence officials said Wednesday that North Korea executed its Armed Forces Minister, Hyon Yong Chol, late last month. The spy agency spoke⁵ to a South Korean parliamentary committee. They say disloyalty was an apparent reason for the reported execution. The agents said three other high-level North Korean officials also were executed.

The general’s execution was reportedly carried out with an anti-aircraft gun as hundreds of people watched.

Amtrak train was going too fast before crash

U.S. transportation officials say the Amtrak passenger train that crashed Tuesday night in Pennsylvania was traveling at more than 160 kilometers per hour. That is at least twice the permissible⁶ speed. The officials also said the engineer used full emergency brakes moments before the train went off the tracks.

The crash killed at least seven people. Another 200 were injured.

1 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。

2 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。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 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。

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 permissible   

adj.可允许的，许可的

参考例句：

• Is smoking permissible in the theatre?在剧院里允许吸烟吗？
• Delay is not permissible,even for a single day.不得延误，即使一日亦不可。