VOA慢速英语--美国副总统彭斯或将会见朝鲜官员

Pence Leaves Open Possibility to Meet North Korean Officials

U.S. Vice¹ President Mike Pence is not ruling out a meeting with North Korean officials during his trip to South Korea to attend the Winter Olympics.

Pence was asked about the possibility of U.S.-North Korea talks before leaving Monday on his six-day Asia trip.

“Let me say President Trump² has said he always believes in talking, but I haven’t requested any meeting,” Pence told reporters. He added, “But we’ll see what happens.”

His words were very similar to comments that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made Monday. When asked about possible talks between Pence and North Korean officials, Tillerson said “we’ll have to see what happens.”

Pence spoke³ with reporters after visiting U.S. missile defense⁴ facilities at the U.S. Joint⁵ Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. The base is used to monitor missile activity by North Korea and could respond to any possible attacks.

The vice president said if he does meet with any North Korean officials, he will tell them their country “once and for all” must give up its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

“We’ll be telling the truth about North Korea at every stop,” Pence said. “We’ll be ensuring that whatever cooperation that’s existing between North and South Korea today on Olympic teams does not cloud the reality of a regime that must continue to be isolated⁷ by the world community.”

Pence is holding talks with officials in Japan before going to Seoul.

In South Korea, Pence will meet with President Moon Jae-in. He will also visit a memorial to 46 South Korean sailors killed in a 2010 underwater missile attack blamed on the North. He will then lead the official U.S. government delegation⁸ attending the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. The Games begin February 9.

Pence wrote about his upcoming trip to the Olympics on Twitter. One goal, he said, will be to repeat a U.S. promise “to continue to isolate⁶ North Korea and ensure North Korea doesn’t use the Olympics to paper over the truth about their regime, which oppresses its own people and threatens other nations.”

Fred Warmbier, the father of American student Otto Warmbier, will be attending the opening ceremony as Pence’s special guest. Otto was jailed in North Korea for 17 months and died last year shortly after being released and returning to the United States in a coma⁹.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

facility – n. something (such as a building or large piece of equipment) built for a specific purpose

monitor – v. watch, listen to or check something for a specific purpose over time

ensure – v. make sure something is done of happens

regime – n. a system of government or other control, especially one people do not approve of

isolate – v. to set apart or separate from others

delegation – n. group of people chosen to represent a much larger group of individuals, such as an organization, nation, etc.

oppress – v. to treat a group of people in an unfair way, often by limiting their freedom

coma – n. a condition in which a sick or injured person cannot wake up for a long time

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 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。

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 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

9 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。