布什推荐沃尔福威茨担任国际银行行长

 

Bush Nominates Wolfowitz to be President of World Bank

布什推荐沃尔福威茨担任国际银行行长

 

President Bush has announced that he is nominating U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense¹ Paul Wolfowitz to be the next president of the World Bank. The United States is the bank's largest shareholder², and although the nomination³ requires the approval of the Bank's 24-member board, the U.S. candidate is traditionally accepted. Mr. Wolfowitz has long experience as a diplomat⁴, but he has also been the focal point of much criticism of the war in Iraq.

 

During a news conference on Wednesday, President Bush confirmed that he is nominating Mr. Wolfowitz, saying he has been calling world leaders to ask for their support.  The president said Mr. Wolfowitz will be a strong leader of the 184-member bank because of his experience managing a large organization, and his earlier experience as a U.S. diplomat.

 

Bush: He's a skilled diplomat. He worked at the State Department in high positions. He was ambassador to Indonesia, where he did a very good job representing our country. And Paul is committed to development. He's a compassionate⁵, decent man, who will do a fine job in the World Bank.

 

Mr. Wolfowitz, who is 61 years old, has held senior positions in the Departments of Defense and State, and at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, during nearly every administration since 1973. During the Clinton administration he was the Dean of the prestigious⁶ School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

 

In a recent speech, Mr. Wolfowitz quoted one of his mentors⁷, the late President Ronald Reagan, in order to explain his own worldview.

 

Mr. Wolfowitz: The only answer to poverty, to war, to oppression is one simple word:  freedom. Freedom is not only a moral imperative⁸ for our foreign policy, it's also supremely⁹ pragmatic. Tyranny fails, freedom works.

 

Mr. Wolfowitz also described his own management style, using a reference to a key battle in the American Civil War.

 

Mr. Wolfowitz: I'm always thinking about what can go wrong next. And I remind people that Gettysburg was a great victory, and the failure to follow up on Gettysburg properly extended the civil war by another two years. And I worry every time that we have a big success we might sit on our laurels¹⁰.

 

Mr. Wolfowitz is known as a leading proponent¹¹ of what is called the 'neo-conservative' political philosophy. One of the originators of neo-conservative thinking, Irving Kristol, describes it as a "forward-looking" approach designed to make "conservative politics suitable to governing a modern democracy." Mr. Kristol says neo-conservatism has transformed American politics since it emerged in the 1970s.

 

But the concept has many critics, who say it promotes an aggressive foreign policy that got the United States into the war in Iraq and has alienated¹² many of its traditional allies. In addition, Mr. Wolfowitz has been blamed for what critics call several miscalculations related to the war, including the number of U.S. troops that would be needed, the strength of Iraqi opposition¹³ to the U.S. invasion and the cost of the war. 

 

Mr. Wolfowitz defended the Iraq war in his recent speech, saying it helped bring the promise of a better life to the Iraqi people. And he disputed the claim of those who say it signals a new, more militarists U.S. foreign policy.

 

Mr. Wolfowitz: The expansion of freedom can, and hopefully will, occur for the most part without the involvement of combat forces from foreign countries, particularly our own. In other words, Iraq and Afghanistan, as justified¹⁴ and important as they were, need to be thought of more as exceptions than as the rule.

 

Still, Representative Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the minority Democrats¹⁶ in the House of Representatives, criticized Mr. Wolfowitz's nomination to head the World Bank.

 

Nancy Pelosi: The president's selection of Mr. Wolfowitz to head the World Bank is hard to understand. As one who served as the Ranking Democrat¹⁵ on Foreign Operations for years and worked closely with the World Bank, I don't see a match in the commitment to the vision of the World Bank. Maybe this is the president's way of removing him from the Defense Department. Otherwise I can't see a match of credentials¹⁷ with the mission of the World Bank.

 

The current World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, said he is looking forward to a smooth transition with Mr. Wolfowitz.  Mr. Wolfensohn is stepping down as head of the bank on June 1, at the end of his second five-year term.

 

Al Pessin, VOA news, at the Pentagon.

 

注释：

shareholder [5FZEhEuldE] n. 股东

diploma [di5plEumE] n. 文凭

poverty [5pCvEti] n. 贫困

laurel [5lCrEl] n. 桂冠

militarist [5militErist] n. 军国主义者

nomination [nCmi5neiFEn] n. 任命

1 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。

2 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

4 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

5 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

6 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

7 mentors   

n.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的名词复数 )v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Beacham and McNamara, my two mentors, had both warned me. 我的两位忠实朋友，比彻姆和麦克纳马拉都曾经警告过我。 来自辞典例句
• These are the kinds of contacts that could evolve into mentors. 这些人是可能会成为你导师。 来自互联网

8 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

9 supremely   

adv.无上地，崇高地

参考例句：

• They managed it all supremely well. 这件事他们干得极其出色。
• I consider a supremely beautiful gesture. 我觉得这是非常优雅的姿态。

10 laurels   

n.桂冠，荣誉

参考例句：

• The path was lined with laurels.小路两旁都种有月桂树。
• He reaped the laurels in the finals.他在决赛中荣膺冠军。

11 proponent   

n.建议者；支持者；adj.建议的

参考例句：

• Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
• Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。

12 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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。

14 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

15 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。

16 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》

17 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。