2006年VOA标准英语-Rice Discusses North Korea with Russian Leaders

By Bill Gasperini
Moscow
21 October 2006 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomes US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice met behind closed doors with President Vladimir Putin and Russia's Foreign and Defense¹ ministers to discuss North Korea.

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However no statements were made during or after the meetings, which come on the last stop of Rice's tour that has included stops in Japan, South Korea and China.

The goal of her trip has mostly focused on ensuring the United Nations sanctions adopted against North Korea last week will be fully² enforced.

But confusion remains³ about whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il apologized for the recent nuclear test and promised there would not be another one.

Mr. Kim reportedly made the comment to a Chinese envoy⁴ who visited Pyongyang last week.

Speaking with reporters on the flight from Beijing to Moscow, Rice said she doubts the report is accurate because the envoy and other Chinese officials made no mention of it during her meetings in Beijing on Friday.

Meanwhile, Russia has called on both the United States and North Korea to show more flexibility⁵" in order to resolve their differences. In a statement aired on Russian state television, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said it is important to avoid what he termed uncompromising positions on the nuclear issue. He said Russia favors a resumption of the six-party negotiations⁶ aimed at resolving the nuclear dispute.

Talks involving North and South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and the United States broke off a year ago when North Korea demanded that it only wanted to talk directly to the United States.

Rice also met with the editors and relatives of Anna Politkovskaya, the prominent investigative journalist murdered in Moscow two weeks ago.

The meeting was held in a hotel between her talks with Russian officials in a move clearly intended to show support for one of Russia's last independent media outlets⁷.

A fierce critic of the Kremlin's human rights abuses in Chechnya, Politkovskaya was murdered two weeks ago in an apparent contract hit.

Both the United States and European Union have called on Russian authorities to hunt down and prosecute⁸ the killers⁹.

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 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

5 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

9 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。