2006年VOA标准英语-Israeli Leader Praises UN Resolution

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
16 August 2006

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres praised the recently-passed U.N. resolution that is aimed at putting an end to fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.  In Washington Wednesday, he also told reporters that during the recent fighting, Israel let some Arab countries fly over Israel to bring humanitarian¹ relief to Lebanon.

----------

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres speaks to reporters during a news conference in Washington  
  

Deputy Prime Minister Peres said Israel was prepared to reject the U.N. resolution, but finally changed its mind following last minute U.S. efforts to include what he called "unprecedented² items."

"For the first time, the Security Council, including Arabs, condemned³ Hezbollah as the aggressors.  It never happened before," he said. 

He spoke⁴ at a news conference organized by U.S. Jewish federations⁵, which have launched a campaign to raise money for humanitarian relief for Israel.  Early Israeli estimates place damage at more than $2 billion.  More than 150 Israelis were killed. 

Reconstruction⁶ costs for Lebanon are also expected to be significant.  Fighting there killed more than 1,100 people and destroyed more than 15,000 homes. 

When asked whether Israel plans to offer some of the aid money raised to help with humanitarian efforts in Lebanon, Peres said there are other ways Israel has already helped Lebanon.

"Even during the war, some Arab countries wanted to send civilian⁷ aid to Lebanon, and we agreed that they will over-fly Israel," he added.  "We let them over-fly Israel during the war."

But when asked for specifics, he said he could not identify the Arab countries or say how many were involved because, in his words, he does not want to "embarrass" them.  He added that Israel was careful to ensure that these flights were not used to provide arms to Hezbollah.

Peres also told reporters his government's position is that Hezbollah should unconditionally⁸ release the two Israeli soldiers who have been taken hostage.

"To the best of our information, they [the two soldiers] are alive and healthy," he noted⁹.  "Secondly¹⁰, in the preamble¹¹ of the United Nations resolution, there is a clear call to release them without conditions and without trading.  And we expect that this will be implemented¹²."

Peres added that, Israel has also learned that Hezbollah has acquired more advanced equipment, including sophisticated missiles from China and Russia.
 
 
Two Lebanese soldiers stand next to Lebanese army tanks in preparation to deploy¹³ in south Lebanon 
  
Separately, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told a meeting of American Jewish organizations in New York that Israel's war with Hezbollah is not over until the U.N. resolution to end the conflict is fully¹⁴ implemented. 

Meanwhile, the French government  says it is ready to take over command of an enlarged U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, at least until February.   

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

4 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。

5 federations   

n.联邦( federation的名词复数 )；同盟；联盟；联合会

参考例句：

• These problems are women's special problems and special work of women's federations. 这样的问题，就是妇女的特殊问题，就是妇联的特殊工作。 来自互联网
• The Bridge Federate is a feasible solution to achieve multi-federations interconnection. 基于桥接成员实现多联邦互连是目前较为通用和可行的方法。 来自互联网

6 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 unconditionally   

adv.无条件地

参考例句：

• All foreign troops must be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. 所有外国军队必须立即无条件地撤出。
• It makes things very awkward to have your girls going back unconditionally just now! 你们现在是无条件上工，真糟糕！ 来自子夜部分

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

11 preamble   

n.前言；序文

参考例句：

• He spoke without preamble.他没有开场白地讲起来。
• The controversy has arisen over the text of the preamble to the unification treaty.针对统一条约的序文出现了争论。

12 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

13 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

14 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。