2006年VOA标准英语-Lawmakers, Experts, Urge Stronger Steps on Darf

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
21 September 2006
 
Members of Congress are urging the Bush administration to move forcefully in coming weeks to increase pressure on the Sudanese government to allow a U.N. force for Darfur. Lawmakers heard from a U.S. official and experts about deteriorating¹ conditions in Darfur, as well as from a prominent activist².

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		Congressman3 Chris Smith, actress Mira Sorvino and Congressman Frank Wolf" src="/upimg/allimg/070428/0838070.jpg" width="210" border="0" /> From right: Congressman Chris Smith, actress Mira Sorvino and Congressman Frank Wolf

Wednesday's hearing in the House Africa Subcommittee came as African leaders meeting in New York agreed to extend the mandate⁴ of the African Union force in Darfur at least until the end of the year.

Extension eases fears of a security vacuum amid signs of new conflict between the Khartoum government and Darfur rebels.

However, the Islamic Congress Party government in Khartoum continues to resist international efforts to send a 20,000-strong U.N. force, a fact driven home by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir at the U.N. General Assembly session in New York.

Witnesses told the congressional panel that signs of an impending⁵ government offensive, and with attacks already escalating⁶ in Darfur, the situation there could grow worse very quickly.

Roger Winter worked on Sudan issues for the State Department:

"While Darfur is a humanitarian⁷ catastrophe⁸, and it is a genocide, it is more than that," said Roger Winter. "It is a planful [deliberate] strategy that we are seeing unfolding in Darfur."

Winter favors deployment¹⁰ of the U.N. protection force - over the objections of the Khartoum government:

"We need to deploy⁹ non-consensually now, the stymied¹¹ U.N. protection force," he said. "We need to declare a no-fly zone, and in fact we have military assets in Djibouti that can be used for those purposes."

Republican Congressman Ed Royce is among those worried that the situation in Darfur, and in Sudan generally, could unravel¹².

"The Sudanese government is about to unleash¹³ a round of killing¹⁴ like we have never seen before in Sudan," said Ed Royce. "This calamity¹⁵ is playing out before our eyes."

The Associated Press Wednesday quoted the new U.S. Special Envoy¹⁶ for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, as confirming the U.S. has begun a new diplomatic push aimed at getting Arab governments, and other countries to help persuade Khartoum to drop objections to a U.N. force.

Natsios was quoted as saying the role of China, with close ties to the Khartoum government, would be crucial.

Congressman Chris Smith agrees.

"While the Chinese government continues to suppress its own citizen's human rights they nonetheless can attain¹⁷ some respect on the world stage by standing¹⁸ with the oppressed in Darfur, rather than the oppressor in Khartoum, which has been the case up until now," said Chris Smith.

Warwick Davies Webb of Executive Research Associates urges steps to adjust the composition of a potential U.N. force.

"Greater effort should be made to make the prospect¹⁹ of U.N. deployment a global rather than a U.S. or NATO initiative, and one in which the composition of such a force is more neutral and includes the deployment of troops from moderate Muslim countries as suggested by [former] president Bill Clinton," said Warwick Davies.

Among witnesses was Mira Sorvino, the American actress and a prominent activist on Darfur with the Stop Violence Against Women Campaign.

"Now the U.S. and the U.N. must begin playing hardball in earnest with the Khartoum regime," said Mira Sorvino. "The days of offering incentives²⁰ and waiting for the government of Sudan to grow a conscience are over. We must apply pressure with serious consequences to propel them to accept the U.N. peacekeeping mission."

Thursday may bring some word on whether congressional legislation on Darfur will move ahead.

Legislation called the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, approved by the House earlier, has been stalled because of differences with the Senate over sanctions-related language."

1 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

5 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

6 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

9 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。

10 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

11 stymied   

n.被侵袭的v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Relief efforts have been stymied in recent weeks by armed gunmen. 最近几周的救援工作一直受到武装分子的阻挠。 来自辞典例句
• I was completely stymied by her refusal to help. 由于她拒不相助， 我完全陷入了困境。 来自互联网

12 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

13 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

16 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。

17 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

18 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

19 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

20 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法