2007年VOA标准英语-Rice: Mideast Quartet to Meet in Washington

By David Gollust
Berlin
17 January 2007

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday the international Quartet on the Middle East will meet in Washington in two weeks to try to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Rice, in Berlin after a Middle East mission, took a hard line against dialogue with Iran. VOA's David Gollust reports from the German capital.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier listen to reporter's questions during a news conference in Berlin

Rice is briefing European officials on the results of her six-stop Middle East tour, and says she will host a ministerial-level meeting of the Quartet on February 1 or February 2 in an effort to harmonize the position of the major powers on regional peace efforts.

The Bush administration has been under pressure from Arab and European allies to do more on the Israeli-Palestinian front, under the assumption it could advance progress on other problems including the Iraq conflict and political crisis in Lebanon.

In the main achievement of her trip, Rice secured an agreement for a three-way meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas within the next month to discuss possible terms for a two-state solution of the Middle East conflict.

Rice said the final-status talks, the first of their kind in six years, would not circumvent¹ the 2003 Middle East road map from the Quartet - which includes the European Union, Russia and the United Nations along with the United States.

At a press appearance with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeyer, Rice assured Germany, which holds the rotating E.U. presidency², that the Quartet remains³ central to the peace process:

"The Quartet is the guardian⁴, in a sense, of that road map, and so I would expect that as we try to accelerate progress on the road map, the Quartet would try and lend assistance to the parties as they try to do that," she said.

European officials had expressed concern about being excluded from peace efforts and German Chancellor⁵ Angela Merkel, who Rice meets Thursday, has made rejuvenation⁶ of the Quartet a priority for Germany's term at the head of the EU.

At the press appearance with Rice, Foreign Minister Steinmeier said the Quartet and its peace plan is not an end in itself, but can play a meaningful role in coordinating⁷ policy. He is heard through an interpreter:

"I've always pleaded in favor of a meeting of the Quartet because we can put an end to these competing ideas that are being presented by separate countries, individual country," he said.  "But the Quartet allows us to sort of bundle, and in so doing strengthen our common efforts. And I am confident that we are going to succeed.

In addition to meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Rice held talks in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and finally Kuwait, where she met Gulf⁸ foreign ministers and reportedly heard calls for the United States to engage Iran to try to bring peace to Iraq.

Asked about the appeal here, Rice said she is prepared to end 27 years of estrangement⁹ and engage Iran, but only if it meets the U.N. Security Council's demand that it ends uranium enrichment and return to negotiations¹⁰ over its nuclear program:

"This is not the time to break a long-standing American policy of not engaging with the Iranians bilaterally," she added.  "It's just not the time. And as to what other countries may do, might wish to do, that's a decision for other countries. But I think we all need to stay focused on the fact that Iran is in violation¹¹ of a Security Council resolution until its suspends its enrichment and reprocessing activities."

Rice denied that the Bush administration, which has sent additional naval¹² forces to the Persian Gulf, is trying to escalate¹³ tensions with Tehran.

She said the United States is simply responding to Iranian aid to elements in Iraq attacking American forces with explosive devices, but she reiterated¹⁴ administration assertions that the problem can be handled inside Iraq.

She ends her weeklong trip with consultations¹⁵ in London late Thursday.

1 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

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 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

5 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

6 rejuvenation   

n. 复原，再生, 更新, 嫩化, 恢复

参考例句：

• Prolonged starvation and aging might lead to rejuvenation of embryogenic potential. 长期的饥饿和衰老可以导致胚胎发生能力的复壮。
• All this signs rejuvenation of agriculture. 所有这些都预示着农业将复苏。

7 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

8 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

9 estrangement   

n.疏远，失和，不和

参考例句：

• a period of estrangement from his wife 他与妻子分居期间
• The quarrel led to a complete estrangement between her and her family. 这一争吵使她同家人完全疏远了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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。

11 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

12 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

13 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

14 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

15 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》