2007年VOA标准英语-Freedom House Warns of 'Global Stagnation'

By Margaret Besheer
Washington
18 January 2007
 
watch Freedom House report

A newly released report from the independent Freedom House says a "global stagnation¹" has developed over the past decade, and warns that a series of worrisome trends have emerged that could threaten political and civil liberties across the globe. From Washington, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

Freedom House's annual survey found that the percentage of countries designated as "free" has failed to increase since 1994. The report surveyed 193 countries, rating them on a variety of criteria². Ninety nations were judged to be "free," while 58 qualified³ as "partly free" and 45 were rated "not free." About one-half of the people in the world living in "not free" conditions live in China.

 
sub-Saharan Africa
One of the most troubling developments the group points to is what it calls a growing "push back" against organizations, movements and media that monitor human rights or promote democratic freedoms.

Freedom House's director of research Arch Puddington says that during 2006 Asia suffered the most set backs. The most significant was the military coup⁴ in Thailand that ousted⁵ the country's democratically elected president. "But Thailand is not the only country that moved in a backward direction. East Timor had a ratings decline; the Philippines declined; Taiwan had a very modest decline because of the presidential level of corruption⁶; Malaysia moved in the wrong direction; Fiji had a coup; the Solomon Islands also moved in the wrong direction because of bad elections," he said.

 
Peter Lewis
In sub-Saharan Africa, after years of steady gains, the group says there were modest reversals. Peter Lewis, a professor at Johns Hopkins University says media rights are under threat, the status of religious and ethnic⁷ miniorities is threatened and a weak security environment have contributed to these declines. "And indeed there is troubling evidence that many of Africa's electoral democracies are eroding⁸ in the quality of civil liberties and the everyday freedoms that citizens enjoy," he said.

Russia also fared poorly in the Freedom House report. Modest declines were noted⁹ for Moscow's crackdown on non-governmental organizations and for its support of regimes in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Latin America, however, received some positive marks for elections last year in a dozen countries. But high rates of violent crime, corruption and economic instablity held the region back.

The report found the most free nations to be the United States and in Western Europe, however, the United States was criticized for its counter-terrorism efforts, which have raised concerns about the protection of civil liberties.

The report says the trend over the past decade is disturbing, with a lack of significant breakthroughs and the emergence¹⁰ of authoritarian¹¹ regimes that are aggressively hostile to democracy.

1 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

2 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

5 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

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 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

11 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。