VOA常速英语2007年-Rice Pledges Urgent Annapolis Agreement Follow-

By David Gollust
Annapolis, Maryland
28 November 2007

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pledging urgent follow-up work to Tuesday's Israeli-Palestinian agreement in Annapolis, Maryland to resume final-status peace negotiations¹ after a seven-year interruption. President Bush meets Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House Wednesday to help inaugurate the process. VOA's David Gollust reports from Annapolis.

The agreement to re-start the talks was the result of weeks of U.S.-led diplomacy², and administration officials say the deal was struck only a short time before President Bush announced it at the start of the Annapolis meeting.

The parties agreed to the immediate³ launch of negotiations for a two-state solution of the Middle East conflict, and to make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008.

They also committed to implement⁴ their respective obligations under the 2003 international road map to peace, and agreed that the United States will monitor and judge their fulfillment of the confidence-building plan.

The announcement gave no indication of progress on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute such the status of Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinian refugees, and U.S. officials concede that the peace timetable announced by the leaders will be difficult to keep.

But in a statement closing the meeting late Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said difficult to resolve does not mean impossible, especially with the kind of international engagement shown in Annapolis.

"This work will be hard.It involves risks and sacrifices for all concerned. But today's events have demonstrated unambiguously that the international community will fully⁵ support the path the parties have chosen," she said. "President Bush and I have pledged the unwavering support of the United States to realize this goal. Peace between Israelis and Palestinians is a national interest for the United States, and we now have a real opportunity to make progress."

Senior officials of nearly 50 countries and world organizations attended the conference, among them several Arab states that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, notably⁶ Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Rice said that in a concluding Annapolis plenary session, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa reaffirmed the organization's 2002 peace initiative, offering Israel Arab-wide political recognition if it reaches peace with the Palestinians and withdraws from all occupied Arab land.

The Secretary of State had put heavy stress on having a big Arab presence in Annapolis, both to shore up the position of President Abbas in his confrontation⁷ with militant⁸ Islamic movement Hamas, and to try to persuade the Israeli public that compromises for peace will be rewarded.

In his conference address, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert said he hopes the Annapolis agreement will lead to a regional peace, but said to get there, Arab countries have to reach out and end decades of hostility⁹ towards the Jewish state.

"The time has come for you as well. You cannot continue to stand by, indefinitely, standing¹⁰ and watching from the sidelines, watching the peace train going by," Mr. Olmert said. "The time has come to end the boycott¹¹, the alienation¹², and the obliviousness¹³ towards the state of Israel. It does not help you and it hurts us."

President Abbas for his part stressed the Palestinians' insistence¹⁴ on a comprehensive settlement of the refugee issue and having the capital of a new Palestinian state in East Jerusalem. Also heard through an interpreter, he said despite the Palestinians' grievances¹⁵, they are ready to live as neighbors with Israel:

"Neither us nor you are begging for peace from each other. It is a common interest for us and for you," said Mr. Abbas. "Peace and freedom is a right for us, in as much as peace and security is a right for you and for us. The time has come for the cycle of blood, violence and occupation to come to an end."

A steering¹⁶ committee being set up by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to advance the peace process is to begin work December 12, a few days before a international donors¹⁷ conference in Paris aimed at helping¹⁸ build institutions for Palestinian statehood. Rice said the Middle East quartet partners-the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - will also convene¹⁹ in Paris on ways to support the Annapolis agreement.

1 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。

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

5 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。

6 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

7 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

8 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

9 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

10 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。

11 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

12 alienation   

n.疏远；离间；异化

参考例句：

• The new policy resulted in the alienation of many voters.新政策导致许多选民疏远了。
• As almost every conceivable contact between human beings gets automated,the alienation index goes up.随着人与人之间几乎一切能想到的接触方式的自动化，感情疏远指数在不断上升。

13 obliviousness   

参考例句：

• Her obliviousness of what was happening in Germany seems extraordinary. 真没想到她对德国正在发生的事情居然一无所知。 来自柯林斯例句

14 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

15 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

17 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

19 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。