2007年VOA标准英语-NATO Secretary-General Meets With Pakistan Pres

By Benjamin Sand
Islamabad
08 May 2007

Hoop1 Scheffer, left, looks on during their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, 8 May 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070604/1413340.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Pakistan's PM Shaukat Aziz, center, shakes hands with NATO's General Bantz John Craddock as Sec-Gen Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, left, looks on during their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, 8 May 2007

NATO's secretary-general says there are no plans for NATO troops to pull out of Afghanistan.  Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is discussing regional security with leaders of Pakistan, which says it has increased troops along its border to help curb² terrorist activity in neighboring Afghanistan.  VOA's Benjamin Sand reports from Islamabad.

With violence flaring³ across Afghanistan, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer insisted the alliance has no plans to pull its soldiers out of the country.

"My answer always is - and let me repeat it here - that my expectation is that NATO forces will be there for the foreseeable future," Scheffer says.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, known as ISAF, currently has more than 35,000 troops in Afghanistan.  The mission is NATO's largest ground operation in its 57-year history, and its forces have launched a major offensive in the Taleban's traditional stronghold in southern Afghanistan, aimed at heading off insurgent⁴ violence.
 
But Afghan militants⁵ have mounted persistent⁶ attacks in recent weeks.  Suspected insurgents⁷ ambushed⁸ a NATO convoy⁹ in southern Afghanistan overnight Monday. Hours earlier, a rocket attack on the capital killed one man and injured at least five others.  The Afghan Interior Ministry¹⁰ says more than 100 local police officers have been killed around the country since February.

Scheffer spoke¹¹ to reporters in Islamabad after discussing regional security concerns with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Like other Western officials, he praised Pakistan's record on combating extremism, but also called on Pakistani leaders to do more to help defeat the Taleban.

"Pakistan, NATO and Afghanistan, we are all in the same boat, we are fighting terrorism, we fighting extremism, and I do not need to explain to a Pakistani audience what the consequences of terrorism and extremism mean," Scheffer says.

Afghan and U.S. officials say Taleban militants have established a series of strategic bases inside Pakistan.

They say the insurgents are using those bases to stage attacks on international forces in Afghanistan, and as a haven¹² from ongoing¹³ counter-insurgency operations there.

Pakistan denies the existence of Taleban safe havens¹⁴, but concedes militants are operating on both sides of border.

Foreign Secretary Khurshid Kasuri told reporters that Pakistani forces are doing everything they can to help secure the region.

"Pakistan has deployed¹⁵ twice as many troops and suffered twice as many casualties as the ISAF forces in Afghanistan," Kasuri says.

He said Pakistan currently has about 90,000 troops deployed along the Afghan border, an increase of more than 10,000 over this time last month.

He said these levels reflect Pakistan's commitment to regional security.  Now, he said, Islamabad expects a matching response from Afghanistan. 

1 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

2 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

3 flaring   

a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的

参考例句：

• A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls. 墙壁上装饰着廉价的花纸。
• Goebbels was flaring up at me. 戈塔尔当时已对我面呈愠色。

4 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

7 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

8 ambushed   

v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The military vehicles were ambushed. 军车遭到伏击。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

11 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。

12 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

15 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。