2007年VOA标准英语-Rice Seeks Momentum in Israeli-Palestinian Peac

By David Gollust
Jerusalem
01 August 2007

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held talks with senior Israeli officials Wednesday to try to restore momentum¹ to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. She came to Jerusalem from Saudi Arabia, where she obtained a qualified² Saudi endorsement³ of the Middle East meeting the United States plans to host this autumn. VOA's David Gollust reports from Jerusalem.

Rice's visit here is her first since the violent split in Palestinian ranks that left the militant⁴ Islamic Hamas movement in control of Gaza.

But as she began her meetings with Israel leaders, the secretary called it a "time of opportunity" for peace-making, with a new moderate Palestinian government in control in the West Bank, and Arab allies of the United States seemingly receptive to President Bush's call last month for a Middle East conference.

Condoleezza Rice (l) and Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni attend a press conference in Jerusalem, 01 Aug 2007

At an upbeat joint⁵ press appearance with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Rice said that despite the situation in Gaza, the new Palestinian government and elected President Mahmoud Abbas have the international legitimacy⁶ to move toward a two-state settlement of the conflict.

"Ultimately the Palestinian people will have to choose what kind of world they will live in, what kind of state they will have," said Rice. "But as Minister Livni said, we do have in the Palestinian territories a government that is devoted⁷ to the international principles, the foundational principles for peace."

"And this is an opportunity that should not be missed. It's very clear that what happened in Gaza was against the legitimate⁸ institutions of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian authority," she added.

Livni, for her part, said the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is not going to miss the chance to promote dialogue with President Abbas, suggesting also that progress in peace efforts need not await a resolution of the situation in Gaza.

"The implementation⁹ of any kind of understanding between Israel and the Palestinian government can be in accordance to the places and the territories in which there is effective government, which of course adopts and accepts not only the requirements of the international community, but the basic understanding with Israel," said Livni.

"And I think it is for the Palestinians to choose what kind of future they want to reach, or what kind of hope that they want to send to their own children, so I believe this can also be an example, working with the government in places in which they have control," she continued.

Condoleezza Rice, left meets with Arab foreign ministers in Sharm el-Sheikh, 31 Jul 2007

Rice, who met Arab allies in earlier stops in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, is seeking to develop an agenda for the U.S.-hosted regional meeting, which U.S. officials say will probably occur no earlier than late October.

The secretary and her aides are encouraged by comments by Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. He said at a news conference with Rice earlier Wednesday in Jeddah that this government would consider attending the conference.

"We are interested in a peace conference that deals with the substantive¹⁰ matters of peace, the issues of real substance and not for more non-substantive issues," he said. "If that does so, it becomes of great interest for Saudi Arabia. And should we then get an invitation from the secretary to attend that conference, we will look very closely and very hard at attending a conference."

Both Rice and Livni said they were encouraged by the Saudi comments, though Livni suggested it might be counter-productive to force an early discussion of core issues of the Middle East dispute.

The secretary of state said she is not issuing conference invitations on her current trip and is more interested at this point in generating support for direct dialogue between Israel and the government of President Abbas, with whom she meets Thursday in Ramallah.

1 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

2 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。

3 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

4 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。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

9 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

10 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。