2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Apologizes for APEC Summit Chaos

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
05 September 2007

There has been commuter¹ chaos² in parts of Australia's biggest city, a result of the tightest security the country has ever seen. The disruption to daily life, caused by this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, has been so massive that President Bush has apologized to the people of Sydney for the inconvenience caused by his visit. Phil Mercer files this report from Sydney.

The visit of President Bush and other world leaders has prompted Australian authorities to mount an unprecedented³ security operation.

Five thousand police officers and troops are on patrol, along with fighter jets and combat helicopters.

Pedestrians4 walk through fences that cordon5 off streets around the Sydney Convention " hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070908/0940270.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Pedestrians walk through fences that cordon off streets around the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, 05 Sept 2007

In the center of Sydney, a giant steel barrier has been erected⁶ to protect key APEC summit sites. Parts of downtown Sydney have been declared no-go zones for the public.

The sweeping⁷ measures have caused peak-hour chaos, with angry commuters being met by a raft of road closures. Many residents have asked why the conference was not held in the national capital, Canberra, which has hosted many high-profile visits in the past.

The already tight clampdown has been increased since the arrival of President Bush late Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Mr. Bush told the people of the city he is sorry to be responsible for so much disruption.

"Look, I don't want to come to a community and say, you know, what a pain it is to have the American president. You know, unfortunately, however, this is what the authorities thought was necessary to protect people, and uh, we live in a free, you live in a free society, people feel like they want to protest, fine, they can," said Mr. Bush. "And unfortunately, evidently, some people may want to try to be violent in their protest. But I apologize to the Australian people if I've caused this inconvenience."

Thousands of people are expected to take part in rallies to voice their feelings on a range of issues, from the Iraq war to the environment. They are also demonstrating over a number of domestic issues, including unpopular labor⁸ reforms.

Activists⁹ have insisted they want to make their point peacefully, but there has been violence at other international gatherings¹⁰ in recent years, and the police are prepared for that eventuality here. The Sydney authorities have cleared out jail cells to be prepared for any mass arrests of protesters.

Even without the protests, such hot issues as climate change and Iraq are expected to be key themes during a week of meetings among APEC officials. The meetings will culminate¹¹ in the leaders' summit at the end of the week.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum¹² is a loose grouping of economies that border the Pacific Ocean. Its 21 members include the United States, China and Japan, and smaller economies in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

1 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

4 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 cordon   

n.警戒线，哨兵线

参考例句：

• Police officers threw a cordon around his car to protect him.警察在他汽车周围设置了防卫圈以保护他。
• There is a tight security cordon around the area.这一地区周围设有严密的安全警戒圈。

6 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

11 culminate   

v.到绝顶，达于极点，达到高潮

参考例句：

• The celebration of the centenary will culminate with a dinner.百年庆典活动将以宴会作为高潮。
• Everyone feared that the boundary dispute between these two countries would culminate in a war.人人都担心,这两国间的边境争端将以一场战争到达顶点。

12 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。