voa标准英语2008年-US President-Elect Promises Stronger Alliance W

South Korea had its first real brush of contact with the incoming Obama administration Friday. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak spoke¹ on the phone with his soon-to-be U.S. counterpart, President-elect Barack Obama. VOA's Kurt Achin has more from Seoul.
　

President-elect Barack Obama is accompanied by foreign policy adviser2 Denis McDonough as he leaves a meeting in Chicago, 06 Nov 2008

President-elect Barack Obama told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Friday he has great admiration³ admiration for Korea and its people.

The two spoke on the phone Friday morning in Seoul, mostly in English without the aid of interpretation⁴. President Lee's spokesman, Lee Dong-gwan, says the two vowed⁵ to cement their countries' alliance of more than half a century.

He says Mr. Obama assured Mr. Lee the U.S. and South Korea are already close, but hopes to further advance the relationship. A strengthened U.S.-South Korea alliance, said Mr. Obama, will lay a groundwork for peace and security in Asia.

The United States stations about 28,000 troops here in South Korea, to deter⁶ or defeat any repeat of North Korea's 1950 invasion.

Mr. Lee and Mr. Obama agreed to meet at the soonest possible opportunity. That could come as early as next week, when both plan to attend a Washington summit on the financial crisis hosted by President Bush.
　

Lee Myung-bak (File)

President Lee's main political opponent says he is looking forward to an Obama administration. Chung Sye-kyun, chairman of South Korea's Democratic Party, says he finds Mr. Obama's victory "encouraging."

He recalls Mr. Obama's promise to be proactive in purusing dialogue with North Korea to resolve the issue of the North's nuclear weapons.

Chung and his party support a conciliatory policy toward the North, and have initiated⁷ most of the inter-Korean aid and cooperation projects of the past ten years. They are critical of both President Lee and President Bush for taking what they call a "hardline" approach toward Pyongyang.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, expected to be a senior foreign policy advisor⁸ to Mr. Obama, was in Seoul Friday, and was scheduled to meet with President Lee. He said there was no doubt in his mind Mr. Obama would have a "similar approach" to North Korea as the Bush administration. He says President Obama will likely adhere to a six-nation framework for addressing the nuclear issue, even though it is not perfect.

Diplomats⁹ from the United States and the two Koreas met late Thursday night in New York. Senior North Korean envoy¹⁰ Ri Gun offered reporters his own take on the American transition of power.

He says we have dealt with many U.S. administrations so far, including those that managed to hold talks with us and those that tried to isolate¹¹ us. He says, we are ready to respond to any administration's North Korean policies.

1 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。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

4 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

7 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

8 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

9 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

11 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。