voa标准英语2008年-Secretary of State Rice to Meet Lavrov, Other Q

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other participants in the Middle East Quartet are due to meet in Egypt's resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh Sunday, to discuss the progress in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The group will hear a progress report from Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, and is expected to affirm support for continuing the negotiations¹ despite upcoming government changes in Israel and the U.S. Edward Yeranian reports for VOA from Cairo.

The Middle East Quartet, which include United States, the U.N., the EU and Russia, are set to meet Sunday in the Egyptian Sinai peninsula resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, amid a wait-and-see attitude following the recent U.S. presidential election and upcoming Israeli elections, early in 2009.
　

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit (r) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a meeting after her arrival in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, 08 Nov 2008

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on her 19th visit to the Middle East, and will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov, Saturday night, before a late dinner meeting with Quartet host, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.

Rice is "concentrating on narrowing the distance to peace," between Israel and the Palestinians, while admitting frankly² that she doesn't expect a major breakthrough in the waning³ weeks of the Bush administration.

Security in the Sinai Peninsula has been extremely tight in the leadup to the meeting, with Al-Arabiya TV reporting that Egyptian police seized a ton of TNT, Friday, although it was believed that the explosives were headed for the Gaza Strip.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, and the Quartet's special envoy⁴ Tony Blair will also participate in the weekend get-together⁵.

The Sharm el-Sheikh gathering⁶ comes almost a year after a peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland reignited peace negotiations, which had been stalled for the first seven years of the Bush administration.

Secretary Rice has called the Annapolis conference "vital and vibrant⁷" and urged that its work continue, despite the lack of progress over the thorny⁸ issues of Palestinian refugees, the ultimate status of Jerusalem, and the borders of a yet-to-be Palestinian state.

The goal of the Quartet has been to reach a peace deal that would set up an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Former Egyptian Foreign Minister, Esmet Abd al-Meguid says that Egypt has long worked to find a solution to the Palestinian problem and meetings such as this one are a step in the right direction, even if no immediate⁹ results are to be expected.

"I consider that this is an attempt to reach a solution to the problem, and by having a meeting like that happening in Sharm el-Sheikh, we have to help in achieving results," he said. "If there is no success, than this should take place later on. I think it is needed because any attempt to reach a solution to help in solving a problem is something we should support ... this is my belief."

Abd al-Meguid thinks that both the United States and Israel need to make a concerted effort to find a solution to the Palestinian problem, and that the Palestinians should not always be the ones that are pressured to make concessions:

"According to what we try in Egypt to find a solution to a problem, this should be encouraged, but also the other side, the Israelis must be helpful in that," he said. "I am not aware of what they are doing, but certainly there is a responsibility on the United States to support and to find a solution to the problem, this is my opinion according to what I was dealing¹⁰ with many years ago."

"I'm not criticizing. I'm trying to find a solution. this is something that should be helpful, it should be reaching a solution to a problem…the Palestinians have problems, I think, they are entitled to reach a solution for them, and not to put pressure on them," he added.

The Arab press is putting extremely low expectations on the Quartet meeting, with the daily Asharqalawsat running a caricature of two empty chairs, representing the United States and Israe,l and indicating that both countries will soon have new leaders.

In Sharm el-Sheikh, few are expecting any dramatic developments in the peace process, but none of the participants are overtly¹¹ criticizing the talks, and their mere¹² presence appears to be a step in the right direction.

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 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

3 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 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。

5 get-together   

n.(使)聚集；(使)集合

参考例句：

• Well,Miss Huang,we are planning to have a casual get-together.嗯，黄小姐，我们打算大家小聚一番。
• Will you help me prepare for the get- together of the old classmates?你能否帮我为这次老同学聚会做好准备工作？

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

8 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

9 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。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 overtly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• There were some overtly erotic scenes in the film. 影片中有一些公开色情场面。
• Nietzsche rejected God's law and wrote some overtly blasphemous things. 尼采拒绝上帝的律法，并且写了一些渎神的作品。

12 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。