voa标准英语2008年-Obama To Unveil National Security Team

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to use a planned news conference on early Monday to announce his choices for the top diplomatic and security jobs in his administration. VOA's Michael Bowman reports, although there has been no official confirmation¹, the president-elect is widely expected name former rival Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State.
　

President-elect Barack Obama answers reporter's question during press conference in Chicago, 25 Nov 2008

From the beginning of his presidential run, Barack Obama maintained that the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was a mistake. So it might come as a surprise that he is expected to name Senator Hillary Clinton as his choice for Secretary of State. Clinton voted to authorize² the invasion, and repeatedly defended that vote while competing against Mr. Obama in the sometimes bitter fight for the Democratic presidential nomination³.

If she is nominated, Senator Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, says he plans to vote to confirm her, despite questions about the activities of former President Bill Clinton, who remains⁴ active on the world stage as a speaker and fundraiser for humanitarian⁵ projects.

Lugar spoke⁶ on ABC's This Week program.

"The wide-ranging activities of President Clinton are very substantial on this earth," said Senator Lugar. "They will continue to be. I do not know how, given all of our ethics⁷ standards now, anyone quite measures up to this, but I think the Obama campaign people have done a good job in trying to pin down the most important elements [of President Clinton's future activities]."
　

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 21 Nov 2008

News reports say, to avoid possible conflicts of interest between former President Clinton's activities and Mrs. Clinton's duties as Secretary of State, the former president has agreed to reveal the names of donors⁸ to the organizations he heads, and to allow the Obama administration to have input⁹ on the content of his speeches. The arrangement is unprecedented¹⁰ between a former president and an incoming administration.

Mr. Obama is also expected to name retired¹¹ Marine¹² General James Jones to serve as his National Security Advisor¹³, and to announce he will retain current Defense¹⁴ Secretary Robert Gates, who has served in the Bush administration for the past two years.

Gates oversaw¹⁵ last year's troop surge in Iraq, which Mr. Obama opposed. Like President Bush, Gates has warned against a hasty withdrawal¹⁶ of U.S. troops from Iraq, although the just-completed U.S.-Iraqi Status of Forces Agreement does set a 2011 deadline for removing American combat forces.

Also appearing on This Week, Democratic Senator Jack¹⁷ Reed of Rhode Island said he has no misgivings¹⁸ about retaining a key member of the Bush administration in the Obama cabinet.

"I think it is sending a message that, in this time of significant challenge internationally, the continuity that Bob Gates brings to the Pentagon and his good judgment¹⁹, his good sense, his demonstrated performance is absolutely critical for this moment," said Senator Reed.

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the president-elect is tapping people for top positions with whom he has had significant policy disagreements and - in the case of Senator Clinton - a former foe²⁰ that waged a heated primary challenge to Mr. Obama.

During the primaries, Mrs. Clinton repeatedly questioned Mr. Obama's qualifications to be commander-in-chief, suggesting his resume pales in comparison to that of then-Republican presidential hopeful John McCain.

"I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House," said Senator Clinton. "And Senator Obama has a speech [opposition the Iraq war] he gave in 2002."

But Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill says the president-elect is now demonstrating his willingness to listen to differing points of view and, in doing so, will change the way Washington operates. McCaskill spoke on Fox News Sunday.

"What these picks say about Barack Obama is that the kind of change he is embracing is that you do not just pick the people who were on your side during a campaign, you pick the best you can find," said Senator McCaskill. "That is an important change for Washington."

But Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says the president-elect's choices will prove wise only if Mr. Obama is open to their advice.

"I want to applaud President-elect Obama for these picks, but it is one thing to pick them," said Senator Graham. "It is another thing to listen to them. I think he is going to do both - at least I hope he will."

Graham was also speaking on Fox News Sunday.

1 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

2 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 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。

7 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

10 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。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

13 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。

14 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

15 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

16 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

17 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

18 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

20 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。