voa标准英语2008-Six Parties Seek to Verify North Korea's Nuclear

Six countries meeting in Beijing are trying to work out how to best verify North Korea's account of its nuclear program. The six parties are set to continue this week with meetings in Beijing.
　

Envoys2 from Russia, US, North Korea, Japan, China and South Korea meet at the beginning of a round of six party talks in Beijing, 08 Dec 2008

The first day of six-party talks about North Korea's nuclear program ended without definite results.

"We discussed fuel oil, we discussed the issue of disablement schedule, and we discussed verification," said U.S. envoy¹ Christoper Hill. " And so, on fuel oil and disablement, there were no really contentious³ issues. So, we went right to the issue of verification, and what the Chinese are going to try to do is put together a draft and circulate something tomorrow, so that we can discuss it tomorrow [Tuesday]"

Hill said the Chinese document will focus on how international inspectors⁴ will carry out their verification tasks in Pyongyang. North Korea has been reluctant to allow international inspectors to take nuclear samples out of the country for testing.

The six countries involved in the talks are the United States, North Korea, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. Hill said the Russian delegation⁵ made especially helpful suggestions.

"The Russians certainly had some thoughts on this, they have a lot of experience on verification," he said.

In 2006, Pyongyang conducted an atomic test explosion. But last year, under the six-party agreement, North Korea agreed to disable its nuclear reactor⁶ in exchange for aid. More recent contention⁷ is focused on the disarmament steps.

This is expected to be the last round of six-party talks under U.S. President George Bush, who steps down from office in January.

1 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。

2 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

3 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

4 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

7 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。