voa标准英语2008-EU Calls for Zimbabwe's Mugabe to Step Down

The European Union has added its voice to calls by the United States for Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to step down. EU foreign ministers also announced Monday they were tightening¹ sanctions against the Mugabe government.

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels sharply criticized President Robert Mugabe and added 11 more members his regime to a list of people banned from entering Europe.
　

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, 08 Dec 2008

But the bluntest remarks came from President Sarkozy of France, who said Mr. Mugabe had to go. He made the comments as he addressed a group of well known senior statesmen, known as the Elders, who had been barred for entering Zimbabwe recently when they tried to travel there to to assess the humanitarian² situation.

On Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also called on President Mugabe to step down amid a political, economic and humanitarian crisis in the southern African nation. Power-sharing talks between the government and opposition³ have stalled, inflation has spun⁴ out of control and a cholera⁵ outbreak has already killed nearly 600 people.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters that international intervention⁶ was needed to respond to the cholera outbreak. Not a military intervention, he said, but strong intervention that could help other aspects of Zimbabwe's crisis as well.

The EU ministers also examined calls by the U.N. to send an interim⁷ mission to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as a backstop until 3,000 more U.N. peacekeepers arrive.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana says he has "been in touch with the Secretary-General of the United Nations [and] he has asked me to look again at some cooperation with the European Union. Not to substitute for the force which is deployed⁸ by the United Nations, but if possible to help in the bridging part for the deployment⁹ of the 3,000 plus [troops]."

So far, EU members have been reluctant to volunteer leadership and forces to realize such a mission.

1 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

2 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。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

5 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。