voa标准英语2008-US in Diplomatic Push for Renewed Gaza Cease-Fir

The Bush administration on Monday mounted a campaign of telephone diplomacy¹ aimed at achieving a durable² and sustainable Gaza cease-fire. Meanwhile, analysts⁴ say the Gaza crisis has complicated Middle East peace-making hopes for President-elect Barack Obama.
　

Seen from the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon (in the background), an Israeli missile strikes northern Gaza, 29 Dec 2008

With little more than three weeks left in office, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are applying all of the political leverage⁵ they have to try to restore the Gaza cease-fire and preserve the gains of a year of intensive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

While putting the blame for the crisis squarely on Hamas, the administration is urging Israel to avoid civilian⁶ casualties in Gaza and imploring⁷ nations in the region to use their influence to restore calm.

President Bush telephoned Jordan's King Abdullah early Monday while Secretary Rice continued a series of calls to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, among others.

State Department Acting⁸ Spokesman Gordon Duguid said the aim is to restore the Gaza cease-fire that lapsed⁹ earlier this month, but with an end to the rocket firings into Israel that prompted the Israeli offensive.

"The United States is working actively¹⁰ to restore the cease-fire," he said. "The responsibility for violating the truce¹¹ lies with Hamas. Hamas needs to stop its rocket attacks and then we believe the cease-fire can be restored. But it must be sustainable and durable."

Rice's outreach included calls to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Union chief diplomat¹² Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - the other principals in the international "Quartet" on the Middle East.
　

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (file photo)

Rice is also briefing the Barack Obama transition team and aides to incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her Gaza diplomacy.

U.S. political analysts say Israel timed its Gaza offensive so that military action would be over before Mr. Obama takes office on January 20. But they say the offensive has dimmed hopes for early progress on an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

In a conference call with reporters, U.S. Council on Foreign Relations analyst³ Daniel Senor, a former chief U.S. spokesman in Iraq, said Israel would be disinclined to consider a West Bank withdrawal¹³ if the rocket threat from Gaza is not removed.

"The whole notion of a two-state solution, as far as the Israelis are concerned, it is on the line right now," he said. "What I mean by that is that if the Israelis can't be convinced that the U.S. and the international community will let them, if you will, defend against Gaza, then I think the West and the international community can forget about a serious process that would also involve disengagement from the West Bank."

Senor's fellow analyst at the New York-based policy group, Steven Cook, said the Gaza crisis also sets back hopes for peace-making by the Obama administration because it has undercut Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas.

"It clearly, clearly complicates¹⁴ any effort to engage in a vigorous diplomatic effort because the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip has necessarily weakened Mahmoud Abbas, who has staked his political legacy¹⁵ and his vision of the Palestinians finally achieving their rights on negotiations¹⁶ with the Israelis," he said. "And it's hard to negotiate with the Israelis as they are attacking the Gaza Strip or have just completed attacking the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented¹⁷ since 1967 kind of military operation."

Officials from the Obama transition team have said little about the Gaza crisis, deferring¹⁸ to the outgoing administration. Senior Obama adviser¹⁹ David Axelrod told interviewers on Sunday that the president-elect wants to be a constructive²⁰ force for the peace and stability that both Israelis and the Palestinians want and deserve.

1 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

2 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 imploring   

恳求的，哀求的

参考例句：

• Those calm, strange eyes could see her imploring face. 那平静的，没有表情的眼睛还能看得到她的乞怜求情的面容。
• She gave him an imploring look. 她以哀求的眼神看着他。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

11 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

12 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

13 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。

14 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

15 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

16 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。

17 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。

18 deferring   

v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的现在分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• Recently, the Supreme Court has focused on an additional reason for deferring to administrative agencies. 最近，最高法院强调了尊重行政机构的另一种理由。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Think of it as deferring part of the compiler's job to runtime. 可以认为这是将编译器的部分工作延迟到了运行时。 来自互联网

19 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。

20 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。