VOA常速英语2008年-US Defense Secretary Does Not Expect Fighting o

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
05 March 2008

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates says he does not expect fighting to break out between Colombia and Venezuela, and that if it does he believes the Colombian military can successfully defend its country. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

Secretary Gates was asked about the increased tension on the Colombia-Venezuela border during a news conference on Wednesday.

"My personal view is that there is relatively² little likelihood of a military conflict between them," said Robert Gates. "And my further impression is that the Colombians can take care of themselves."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced Sunday he was sending thousands of troops to the border area. But early Wednesday a senior U.S. defense official said "there is not as much to" the Venezuelan buildup as has been reported. The official spoke³ on condition of anonymity⁴ because his information is based on intelligence reports. He said he has not seen any significant concern among U.S. defense officials about any Venezuelan troop movements.

Later, the top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, was asked whether the United States is providing any intelligence to Colombia to help it assess the current situation.

"We have supported President [Alvaro] Uribe in Colombia for many, many years, sort of across the board, from a training perspective and other perspectives," said Admiral Mullen. "And I'd stay away from any of the details of any additional support, except to applaud their success in terms of impacting significantly on the FARC in lots of ways."

Secretary Gates also expressed his support for the Colombian government and its effort to deal with FARC rebels, whom he called "terrorists." President Chavez of Venezuela has good relations with FARC leaders and previously⁵ tried to mediate⁶ between them and the Colombian government.

A Colombian military strike on an alleged⁷ FARC base in Ecuador on Saturday sparked the current tension. Ecuador's government has protested the attack as a violation⁸ of its sovereignty, but has not taken any military action.

1 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。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 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。

4 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。