VOA常速英语2008年-Afghanistan, Expansion to Top NATO Summit in Bu

By Sonja Pace
London
01 April 2008

Leaders from the 26-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization hold their summit this week in Bucharest, Romania. Topping the agenda will be what to do to help stabilize¹ Afghanistan and what additional countries NATO may invite to join the alliance. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from London.

There have been dire² reports in recent months about the situation in Afghanistan and warnings of potentially disastrous³ consequences if NATO does not pull together to send more troops and equipment.

Afghanistan will be the main issue at the Bucharest summit and NATO spokesman James Appathurai told VOA in an interview that NATO members are expected to reaffirm their long-term commitment and to stress the importance of getting the Afghans and the larger international community more involved.

"NATO is not alone in Afghanistan, we should not be alone in Afghanistan, and we alone can not provide the solutions for Afghanistan," he said. "We need the U.N., we need the EU, we need the World Bank, we need the Afghans all to do more and we all need to do more together. The comprehensive approach will be to look at Afghanistan in a regional context. That includes very much a relationship with Pakistan and deepening our relationship with the new government in Pakistan as we go forward."

Appathurai said NATO welcomes the expected announcement by France that it will send additional troops to Afghanistan.

The summit will also focus on NATO enlargement - what countries get in and which ones get the nod of approval to begin the membership process.

"There are three countries in the Western Balkans that are aspiring⁴ to join. That is Croatia, Albania, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," Appathurai said. "We will see in Bucharest if zero, one, two or three will get invitations. Georgia and Ukraine both made public their aspirations⁵ to enter the ante-chamber as it were, join the membership action plan, which does not mean membership, but they are on the membership track without any specific timeline for when they can get in."

Albania and Croatia are widely expected to get a formal invitation to join NATO while the status of Macedonia is less clear.

NATO enlargement has been a contentious⁶ issue at times, not only among NATO members, but also with Russia, which sees the expansion of the alliance eastward⁷ as a threat.

NATO spokesman Appathurai says Russia need not worry, but should be brought into discussions on the issue.

"It is true that Russia is concerned about this," he said. "Our point of view is the successive rounds of NATO enlargement have clearly demonstrated that NATO enlargement builds stability and security where it takes place. So we believe it is the right thing to do for all of Europe and that any other country, even outside of NATO, benefits from it. That being said, Russia has concerns. We should talk to Russia about those concerns and we do to try and assuage⁸ them."

NATO leaders will get a chance to discuss the issue with outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be at the Bucharest summit.

U.S. President George W. Bush has said he is in favor of Ukraine and Georgia joining NATO. Germany and France are among the member states against the idea, fearing it would hamper⁹ efforts to improve relations with Russia.

1 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

2 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

3 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

4 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

5 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

6 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。

7 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

8 assuage   

v.缓和，减轻，镇定

参考例句：

• The medicine is used to assuage pain.这种药用来止痛。
• Your messages of cheer should assuage her suffering.你带来的这些振奋人心的消息一定能减轻她的痛苦。

9 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。