VOA标准英语2009年-Belarus Gets $2.5 Billion Credit Line From IMF

The International Monetary¹ Fund, with the concurrence² of the United States, has agreed lend Belarus $2.5 billion to help it deal with effects of the global economic crisis. The IMF decision Wednesday reflects a thaw³ in relations between the authoritarian⁴ government in Minsk and the United States and the rest of Europe.

Belarus has joined several other European countries, including Iceland and Hungary, in gaining IMF credit lines to help it weather the financial crisis, which has caused the central European country's exports and currency reserves to wither⁵ in recent months.
　

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's offer to Belarus must be approved by IMF's governing board, (file photo)

The managing-director of the Washington-based IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn of France, announced the 15-month stand-by credit arrangement Wednesday. The IMF governing board must still approve the offer, but that is considered pro-forma.

Belarus, which recently obtained a two-billion-dollar loan from neighboring Russia, sought the IMF credit line in October as its monetary reserves dwindled⁶ along with income from key exports such as potash and refined oil products.

The IMF agreement marks a further easing of the international isolation⁷ of the government of President Alexander Lukashenko.

The former Soviet⁸ official has ruled the country with an authoritarian hand since 1994, but has recently made a number of conciliatory gestures to the West including the release of the last three government detainees considered political prisoners.
　

Alexander Lukashenko has recently made some conciliatory moves toward the West (file photo)

Asked about the IMF decision, State Department Acting⁹ Spokesman Gordon Duguid said U.S. efforts to engage with the Minsk government have produced at least some limited gains.

'The Belarusians have a long way to go, particularly on their human rights record. However, the engagement that we've started with the Belarusians has produced some results," he said. "This is not to say we'll stop reminding them that their human rights record needs much improvement, that their process for starting a more representative form of government needs to be much improved. But we're doing that through engagement."

The Bush administration welcomed the release last August of the remaining Belarusian political prisoners including opposition¹⁰ figure Alexander Kozulin, and opened a high-level dialogue with the Minsk government.

However, it joined European allies in expressing disappointment over the conduct of parliamentary elections in Belarus in September that did not yield a single seat for opposition candidates and which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the OSCE, said fell short of international standards.

Spokesman Duguid said another problem issue in the bilateral¹¹ relationship is the case of Emanuel Zeltzer, a Russian-born U.S. citizen convicted of industrial espionage¹² in Belarus in August and given a three-year prison term.

He said the United States has no way to assess the fairness of the case against Zeltser because his trial was closed. The United States continues to call for his release on humanitarian¹³ grounds because of reports he is failing health.

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 concurrence   

n.同意；并发

参考例句：

• There is a concurrence of opinion between them.他们的想法一致。
• The concurrence of their disappearances had to be more than coincidental.他们同时失踪肯定不仅仅是巧合。

3 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

4 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

5 wither   

vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡

参考例句：

• She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
• In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天，树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。

6 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

8 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

9 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。

10 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。

11 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

12 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

13 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。