VOA标准英语2009年-Bush Holds Final Cabinet Meeting

U.S. President George Bush says he is leaving office with a record of accomplishment¹, and says he is going back to Texas with his head held high. Mr. Bush spoke² during a farewell meeting with his Cabinet.
　

President George W. Bush holds a closing meeting for his Cabinet at the White House, 13 Jan 2009

Applause was heard from the Cabinet meeting room at the White House as the session came to an end.

When reporters walked in a minute or so later, the president was offering his thanks to all those who have served during his eight years in office.

"This administration has had a good and solid record and I am very proud of it. I tell people that I leave town with a great sense of accomplishment and my head held high," Mr. Bush said.

He spoke of progress in areas from education to the environment. But he said the biggest achievement of his administration has been keeping America safe.

"Most of all, we protected this country from harm. And we did so by providing tools for our professionals as well as asking our military to do hard work which they have done time and time again," Mr. Bush said.

As he spoke, members of the incoming Obama administration were at the White House for an unprecedented³ national security drill.

Working with officials from the Bush team, they rehearsed how the United States would handle a hypothetical terrorist attack.

The exercise is part of an ongoing⁴ effort to make the transition from one president to the next as seamless as possible.

President Bush's chief of staff, Josh Bolten, says much is at stake.

"As Republicans and Democrats⁵, we disagree on a lot of policy issues but we agree completely that we want this new team to be as successful as they possibly can be especially in the areas of national and homeland security," Bolten said.

Incoming Obama chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel agrees.

"There is no higher task to any administration than protecting the American people," Emmanuel said.

This is the first change of administration since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. And while similar exercises are held throughout the year for government officials, this is the first time teams from the incoming and outgoing administrations have held a joint⁶ drill.

1 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

2 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。

3 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。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。