VOA标准英语2009年-Poland Ratifies EU Treaty

By Hilary Heuler
Warsaw
10 October 2009

 
Polish President Lech Kaczynski signs EU's Lisbon Treaty at presidential palace in Warsaw, 10 Oct 2009
Poland has signed the Lisbon Treaty which aims to streamline¹ the workings of the European Union. This leaves just one more country, the Czech Republic, to ratify² the agreement before it takes effect.

In a ceremony Saturday, Poland became the 26th country to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. Despite his personal antipathy³ towards the European Union, Polish President Lech Kaczynski signed the accord.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk⁴ explained the government's reasoning.

Mr. Tusk says the treaty gives an added degree of security to the nations that have suffered the most, and Poland is one of those. He says Poland is now ready to be a responsible co-leader in Europe, and this signature is proof of that.

Earlier, President Kaczynski had said he would ratify the Lisbon Treaty only if Ireland did. When Irish voters approved the treaty earlier this month in a second referendum, he vowed⁵ to keep his word.

But President Kaczynski, a member of the far right Peace and Justice Party, has long shied away from deeper involvement with the European Union. Even during the signing ceremony he emphasized that the EU should remain a union of sovereign states.

Opinion polls show that most Poles support both the EU and the Lisbon Treaty, but a small minority still believes that a more powerful EU means loss of national self-determination.

There was a handful of protesters outside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw Saturday morning.

One man is adamant⁶ - he says the European Union just wants to dominate us, and to take away our ability to make decisions for ourselves.

Poland is the second-to-last EU member to sign the Lisbon Treaty, which must be ratified⁷ by all 27 member states before it can take effect.

Now the only signature missing is that of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who has also expressed concerns about a more powerful EU. Mr. Klaus has said he wants an exemption⁸ included to safeguard the sovereignty of the judiciary before he agrees to sign.

1 streamline   

vt.使成流线型；使简化；使现代化

参考例句：

• We must streamline our methods.我们必须简化方法。
• Any liquid or gas passing it will have streamline flow.任何通过它的液体或气体将呈流线型的流动。

2 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

3 antipathy   

n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物

参考例句：

• I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
• Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。

4 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

7 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

8 exemption   

n.豁免，免税额，免除

参考例句：

• You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
• These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。