VOA标准英语2009年-Poland Pledges Cooperation With New Missil

By Hilary Heuler
Warsaw
21 October 2009
Vice¹ President Joe Biden visited Poland and received assurances from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk² that Poland will take part in a new missile defense³ plan. Polish officials said they would host elements of the new plan that was announced last month in Washington.

 
US VP Joe Biden (R) and Polish PM Donald Tusk share a laugh before talks in Warsaw, Poland, 21 Oct 2009
Vice President Joe Biden is the first high-level U.S. official to visit Poland since President Barack Obama canceled the planned Central European missile shield proposed by former President George W. Bush. Biden said the new missile plan would be enough to defend Poland and he said U.S. support for Poland remains⁴ solid.

As part of the plan, Poland has agreed to host the U.S. Navy's Standard Missile-3 anti-ballistic-missile system. 

U.S. Defense officials say the new plan would include interceptor missiles deployed⁵ on U.S. Navy ships in the North Sea and Mediterranean⁶, in addition to ground-based weapons. The interceptor missiles are aimed at countering missiles fired by Iran.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the plans as "very interesting" for Poland.

Biden explained the advantages of the new system:

"Our new phased adaptive approach to missile defense is designed to meet a growing threat, not only to the United States, but first and foremost to Europe,"he said. "It is going to meet it with proven technology that will cover more of Europe, including Poland, and it will do it more efficiently⁷ than the previous system could have or did."

But Biden also had to soothe⁸ concerns that scrapping⁹ Bush-era plans for a more comprehensive system does not signal a breakdown¹⁰ of Polish-U.S. relations.

Mr. Obama's announcement last month that he was canceling the planned Bush-era missile shield ruffled¹¹ a lot of feathers in Poland. Some politicians claimed the United States had abandoned the region in order to repair relations with Russia, which strongly opposed the previous missile plan. Polish newspapers ran alarming headlines about betrayal and the triumph of Moscow.

But Biden assured Poland the United States and NATO are still committed to defending the region.

"Under NATO's Article 5, an attack on one is an attack on all," added Biden. "And this strategic assurance is absolute. President Obama and I consider this to be a solemn obligation."

Although many people are disappointed, not everyone in Poland thinks the original missile-defense plan was necessary.

One woman in Warsaw explains that she was happy the shield was canceled because she does not think Poland needs to be defended from anyone, even Russia.

During his European trip, Biden will also be visiting Romania and the Czech Republic.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 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。

3 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。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

6 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

7 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

8 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

9 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

10 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

11 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。