VOA标准英语2009-Karzai Sworn in for Second Term as Afghan Pr

By Sean Maroney
Kabul
19 November 2009

 
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai (L) takes the presidential oath besides Afghanistan's Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi during his inauguration¹ at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, 19 Nov 2009
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been sworn in for a second term after months of political uncertainty² in the wake of a fraud-marred³ presidential election. He says fighting government corruption⁴ and improving security are among his top priorities.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says corruption constitutes a "very dangerous problem" for Afghanistan.

He says he plans to follow this issue seriously in his new five-year term. He also says he will host an international conference soon in Kabul to discuss how to better fight it. At the same time, he urged the international community to be more transparent⁵ with how it spends aid in his country.

In his inaugural⁶ address, Mr. Karzai promised good governance for Afghanistan.

He says his administration will appoint government officials based on their merit and that all senior officials will be required to declare their assets.

He also vowed⁷ to dismiss and prosecute⁸ all government employees who are connected to the country's illicit⁹ drug trade.

Afghanistan accounts for about 90 percent of the world's opium¹⁰, which is the key ingredient in heroin¹¹. The president's brother Ahmed Wali Karzai - who is a provincial¹² minister - has been linked to the profitable trade, but he denies the accusations¹³.

Afghan security forces blocked nearly all the roads in much of the city, as dignitaries from more than 40 countries attended President Karzai's inauguration.

Mr. Karzai thanked the international community for its continued support. But he said he wants to work toward Afghanistan relying on its own forces for security.

He says that by the end of his term, he hopes Afghan forces will lead all the security operations in the country.

Mr. Karzai also said he plans to pursue national reconciliation¹⁴ for peace.

He invited all those dissatisfied with his government and not linked to international terrorism to work toward reconstruction¹⁵. He said he plans to call a traditional assembly of different ethnic¹⁶ elders to ensure peace.

President Karzai also reached out to his rivals in the disputed presidential election. He invited all candidates to partner with him and apologized if anyone was upset by him or his administration.

The August 20 election was marred by widespread fraud. Mr. Karzai won by default after his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from a runoff, saying it was impossible for the vote to be fair.

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

6 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

7 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。

8 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

9 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

10 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

11 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

12 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

13 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

14 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

15 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

16 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。