VOA标准英语 Obama Calls for Strong Message of Unity Ahead of G20

U.S. President Barack Obama is on his way to London, to start his first overseas trip as president. Mr. Obama's eight-day visit to Europe may be as ambitious as his domestic agenda.
　
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, Tuesday, 31 March 2009, as they begin their eight-day, five-country trip overseas

The president's five-nation journey will include three summits, as well as a number of one-on-one meetings with world leaders, a major speech on arms control and an Internet discussion with young people.

First, Mr. Obama goes to London for a meeting of the world's major economic powers and some emerging economies. The so-called G20 leaders agree that something must be done about the global economic crisis, but they differ on the amount of government stimulus¹ needed. Mr. Obama has campaigned, without much success, to get other G20 countries to spend as aggressively as he has.

"[that] the stimulus efforts of all countries are sufficiently² robust³ to deal with the decline in demand," Mr. Obama said. "We think that is important. Countries like China, for example, are doing that."

The president said recently he will also try to persuade his fellow G-20 leaders to work together to regulate the financial markets.

"We think that it is very important that there is coordination⁴ and effort, so that if we are doing some things that are increasing transparency, openness and trust on Wall Street, that London is doing the same thing," Mr. Obama said.

In London, Mr. Obama and the other G20 leaders will be greeted with tea, cake and cookies - not by British officials, but by protesters outside the Bank of England. The demonstrators are calling Wednesday "Financial Fools Day."

Before the G20 leaders meet, Mr. Obama will have his first meeting with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev. U.S. relations with Russia deteriorated⁵ during the Bush administration, but Mr. Medvedev wrote in Tuesday's Washington Post that he is optimistic his meeting with Mr. Obama will produce a better relationship.

Mr. Obama will also meet in London with the leaders of China, India, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

Next, the president goes to the NATO summit on the French-German border. He will try to sell his fellow alliance leaders on the need for more support for the war in Afghanistan. Many European leaders are reluctant to send more troops to Afghanistan.

Mr. Obama will make a major speech on weapons proliferation when he goes to the Czech Republic. In Prague, he will go to the EU summit to discuss American plans for a missile defense⁶ system in Europe.

The president will end his trip with a visit to Turkey, the first mostly Muslim country he has visited since taking office.

Mr. Obama is popular in Europe, and new public-opinion polls show he is still well-supported at home. The Washington Post-ABC News survey shows that two-thirds of Americans polled approve of the president's job performance, and 60 percent think he is doing a good job on the economy.

Mr. Obama's wife Michelle is scheduled to make several appearances of her own in Europe, including a visit to a school for low-income girls in London.

1 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

2 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

3 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

4 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

5 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

6 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。