VOA标准英语2009-US Chamber of Commerce Supports Lifting Trade Em

The head of the U.S. Chamber¹ of Commerce says lifting the near five-decade long U.S. embargo² on Cuba will bring significant economic opportunities to American and Cuban workers alike. He made the case Tuesday at a news conference in the U.S. Congress.
　
Thomas Donahue

The president of U.S. Chamber of Commerce says his group is supporting the efforts of some U.S. lawmakers to end the trade embargo on Cuba. Thomas Donahue says engaging with Cuba will help the communist nation move toward a more democratic society.

"I would say that if you want to open up Cuba to the things that we value, then send a whole lot of Americans down there to talk about what life is really like, to talk about economic opportunity, to go down there and take along with them opportunities to trade and invest and develop," said Donahue.

The U.S. imposed an economic embargo on Cuba in the early 1960s when it moved toward Communism and aligned⁴ with Russia during the Cold War.

U.S. President Barack Obama eased restrictions⁵ on travel and money transfers to Cuba by Cuban Americans last month in a gesture to its Communist rulers. But, he left the embargo in place and urged them to take the next step, by increasing political freedom.

Donahue says lifting the embargo will give U.S. businesses significant opportunities to sell agricultural and manufactured goods to Cuba and to develop offshore⁶ oil fields. He says those opportunities are seized instead by other countries.

Republican Congressman⁷ Jeff Flake⁸ said at the news conference he supports opening up to Cuba even though he is not sure how its government would react.

"I think the experience has been around the world that economic freedom and reform typically precedes political freedom and reform. It does not always happen, but it is more likely than not," said Flake. "But in this case we should do it because it is in our interest and every American should be able to travel wherever they want unless there is a compelling national security reason and there is not one here."
　
Charles Rangel

House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel is leading efforts in Congress to end the embargo on Cuba. The New York Democrat³ said the embargo gives Cuba's rulers a scapegoat⁹ for their mistakes and lifting it will boost the U.S. standing¹⁰ on the world stage.

But Cuban American representatives in Congress strongly oppose any relaxing of restrictions on relations with Cuba. They say increased revenue from tourism and trade only would strengthen the government of President Raul Castro.

Roger Noriega is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington and a former State Department official in the George W. Bush administration. He says Americans who call for unilateral concessions¹¹ to Cuba are lobbying on behalf of a dictatorship.

" What these people are doing when they go down and make their deals is aid and abet¹² a regime that is keeping 11 million Cuban people in bondage," he said. "Why would any American businessmen want to keep in power a regime that has destroyed the Cuban economy."

Noriega says maintaining sanctions will give the U.S. leverage¹³ to press Cuba's rulers to release political prisoners and grant their citizens political rights.

1 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

2 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 flake   

v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片

参考例句：

• Drain the salmon,discard the skin,crush the bones and flake the salmon with a fork.将鲑鱼沥干，去表皮，粉碎鱼骨并用餐叉子将鱼肉切成小薄片状。
• The paint's beginning to flake.油漆开始剥落了。

9 scapegoat   

n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊

参考例句：

• He has been made a scapegoat for the company's failures.他成了公司倒闭的替罪羊。
• They ask me to join the party so that I'll be their scapegoat when trouble comes.他们想叫我入伙，出了乱子，好让我替他们垫背。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

12 abet   

v.教唆，鼓励帮助

参考例句：

• Do not abet your friend to pry into other people's privacy.不要唆使朋友去窥探别人隐私。
• Be do grateful to those who rebuke you,because they abet your wisdom!一定要感激那些斥责你的人，因为他们助长了你的智慧！

13 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。