VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Chairs UN Security Council Disarmame

By David Gollust
United Nations
24 September 2009
 
US President Barack Obama delivers his opening remarks the United Nations Security Council, in New York, 24 Sep 2009
U.S. President Barak Obama chaired a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, urging strides toward a world without nuclear weapons. The council unanimously approved a resolution expressing grave concern about the nuclear proliferation threat and urging action to prevent it.

Mr. Obama's presence in the Security Council underscored his administration's renewed commitment to the U.N. system, and support for international nuclear treaties that the previous Bush administration had been skeptical¹ about.

The first-ever council meeting chaired by a U.S. president began with unanimous approval of a resolution renewing the U.N. commitment to a world without nuclear weapons, and urging nations that have not already done so to embrace the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Obama warned the detonation² of a single nuclear weapon in a major world city would cause global economic damage and insecurity, in addition to killing³ hundreds of thousands of people.

He said the next 12 months will be critical in determining if global efforts enshrined in the new resolution will succeed, and he said the world community must not succumb⁴ to cynicism about disarmament efforts.

"We harbor no illusions about the difficulty of bringing about a world without nuclear weapons," said the president. "We know there are plenty of cynics and that there will be setbacks to prove their point. But there will also be days like today that push us forward, days that tell a different story. It is the story of a world that understands that no difference or division is worth destroying all that we have built, and all that we love."

Mr. Obama said the global effort would seek to "lock down" all vulnerable nuclear materials within four years.

Neither Mr. Obama, nor the resolution, specifically mentioned individual countries believed to be seeking nuclear weapons.

But in their council statements, both French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown criticized Iran and North Korea for defying international efforts to curb⁵ their nuclear ambitions.

Mr. Sarkozy said that in light of Iran's violation⁶ of five Security Council resolutions, "no one can seriously believe" Tehran's assertions that its nuclear program is peaceful.

Prime Minister Brown said the world community can no longer look the other way as North Korea and Iran continue dangerous nuclear activities.

"I believe the lesson of recent months is [that] we cannot stand by when Iran and North Korea reject the opportunities of peaceful civil nuclear power and instead take steps to develop nuclear weapons in a way that threatens regional peace and security," he said. "Today I believe we have to draw a line in the sand. Iran must not allow its actions to prevent the international community from moving forward to a more peaceful era."

Momentum⁷ for tougher international sanctions against Iran, if it refuses to resolve concerns about its nuclear intentions, appears to be growing in advance of a critical meeting between Iran's nuclear negotiator and big power diplomats⁸ October 1st in Geneva.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, whose government has resisted punitive⁹ action against Iran, told Mr. Obama on Wednesday that while sanctions are rarely productive, they are in some cases inevitable¹⁰.

The United States also said Thursday that after a 10-year lapse¹¹ it would rejoin a biennial¹² conference designed to win support for the comprehensive test ban treaty. The administration of former president Bill Clinton supported the test ban treaty, but ratification¹³ was rejected by the U.S. Senate in 1999.

1 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

2 detonation   

n.爆炸；巨响

参考例句：

• A fearful detonation burst forth on the barricade.街垒传来一阵骇人的爆炸声。
• Within a few hundreds of microseconds,detonation is complete.在几百微秒之内，爆炸便完成了。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

10 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

11 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

12 biennial   

adj.两年一次的

参考例句：

• The workers were strongly against the biennial election.工人们强烈反对两年一次的选举。
• His is a biennial,and one of the most useful pasture plants we have.这是两年生植物，也是我们最有用的牧草之一。

13 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。