VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Leads Security Council Session on Si

By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
24 September 2009

 
President Barack Obama chairs a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at the United Nations headquarters, in New York, 24 Sep 2009
President Barack Obama chaired a summit level-session of the Security Council Thursday that unanimously adopted a resolution committing to work toward a nuclear weapons-free world. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the second day of the U.N. General Assembly where the annual debate continued.

The Security Council session focused on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and the resolution urged action to prevent the spread of atomic weapons.

President Obama presided over the meeting, the first time a U.S. president has done so. He told the council that the United Nations has a "pivotal role to play" in preventing a nuclear crisis.

"The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons," said President Obama. "And it brings Security Council agreement on a broad framework for action to reduce nuclear dangers as we work toward that goal."

Among its goals, the resolution aims to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to keep nuclear materials out the hands of terrorists, and to ensure the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

All of the other council members were represented by their head of state or government, except for non-permanent member Libya, which sent its U.N. ambassador instead of President Moammar Gadhafi.

Meanwhile, the annual debate continued in the General Assembly.

 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the general debate of the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, 24 Sep 2009
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government wants peace with the Palestinians, but that it requires holding back "the forces of terror led by Iran." He dismissed as "biased¹ and unjust" a U.N. Human Rights Council report that accused Israel of war crimes during its December Gaza offensive, saying his country was acting² in self-defense against militant³ rocket fire. But he said the most urgent threat facing the world today is stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

"This is why the greatest threat facing the world today is the marriage between religious fundamentalism and the weapons of mass destruction," said Benjamin Netanyahu. "The most urgent challenge facing this body today is to prevent the tyrants⁴ of Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Are the members of the United Nations up to that challenge?"

In an apparent reference toward the trend in Latin America toward left-leaning governments, Venezuelen President Hugo Chavez said there is a revolution going on and that socialism is the path to salvation⁵.

U.S.-Venezuelan relations have been tense in recent years, although both nations agreed this year to seek a relationship based on mutual⁶ interest. In Mr. Chavez's last speech here in 2006, he referred to President George W. Bush as the devil, saying he smelled sulfur⁷ in the room. But on Thursday, he expressed a more favorable view of President Obama, calling him "an intelligent man".

"I hope Obama will be able to look and see - genuinely see - what has to be seen and bring about a change," said Hugo Chavez. "It does not smell of sulfur in here anymore, it doesn't smell of sulfur. It is gone. No, it smells of something else, it smells of hope."

Later in a news conference, Mr. Chavez said he did not see any chance for restoring relations with neighboring Colombia.

Japan's new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who just took office last week, said his country hopes to be a "bridge" for the world as it faces challenges such as the global financial and economic crisis, climate change, nuclear non-proliferation and eradicating⁸ poverty.

While Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country wanted strong cooperation with all its neighbors and to see a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus issue.

And African presidents from Rwanda, Ghana and Sierra Leone each pointed⁹ to the negative impact of the global financial and food crises, as well as the growing impact of climate change, on development in their countries.

The annual debate continues Friday, with more than 20 presidents expected to speak.

1 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 tyrants   

专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a succession of tyrants. 这个国家接连遭受暴君的统治。
• The people suffered under foreign tyrants. 人民在异族暴君的统治下受苦受难。

5 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

6 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

7 sulfur   

n.硫，硫磺（=sulphur）

参考例句：

• Sulfur emissions from steel mills become acid rain.炼钢厂排放出的硫形成了酸雨。
• Burning may produce sulfur oxides.燃烧可能会产生硫氧化物。

8 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。