VOA标准英语2010年-British Prime Minister to Face Iraq In

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown will give evidence to the country's Iraq Inquiry¹ before general elections expected later in the year. The announcement came Friday following mounting pressure from opposition² politicians.

The chairman of the Iraq Inquiry, John Chilcot, made the announcement Friday, saying Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other cabinet ministers will give evidence to the inquiry within the next two months.

"As a matter of fairness, the committee concluded, we should offer the prime minister, if he wished to take it up, the opportunity for him, for David Miliband his foreign secretary and Douglas Alexander the development secretary to attend hearings before the general election," he said.

Mr. Brown's spokesperson said the Prime Minister was keen to "state the case" about why Britain was right to take action in Iraq.

Mr. Brown's appearance at the inquiry was not expected to take place until after a general election, which must take place by June. Chilcot had delayed Mr. Brown's attendance in order to avoid, he said, turning the inquiry into a platform for party politics.

But the Prime Minister's attendance has been brought forward after mounting pressure from opposition parties.

"This was the most disastrous⁴ decision taken by this government, a decision in which Gordon Brown was not only in the room, but signed all the checks," Nick Clegg, leader of opposition party the Liberal Democrats⁵, spoke³ to the British media. "So it's right that he goes to the inquiry and does so before people make up their own mind.

Political analysts⁶ warn that the timing⁷ of Mr. Brown's appearance will be unwelcome for many in his Labor⁸ party - forcing the party to revisit an issue that was damaging in the last election. 

But shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said Mr. Brown was himself responsible for the timing of his appearance, accusing the Prime Minister of dragging out the inquiry.

"It is entirely⁹ Gordon Brown's own fault that this is now happening in the run-up to the general election," he said. "Because we asked, and other parties asked, three years ago - three and a half years ago - for the setting up of the Iraq Inquiry."

The Iraq Inquiry has been set up to consider Britain's involvement in Iraq from 2001 to July 2009. It covers the run-up to the conflict, military action, and its aftermath.

 

1 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。