VOA标准英语2010年-US, Russian Negotiators Near New Nucle

A senior U.S. official says American and Russian negotiators meeting in Geneva are closing in on a deal for a key nuclear disarmament treaty, and the United States Senate would likely ratify¹ it.  

U.S. Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher expressed confidence that despite deep partisan² divisions in Congress, the Senate would pass the successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, although she gave no timeframe.

"We do have a polarized atmosphere in Washington, but I think that on issues of national security, we have always found that we can find a very broad concensus of Democrats³ and Republicans [who] will work together to advance those issues.  I expect on this issue we will find that same sweet spot," she said.

Tauscher spoke⁴ at a conference in Paris gathering⁵ former diplomats⁶ and arms negotiators and aimed at pushing for global nuclear disarmament.  U.S. and Russian negotiators resumed talks in Geneva this week aimed to wrap up a new nuclear disarmament treaty to replace START, which expired in December.

In July, President Barak Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev agreed to reduce their respective numbers of nuclear warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 under a new treaty.

In remarks later to VOA, Tauscher predicted the two sides would reach a deal very soon.  "We are working hard toward an agreement.  It  is clear we have the major elements of an agreement in place and now we have to do the hard work of conforming the treaty and some other small negotiations," she said.

Separately, Tauscher cautiously welcomed an announcement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Tehran is ready to send its enriched uranium overseas in exchange for nuclear fuel.  Iran previously⁷ rejected a U.N.-mediated proposal along those lines.  Tauscher said the Obama administration is analyzing⁸ the Iranian president's latest remarks. 

 

1 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

2 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

3 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》

4 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。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 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》

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句