VOA标准英语2010年-US General David Petraeus Collapses Du

U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus is surrounded by staff after appearing to pass out while testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, 15 Jun 2010

The head of the U.S. Central Command, General David Petraeus, briefly¹ collapsed² Tuesday while testifying before members of the Congress on the war in Afghanistan. 

General Petraeus was appearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee when he appeared to bow his head and slump³ over the witness table.

Aides rushed to the four star general's side, but he quickly recovered and walked out of the hearing room under his own power.

The dramatic episode appeared to stun⁴ lawmakers, who moments earlier were questioning Petraeus over plans to start a U.S. withdrawal⁵ from Afghanistan in July, 2011.

About 20 minutes later Petraeus returned to the room, smiling with a cup of water in his hand, saying he was dehydrated, feeling lightheaded, but was ready to resume the hearing.

The general had this conversation with the chairman of the committee, Senator Carl Levin.

PETRAEUS:  "Just got dehydrated."

LEVIN:  "General you have told us you are more than ready to go."

PETRAEUS: "I am."

LEVIN:  "You always are.  You are that kind of incredible person.  I have consulted with colleagues and we are going to overrule you."

With that, Senator Levin suspended the hearing until Wednesday.

The meeting was called to assess the situation in Afghanistan as thousands of U.S. troops continue to arrive in the country.

U.S. President Barack Obama has tripled the overall force since taking office, but says he will begin pulling troops out of the country next year.

Critics of the policy are concerned that progress in Afghanistan has been slower than expected.

Republican Senator John McCain:

"The decision to begin withdrawing our forces from Afghanistan arbitrarily in July 2011 seems to be having exactly the effect that many of us predicted it would," he said. "It is convincing the key actors inside and outside of Afghanistan that the United States is more interested in leaving than succeeding in this conflict."

Supporters of the Obama administration's strategy are quick to point out the withdrawal will be based on conditions in Afghanistan and Mr. Obama has yet to decide how quickly the troops will be brought home.

An updated assessment⁶ of the war, now in its ninth year, is due in December.

Strong Taliban resistance and persistent⁷ violence around Marja, which was supposed to be a model of the counterinsurgency campaign, has fueled doubts about the strategy.

A major civil-military operation in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, appears to be building more slowly than military planners originally anticipated.

U.S. officials have also expressed doubts about Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who recently dismissed two senior security officials who were trusted by the Americans.

Despite these difficulties, General Petraeus says the military's timeline is on track.

"July 2011 is not the date where we race for the exits," he said. "It is the date, where having done an assessment, we begin a process of transition of tasks to Afghan security forces, based on conditions and begin a process of - quote - a responsible drawdown of our forces."

Under Secretary for Defense⁹ Policy Michele Flournoy told the committee that allied¹⁰ forces are beginning to regain¹¹ the initiative against the stubborn Taliban insurgency⁸, which she says has begun to lose momentum¹².

Flournoy says, however, the outcome is far from certain and the military is still in the early stages of the president's new strategy for Afghanistan. 
 

1 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

4 stun   

vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹

参考例句：

• When they told me she had gone missing I was totally stunned.他们告诉我她不见了时，我当时完全惊呆了。
• Sam stood his ground and got a blow that stunned him.萨姆站在原地，被一下打昏了。

5 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

6 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

7 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

8 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

11 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

12 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。