VOA标准英语2012--Tunis Conference Aims to Pressure Syria's Assad on Aid, Political Change

Tunis Conference Aims to Pressure Syria's Assad on Aid, Political Change

The officials are gathering¹ for the first meeting of what is now called the Friends of the Syrian People -- a movement that came in reaction to the Russian and Chinese vetoes of a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have condemned² the Syrian government.
The group lacks the Security Council's authority, but hopes to use a combination of pressure and persuasion³ to convince Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to allow humanitarian⁴ aid and agree to end his family's more than 30-year monopoly on power.
It will be a difficult task. Mr. Assad already has defied the Arab League, which is a leader of the movement, and the U.N. General Assembly -- intensifying⁵ his military campaign against pro-democracy activists⁶ that unofficial reports say has killed thousands of civilians⁷.
En route to the Tunis meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday the conference will reflect the international consensus⁸ for change in Syria, and that she hopes it will put enough pressure on the Syrian leader to convince him to change.
"We see a lot of developments that we think are pointing to pressure on Assad. We hope it'll pressure him to make the right decision regarding humanitarian assistance. But in the event that he continues to refuse, we think that the pressure will continue to build. So it's a fluid situation. But if I were a betting person for the medium-term and certainly the long-term, I would be betting against Assad," Clinton said.
A senior State Department official traveling to the conference with the secretary told reporters that participants will issue a challenge to President Assad to allow international aid into areas his troops have cut off from the outside world while residents suffer daily artillery⁹ barrages¹⁰. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity¹¹, said the conference will also express support for the Arab League transition plan for Syria that would replace Mr. Assad with a council and lead to elections. He said it will also expand ties with the main opposition¹² group, the Syrian National Council, and will seek ways to increase pressure on the Assad government through better focused and coordinated¹³ sanctions.
The official would not say whether the gathering will discuss arming Syrian opposition forces in the border areas. But he said it might agree to provide some communications equipment to counter the government's cutoff of telephone and Internet networks. He said Secretary Clinton discussed such moves with her counterparts in London on Thursday on the sidelines of a meeting about the Somalia crisis.
Clinton said that Friday's conference is aimed in part at Syria's key supporters.
"The pressure will build on countries like Russia and China because the world opinion is not going to stand idly by. Arab opinion is not going to be satisfied, watching two nations -- one for commercial reasons, one for commercial and ideological¹⁴ reasons -- boost a regime that is defying every rule of modern international norms," she said.
Officials say they hope a unified¹⁵ international approach and an engaged Syrian opposition movement will convince President Assad to change his policies. But some opposition members say Western and Arab countries must moderate their approach, and bring China and Russia into the process, if they are to have any chance of ending the violence and achieving political change in Syria.

1 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。

2 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

3 persuasion   

n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派

参考例句：

• He decided to leave only after much persuasion.经过多方劝说，他才决定离开。
• After a lot of persuasion,she agreed to go.经过多次劝说后，她同意去了。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

9 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

10 barrages   

n.弹幕射击( barrage的名词复数 )；火力网；猛烈炮火；河上的堰坝v.火力攻击（或阻击）( barrage的第三人称单数 )；以密集火力攻击（或阻击）

参考例句：

• In many Basidiomycetes barrages develop. 在许多担子菌中也发生一些栅栏。 来自辞典例句
• It's fun to be able to run around and do instant Barrages. 一边瞬发奥术弹幕一边四处跑确实很有趣。 来自互联网

11 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

12 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。

13 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

14 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

15 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。