VOA标准英语2012--G8 Leaders to Weigh Euro Crisis, Food Security

 

G8 Leaders to Weigh Euro Crisis, Food Security

John Kirton, co-founder of the G8 Research Group, said the summit may be brief, but also significant.

“The G7 leaders, together with Dmitry Medvedev from Russia, will be meeting to deal with the latest eruption¹ of the Euro crisis coming out of the elections in Greece and of course the election in France that put into power Francois Hollande from the Socialist² Party,” he said.

The election results have been viewed as voters expressing anger over austerity measures put in place during the global recession. The Euro crisis, and especially Greece’s economic woes³, have affected⁴ financial markets around the world and threaten to slow economic recovery.

Kirton said, “What the G8 leaders are going to have to do is really sit down for the first time with President Hollande – many of the leaders are meeting him for the first time – and say, look, just how much flexibility⁵ do you have to move away from your campaign promises and work with us to come up with a credible⁶ strategy that will convince voters, convince markets, that finally Europe will stave off the markets attacking it’s bonds?”

A strategy, Kirton said, that must deal with both debt and economic growth.

However, how far can Hollande go without breaking his campaign promises to concentrate on growth rather than austerity? He succeeded Nicolas Sarkozy, who had a close working relationship with German leader Angela Merkel.

“We’ve already seen from his meeting with Angela Merkel of Germany that she has signaled some flexibility. Hollande has shown a real desire to work with Germany, and then to have a united front that they can take to the very traumatized people in Greece to find a solution to the current crisis that everyone faces,” he said.

But while economics may dominate the G8 summit, Kirton says the recurring⁷ issue of food security will also be addressed. President Obama has invited African leaders from Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania to discuss the matter.

“Well, I think they’ll get their full share of what is a very short summit, so several hours. The African leaders have been brought in just to deal with the food security issue. And of course they’ll be showing that dialogue respectively with leaders of private sector⁸ corporations, who have been also on the forefront of meeting the food security challenges in Africa [in] a new way,” he said.

The African leaders are expected to explain how home-grown programs are helping⁹ to ensure their countries’ food security.

In 2009, at the L’Aquila Summit in Italy, leaders, led by President Obama, pledged $22 billion for agricultural investment. Kirton doubts a similar initiative will be approved this time. Instead, he says, G8 leaders could support local African initiatives, while following through on their L’Aquila commitment.

“So the job of the Camp David Summit,” said Kirton, “is to make sure that that promise made has now been a promise kept and then to turn to the task of accountability. Have all the countries actually delivered the money? Is it being disbursed¹⁰? Is it being disbursed to the intended recipient¹¹? Is it being disbursed in the proper way and in a way that actually works to produce the intended results?”

Many humanitarian¹² groups are calling on the G8 to renew its commitment to food security to reduce hunger and poverty – and to achieve the Millennium¹³ Development Goals, which come due in 2015.

1 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

2 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

3 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

6 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

7 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 disbursed   

v.支出，付出( disburse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the 2000—2008 school year, $426.5 million was disbursed to 349085 students. 2000至2008学年，共有349085名学生获发津贴，总额达4.265亿元。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bank has disbursed over $350m for the project. 银行已经为这个项目支付了超过3.5亿美元。 来自辞典例句

11 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

12 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。

13 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。