VOA标准英语2014--Major Powers to Take Bigger Role in Syria Talks

 

Major Powers to Take Bigger Role in Syria Talks 

LONDON — Senior U.S. and Russian officials are to take a bigger role in the U.N.-sponsored talks on Syria's future that reconvened in Geneva Monday. The move comes as the Syrian government and opposition¹ delegations² remain far apart on how to end the nearly three-year-long civil war.  

It was a familiar sight as the U.N. and Arab League mediator³ Lakhdar Brahimi arrived for another round of talks. The opposition and government delegations held separate sessions with the mediator, who canceled his usual news conference.

The U.N. says the talks covered scheduling and the agenda for meetings expected to continue while the negotiators await a U.S.-Russia meeting on Friday. Those countries are the main backers of the two sides, but until now their delegations in Geneva had played a behind-the-scenes role.  

Middle East expert Reinoud Leenders of London's King's College says the big powers, which are trying to manage the Syrian transition more effectively than they were able to manage other recent changes in the region, face significant obstacles.

"You get a sense they are trying to learn from mistakes in the past," Leenders said. "The real obstacle is on the ground, given the rather complex situation."

That situation–which involves Syrian government troops and a variety of opposition forces, including al-Qaida-affiliated militants–makes it difficult to make any progress, even on humanitarian⁴ issues.

International pressure finally forced some relief over the weekend for people in the city of Homs, which is besieged⁵ by government forces. That had been a major topic of discussion during the first round of the Geneva talks two weeks ago.

 

But experts say much more humanitarian relief is needed there and elsewhere.  And they say the difficulty of negotiating even a short-term truce⁶ in Homs shows yet again just how hard it will be to reach the talks' main goal–a political settlement to end the war.

1 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。

2 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

3 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

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 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

6 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。