VOA标准英语2014--奥巴马承诺支持伊拉克总理组建的新政府

 

Obama Welcomes Iraqi PM Nomination¹, Pledges Support 奥巴马承诺支持伊拉克总理组建的新政府

WASHINGTON—

President Barack Obama is calling the nomination of a new Iraqi prime minister a promising² step forward. Obama took time out of his vacation at Martha's Vineyard on Monday to express support for the prime minister-designate and urged him to quickly form an inclusive government to counter the threat posed by the Sunni militant³ group Islamic State, also known as ISIL.

Ever since Islamic State militants⁴ began their bloody⁵ campaign in Iraq, the United States has called on the country’s leaders to put aside their sectarian differences and form a new government that would unite Iraqis against the threat.

On Monday, Iraqi President Fouad Massoum nominated Deputy Parliament Speaker Haider al-Abadi as new prime minister and gave him 30 days to a form a new government, potentially ending the divisive eight-year rule of current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Although both men are members of the Shi’ite Dawa Party, Maliki’s supporters remained defiant⁶, saying they would fight the decision.

The veteran Iraqi leader has vowed⁷ to sue the president for failing to nominate him for a third term.

While not directly addressing Maliki, Obama on Monday urged all Iraqi political leaders to work peacefully through the political process in the days ahead. Obama said he spoke⁹ with the prime minister-designate and pledged U.S. support for a government he says will address the grievances¹⁰ of all Iraqi people.

"Just as the United States will remain vigilant¹¹ against the threat posed to our people by ISIL, we stand ready to partner with Iraq in its fight against these terrorist forces. Without question, that effort will be advanced if Iraqis continue to build on today's progress and come together to support a new and inclusive government," said Obama.

Although Maliki is resisting calls to step down, the lack of support from even those among his party shows that most Iraqis understand what's at stake, said Middle East expert David Pollock.

“The situation suggests a transition to a new leadership that will probably be more unifying¹² for Iraq, but even after that, they are in very, very dire⁸ straits - very, very tough position because of the threat from Daish, ISIS or the Islamic State,” said Pollock.

Pentagon officials said Monday that since August 7, the U.S. military has carried out 15 targeted airstrikes against Islamic State while dropping 310 bundles of food, water and medical supplies to thousands of members of the Yazidi minority trapped by militants in Iraq’s northern Sinjar Mountains.

U.S. Army Lieutenant¹³ General William Mayville told reporters in Washington that airstrikes have provided time for Kurdish forces to fortify¹⁴ their defenses, allowing them to hold territory near Irbil and retake towns from Islamic State, or ISIL, militants.

“We assess that U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq have slowed ISIL’s operational tempo¹⁵ and temporarily disrupted their advances toward the province of Irbil.  However, these strikes are unlikely to affect ISIL’s overall capabilities¹⁶ or its operations in other areas of Iraq and Syria,” said Mayville.

Still, analyst¹⁷ Pollock said, U.S. involvement both militarily and providing humanitarian¹⁸ aid may tip the balance against Sunni militants.

“This will be a continuous effort to maybe not defeat, but at least to contain the threat from ISIS in Iraq, and we can do that,” said Pollock.

Pentagon officials said Monday there are no current plans to expand the air campaign beyond protecting U.S. interests in Iraq.

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

6 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

7 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

8 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

9 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。

10 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

12 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

13 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

14 fortify   

v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化

参考例句：

• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
• This treaty forbade the United States to fortify the canal.此条约禁止美国对运河设防。

15 tempo   

n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度

参考例句：

• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
• They waltz to the tempo of the music.他们跟着音乐的节奏跳华尔兹舞。

16 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

17 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

18 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。