227 美国国会对导弹防御体系提出质疑

227 美国国会对导弹防御体系提出质疑

Senate Democrats² Skeptical³ of Missile Defense⁴
Jim Malone
Washington
24 Jul 2001 20:45 UTC\

The debate over President Bush's proposed missile defense system is 1)heating up in the U.S. Congress. On Tuesday, the Bush plan 2)prompted a 3)skeptical reaction from Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Democrats have several concerns about the president's proposed missile defense system. First of all, they question whether it will work. Second, they fear the financial cost of the program will far 4)outweigh the security benefits.
Most of all, though, Democrats believe that the Bush Administration's insistence⁵ on rapid testing and deployment⁶ of a missile defense system will effectively scrap⁷ the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty and will be seen as a threat by Russia.
Democrat¹ Joseph Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I find it amazing that we are about to 5)undertake a testing program that will 6)potentially put us up against the ABM Treaty within a matter of months and we don't know whether or not those tests, which are planned within the next couple of months, will actually violate the ABM Treaty," Senator Biden said.
Bush Administration officials say a special committee is considering whether continued testing of the missile defense system would 7)violate the ABM Treaty and that their conclusion will be announced soon.
But administration officials also leave little doubt that the president is committed to quick action on missile defense, with or without 8)cooperation from the Russians.
John Bolton, 9)Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, says that "the president, I think, described it quite well yesterday when he said time is of the 10)essence and that while we hope, expect and are optimistic for cooperation with the Russians, the president is determined⁸ to have an effective missile defense system. If we can do it together, that would be great. But if we can't, then we will do it ourselves."
Supporters of the missile defense system say its main advantage would be protection against an attack from a 11)rogue state or terrorist group.
The top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jesse Helms, says the lack of a missile defense system makes the United States 12)vulnerable. "It is an open invitation to nations to obtain ballistic missiles to 13)exploit the failure of the United States to defend the American people and that, I think, is why we must develop missile defenses because that, Mr. Chairman, in my judgement, will make North Korean and Iranian ballistic missiles a waste of time and money for them." Senator Helms said.
But some Democrats, including Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, question that argument. "It is very hard to understand how a country like North Korea or Iran would purposely send one missile or two our way with a trail inviting⁹ 14)obliteration on their part, where they have so many other methods to 15)injure this country." Senator Kerry said.
With Democrats now in control of the U.S. Senate, chances for 16)outright approval of the president's missile defense proposal have 17)slipped somewhat. But many Democrats favor a more limited and less 18)costly missile defense system, suggesting at least the possibility of agreement on a 19)compromise plan somewhere down the line.

(1) heat up v.加热
(2) prompt[prRmpt]vt.提示, 鼓动, 促使adj.敏捷的, 迅速的adv.准时地
(3) skeptical[5skeptIk(E)l]adj.怀疑性的,好怀疑的
(4) outweigh[aJt5weI]v.在重量(或价值等)上超过
(5) undertake[QndE5teIk]vt.承担, 担任, 许诺, 保证v.采取
(6) potentially adv.潜在地
(7) violate[5vaIEleIt]vt.违犯,干扰, 违反, 妨碍, 侵犯
(8) cooperation[kEJRpE5reIF(E)n]n.合作, 协作
(9) undersecretary[QndE5sekrEtErI; (?@) -terI]n.次长, 副部长
(10) essence[5esns]n.基本, [哲]本质, 香精
(11) rogue[rEJ^]n.流氓, 无赖vt.欺诈vi.流浪, 耍无赖
(12) vulnerable[5vQlnErEb(E)l]adj.易受攻击的, 易受...的攻击
(13) exploit[Ik5splCIt]vt.开拓, 开发, 开采v.使用
(14) obliteration[E9blItE`reIFEn]n.涂去, 删除
(15) injure[5IndVE(r)]vt.损害, 伤害v.伤害
(16) outright[5aJtraIt]adj.直率的, 彻底的adv.直率地, 立刻地, 全部地
(17) slip[slIP]n.滑倒, 事故vi.滑动, 减退vt.使滑动, 滑过, 摆脱, 闪开
(18) costly[5kRstlI]adj.昂贵的, 贵重的
(19) compromise[5kRmprEmaIz]n.妥协, 折衷v.妥协, 折衷, 危及...的安全

 

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

4 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。

5 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

6 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

7 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。