2006年VOA标准英语-Blair Visits Baghdad to Back New Governmen

By Michael Drudge¹
London
22 May 2006

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, May 22, 2006  
  
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has visited Baghdad to lend his support to the newly installed national unity² government. Mr. Blair says Iraq now is offered a new beginning that robs the insurgency³ of its cause for fighting.

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Prime Minister Blair has made a surprise visit to Baghdad's Green Zone for talks with new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki.

At a joint⁴ news conference, Mr. Blair was asked if the war had been worth it, in light of the ongoing⁵ insurgency and sectarian violence.

"Iraq has a government elected by its people," he said. "Now, for all the difficulty caused by those of terrorism and bloodshed, who want to disrupt democracy, surely the great thing that has happened here is that, despite all the terrorism and violence, the people have spoken, they've elected the government. The government has a program. The government wants to deliver for its people."

Mr. Maliki says the violence has not, and will not, provoke a civil war.

"There is no civil war in Iraq," he said. "There are groups, gangs, that practice killing⁶ and terrorism, but there will never be a civil war in Iraq, because all the political powers, all the political entities⁷ have agreed to confront this possibility."

Mr. Blair was cautious when asked how quickly Iraqi troops can be trained and equipped to take over from the American-led coalition⁸ forces.

"We have got the Iraqi forces up to a strength of, I think, around about 250,000," he said. "They come up to their full strength at the end of this year. There is the notion of slowly being able to release individual provinces into the full control of Iraqi forces."

Mr. Maliki is more confident, predicting that, by the end of this year, Iraqis can take control of all provinces, except Baghdad and al-Anbar, where most of the killing continues.

1 drudge   

n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳

参考例句：

• I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
• I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。

2 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

3 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。