VOA标准英语2009年-Bush, Mexican President Hold Final Meeting

U.S. President George Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon have restated their nations' shared commitment to combat illegal drug trafficking and preserve bilateral¹ trade ties. President Bush held his last formal meeting with a sitting head of state.
　

President George W. Bush meets with Mexican President Felipe Calderon (l) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, 13 Jan 2009

President Bush says lawlessness and violence cannot be tolerated along the U.S.-Mexico border, and that, in President Calderon, the United States has a committed partner in the battle against the drug trade.

"He [Calderon] will not allow his country, or parts of his country, to be taken over by narco-traffickers. And the United States of America wants to share and help deal with the issue on both sides of the border," he said.

President Bush added that while Mexico battles powerful drug cartels the United States must stop consuming illegal narcotics² and halt the flow of weapons to its southern neighbor.

Mr. Bush paid tribute to President Calderon, describing him as a man of conviction and principle.

The Mexican leader was equally effusive³ in his praise of President Bush, and echoed the call for effective law enforcement to crack down on the drug trade.

In addition, Mr. Calderon made an impassioned plea for sustaining free trade between the United States and Mexico.

The Mexican leader said that millions of Americans jobs are directly tied to trade with Mexico, and that Mexico is the world's second biggest purchaser of U.S. exports. He added that Mexico's recovery from the global economic crisis will play a helpful role in America's economic recovery.
　

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (l) meeting with Mexico's president Felipe Calderon in Washington, 12 Jan 2009

Monday, Mr. Calderon hosted a meeting with President-elect Barack Obama in Washington.

During the U.S. presidential campaign, Mr. Obama promised U.S. labor⁴ groups he would renegotiate the North American Free Trade agreement, NAFTA, between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Canadian and Mexican officials have expressed alarm at the prospect⁵ of any major changes to the pact⁶, which went into effect during the Clinton administration. Aides to Mr. Obama say the president-elect remains⁷ committed to NAFTA, but wants to "upgrade" the accord to strengthen labor and environmental provisions.

Mr. Obama is also expected to meet soon with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Aides say Canada will likely be the incoming president's first foreign destination.

President Bush's first foreign trip was to Mexico in February, 2001. At the time, Mr. Bush pledged a renewed U.S. focus on America's ties with its hemispheric neighbors. Critics say that commitment faded after the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

1 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

2 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 effusive   

adj.热情洋溢的；感情(过多)流露的

参考例句：

• Every visitor noticed that her effusive welcome was not sincere.所有的客人都看出来她那过分热情的欢迎是不真诚的。
• Her effusive thanks embarrassed everybody.她道谢时非常激动，弄得大家不好意思。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。