VOA标准英语2009年-Southeast Asian Politicians Urge ASEAN to

A group of Southeast Asian politicians is urging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to suspend Burma's membership if it refuses to release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Aung San Suu Kyi testified Tuesday against charges that could put her in prison for five years.
　
Burmese opposition¹ leader Aung San Suu Kyi (File)

Aung San Suu Kyi said she was innocent when she was called Tuesday to testify in court.

"The Lady," as she is known by her supporters, is on trial for breaking the terms of her house arrest.

The trial has been widely condemned² as an excuse to keep the Nobel Peace Prize winner locked up and pressure is growing for her release.

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus³ on Tuesday called for tougher actions against Burma, including suspending its membership in the regional bloc⁴.

Charles Chong, a Singaporean lawmaker and member of the caucus, told journalists in Bangkok that dealing⁵ with Burma has bogged⁶ down ASEAN, making it harder for them to accomplish anything.

"More and more parliamentarians within ASEAN are beginning to lose their patience with Burma. And, we are calling upon our governments to do more than just expressions of dismay, regret, grave concern and so on, and seriously look at suspending Burma's membership of ASEAN," he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to be sentenced to from three to five years in prison for allowing an eccentric American man, who snuck into her house, to stay there for two nights without official permission.
　
Handout⁷ photo taken on 13 May 2009, provided by Myanmar News Agency shows US Citizen John William Yettaw in Rangoon

She admitted in court Tuesday to giving the man, John Yettaw, temporary shelter but denied breaking the law.

Burma's military-run government has kept the democracy icon⁸ under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years.

The detention⁹ has long been criticized and was set to expire on Wednesday.

But a Burmese government spokesman on Tuesday told journalists and diplomats¹⁰ the house arrest would not expire for another six months.

Also on Tuesday, Burma rights campaigners say they have collected more than 600,000 signatures from 220 countries calling for the United Nations to get tough on Burma.

Khin Ohmar is with Forum¹¹ for Democracy in Burma.

"The voices are calling Mr. Ban Ki-moon [is] that he must accept nothing, nothing less than the immediate¹² and unconditional¹³ release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners including all ethnic¹⁴ nationalities' leaders," said Khin Ohmar, who is with Forum for Democracy in Burma.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won Burma's last elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.

The Burmese military then placed the NLD leader under house arrest and has only let her out on rare occasions.

A new election is scheduled for 2010 as part of Burma's "roadmap to democracy" but is thought to be a sham¹⁵ to keep the military in power.

The ASEAN legislators say ASEAN has failed to move Burma and may need to consider targeted sanctions to pressure them for democratic change.

The group includes lawmakers from ASEAN members Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

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 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

3 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

4 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 bogged   

adj.陷于泥沼的v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的过去式和过去分词 )；妨碍，阻碍

参考例句：

• The professor bogged down in the middle of his speech. 教授的演讲只说了一半便讲不下去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The tractor is bogged down in the mud. 拖拉机陷入了泥沼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 handout   

n.散发的文字材料；救济品

参考例句：

• I read the handout carefully.我仔细看了这份分发的资料。
• His job was distributing handout at the street-corner.他的工作是在街头发传单。

8 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

9 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

10 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

14 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

15 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。