VOA标准英语2009-Arab World Rolling Out Red Carpet to Preside

Top Arab satellite television stations, from North Africa to the Gulf¹, are devoting a large portion of their coverage² to President Barack Obama's visit. The tone is mostly positive and commentators³ appear optimistic.
　
US President Barack Obama walks down the red carpet with Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 03 June 2009

In coffee houses and tea-houses in Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, Riyadh, and Cairo, everyone from intellectuals to the common man seems to be preoccupied⁴ with Mr. Obama's visit, and a highly anticipated speech Thursday in Cairo.

The editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily al-Watan, Jamal Kashoggi, says he likes what he sees.

"[The visit] is good news. It is different from what we have had with Bush. Our cartoon, our caricature, tomorrow, in al-Watan tells the story. Obama is being received with flowers and he is saying 'Why they love us,' while George Bush is saying 'Why they hate us.' So, Obama is changing the subject, Obama is not going for confrontation⁵; he is into reaching out to the Muslim world. I think the public in Saudi Arabia is very much welcoming his visit," he said.
　
President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with Saudi King Abdullah bin⁶ Abdul Aziz al-Saud after being presented with Order of Merit during bilateral⁷ meeting at king's ranch⁸ in al-Janadriya, 03 Jun 2009

Kashoggi believes Mr. Obama and Saudi King Abdullah, as well as many other Arab leaders, want to put an end to the era of confrontation between cultures and religions.

Sudan's government has a long history of bad relations with the United States, and is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for its president, Omar Hassan al-Beshir. But in Khartoum many say they are optimistic about the Obama Mideast visit.

Sudanese eager to hear US president speak

Sidig Turabi thinks most Sudanese are pleased the U.S. president is coming to Cairo and are eager to hear him speak.

"I think that people are very hopeful about his visit, just as would be most Muslims and Arabs, maybe also North Africans, because Sudan is an Afro-Arab country, and well, we are all looking forward to the speech. I am sure many people will be watching this speech and also watching the events after," he said.

But Turabi, the son of veteran Sudanese politician Hassan Turabi, says he is afraid the attitude of the Sudanese government, which he thinks is not favorable to improving relations with Washington, could impact negatively on the opportunities being presented by President Obama's visit.

"We only hope that our governments, some of which are not so favorable by their peoples, are intelligent enough to use the opportunity to gain and create as many win-win situations as possible. We believe that in the Sudan, the government is unnecessarily creating hard conditions for itself and for the new administration in the USA, and we are not very confident that this government is capable of using this good opportunity to make life easier, socially and economically," he said.

In Damascus, Syrians feel left out

In Damascus, top Syrian political analyst⁹ Imad Fawzi Shueibi thinks President Obama is trying to demonstrate his administration is different from that of former President George Bush.

"I can only say that this visit is good, because maybe Mr. Obama can say something against the bad reputation of the Bush administration, and maybe he can make a plan for peace in the region," he said.

But Shueibi is disappointed Mr. Obama is visiting Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and not Syria.

"I think that it is a bad choice that he is coming to Saudi Arabia and to Egypt, only. He should come to Syria, too," he added.

Lebanese looking for something new

In Beirut, Haigazian University President Paul Haidostian thinks many Arabs are looking for something fresh and different from Mr. Obama, along the lines of what he promised the American people during the election campaign.

"People would expect President Obama to bring something fresh to show that his perspective and his background, his personal background, and his discussions and talks during his campaign would come true and bring something that is more peaceful, that is more even-handed, that looks at the sufferings of all the peoples of the Middle East and not only part of the issue," said Haidostian.

Haidostian argues that most ordinary people in the Arab world are not looking for solutions to thorny¹⁰ geopolitical issues or matters of state. "Most people are expecting real solutions to the real problems of real people in the Middle East," he concluded.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

3 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

6 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

7 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。

8 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

9 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。

10 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。