VOA标准英语2009年-Nobel Laureate Former S. Korean President

Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has died in Seoul at the age of 85. He had been hospitalized since last month for pneumonia¹. Mr. Kim was credited with ushering² a new era of reconciliation³ with wartime enemy North Korea. His own life story mirrors South Korea's tumultuous evolution from dictatorship to democracy.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak issued a statement Tuesday saying the country has lost a "great political leader" whose "aspirations⁴ to achieve democratization and inter-Korean reconciliation will long be remembered by the people."
　
Former S. Korean President Kim Dae-jung attends a funeral of former President Roh Moo-hyun in Seoul, S. Korea (File photo - 29 May 2009)

Friends and close family members were by the former president as he passed away earlier in the day. Mr. Kim had been hospitalized since last month for pneumonia.

The hospital president, Dr. Park Chang-il, says Mr. Kim died of multiple organ failure.

Kim Dae-jung may be best remembered around the world for the groundbreaking photographic images of him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il holding hands during the June 2000 inter-Korean summit.

In a speech at the time, Mr. Kim said he believed strongly in a future in which North and South Korea cooperate, reconcile, and reunify.

The 2000 summit thawed⁵ nearly half a century of chilled relations between the two halves of the peninsula, since a 1953 armistice⁶ paused their three-year war.

Kim Young-ho, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, says President Kim deserves credit for changing the peninsula's political climate.

He says Mr. Kim and his government removed the Cold War atmosphere from the Korean peninsula, and created what he calls a post-modern era for the region.

Mr. Kim went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in arranging the meeting, although the achievement would later be tainted⁷ by allegations that South Korea gave the North $500 million to agree to it.

Mr. Kim followed up on the summit with what he called the "sunshine" policy of pouring massive amounts of aid and investment into the North while demanding very little in return. North-South contacts expanded dramatically, and hundreds of families that had been separated by the war got a chance to hold brief reunions.

But the sunshine policy, which Mr. Kim's successor, President Roh Moo-hyun, also followed, failed to prevent North Korea from developing and testing a nuclear weapon. Critics of President Kim's policy say it failed to bring about any substantive⁸ change in the North. Human-rights activists⁹ faulted Mr. Kim for his near total silence on systematic¹⁰ human-rights abuses there.

In South Korea, Kim Dae-jung will be remembered as a heroic icon¹¹ of the democratization movement. He narrowly escaped death in the early 1970s when agents of authoritarian¹² President Park Chung-hee kidnapped him in punishment for his public criticism of the government. He was freed under heavy diplomatic pressure by the United States.

U.S. pressure would also play a role in getting Mr. Kim's death sentence commuted¹³ to a prison term during the presidency¹⁴ of Chun Doo-hwan.

Shim Jae-hoon, who covered Kim Dae-jung's career for decades as a journalist, before retiring to work as a political consultant¹⁵, says Mr. Kim skillfully parlayed his personal conflicts with authoritarian leaders into broader political symbolism.

"Kim Dae-Jung's greatest political capital was his persecution¹⁶," said Shim Jae-hoon. "Some say had it not been for persecution under Park, he would have remained a relatively¹⁷ small regional leader."

After a period of U.S. exile, Mr. Kim won the South Korean presidency in 1997, after previous failed attempts. He is credited with helping¹⁸ South Korea recover from the brink¹⁹ of bankruptcy²⁰ during the Asian financial crisis.

 

1 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

2 ushering   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They were right where the coach-caller was swinging open a coach-door and ushering in two ladies. "他们走到外面时，叫马车的服务员正打开车门，请两位小姐上车。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Immediately the two of them approached others, thanking them, ushering them out one by one. 他们俩马上走到其他人面前，向他们道谢，一个个送走了他们。 来自辞典例句

3 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

4 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

5 thawed   

解冻

参考例句：

• The little girl's smile thawed the angry old man. 小姑娘的微笑使发怒的老头缓和下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He thawed after sitting at a fire for a while. 在火堆旁坐了一会儿，他觉得暖和起来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 armistice   

n.休战，停战协定

参考例句：

• The two nations signed an armistice.两国签署了停火协议。
• The Italian armistice is nothing but a clumsy trap.意大利的停战不过是一个笨拙的陷阱。

7 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

11 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。

12 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

13 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

14 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

15 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

16 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

17 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

18 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

19 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

20 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。