VOA标准英语2012--No US-Pakistan Breakthrough at NATO Summit

 

No US-Pakistan Breakthrough at NATO Summit

Zardari and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared cordial at their brief meeting at the NATO summit in Chicago. But relations between the two countries remain at an impasse¹.

Pakistan’s presidential spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said President Zardari came to Chicago to express his country’s support for NATO’s efforts in the region.

“The president also emphasized that Pakistan wants peace and stability in Afghanistan," he stated. "The president dispelled² the misperceptions about the alleged³ links with the groups of militants⁵ of Pakistan.”

But there was no breakthrough to reopen the NATO supply route to Afghanistan that Pakistan shut down last November. NATO has since established a more expensive alternative northern supply route through other Central Asian countries.

Anti-American sentiment in Pakistan has intensified⁶ since the U.S. led airstrike in November and the U.S. military raid that killed Osama bin⁷ Laden⁸ last May. Pakistan’s parliament has demanded an unconditional⁹ apology for the airstrike and an end to drone attacks in the border region with Afghanistan, even though media reports say Pakistani intelligence services are secretly aiding the U.S. to identify militant⁴ targets.

The U.S. has expressed regret for the airstrike in November, but defends the drone attacks as essential to fighting al-Qaida and other insurgent¹⁰ groups.

President Obama also met briefly¹¹ with the President Zardari.

"We need to work through some of the tensions that have inevitably¹² arisen after 10 years of our military presence in that region," he said.

Former U.S. ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker says the underlying¹³ issue is a lack of trust both about Pakistan’s commitment to fight Taliban extremists and the U.S. promise to maintain a reduced military presence in Afghanistan after most combat troops leave in 2014.

“Both in the side of Pakistan where they say they want support of a stable Afghanistan but in reality they are working to undermine that, and on the American side where we say we have a long term commitment to Afghanistan but we are massively working on the troops withdraws and talking about ending this war,” said Volker.

U.S. and Pakistani officials say they are close to working out their differences, but the lack of progress at the NATO summit seems to indicate the two sides remain far apart.

1 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

2 dispelled   

v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His speech dispelled any fears about his health. 他的发言消除了人们对他身体健康的担心。
• The sun soon dispelled the thick fog. 太阳很快驱散了浓雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

9 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。

10 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

12 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

13 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。