VOA标准英语2013--在华盛顿重启中东和平会谈

 

Mideast Peace Talks Resume in Washington 在华盛顿重启中东和平会谈

WASHINGTON — Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are meeting in Washington for direct talks after a nearly three-year lapse¹.  The sides are discussing the next steps during two days of talks.

At the State Department Monday night, Secretary of State John Kerry hosted a dinner for Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.   

Earlier in the day, before the negotiators arrived, Kerry named former ambassador Martin Indyk as the U.S. special envoy² for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations³.

"Prime Minister Netyanhu and President Mahmoud Abbas have made the tough decisions required to come back to the negotiating table," he said. "I'm therefore deeply grateful to you [Secretary Kerry] and to President Obama for entrusting⁴ me with the mission of helping⁵ you take this breakthrough and turn it in to a full-fledged Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement."

In recent months, Secretary Kerry has engaged in so-called "shuttle diplomacy," meeting repeatedly with Israeli and Palestinian officials in a bid to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.

Kerry stressed that difficult choices lie ahead in the pursuit of reasonable compromises on complicated issues.

"Ambassador Indyk is realistic. He understands that Israeli-Palestinian peace will not come easily, and it will not happen overnight," Kerry said.  "But he also understands that there is now a path forward and we must follow that path with urgency."

The sides have agreed to engage in direct, final status negotiations for at least nine months, said State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki.

"So we're going to make every effort to reach an agreement within that time frame. But again, if we're making progress and we're continuing to make progress, this is not a deadline, it's not a stop end.  It's just an agreement to continue to work through that time period," she said.

U.S. officials say the situation on the ground grows more complicated as long as the thorniest⁶ issues go unresolved, such as the status of Jerusalem and the final borders of an independent Palestinian state. 

1 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

2 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 entrusting   

v.委托，托付( entrust的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• St. Clare had just been entrusting Tom with some money, and various commissions. 圣？克莱亚刚交给汤姆一笔钱，派他去办几件事情。 来自辞典例句
• The volume of business does not warrant entrusting you with exclusive agency at present. 已完成的营业额还不足以使我方目前委托你方独家代理。 来自外贸英语口语25天快训

5 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。

6 thorniest   

adj.多刺的( thorny的最高级 )；有刺的；棘手的；多障碍的

参考例句：

• Paradoxically, the thorniest outstanding issue involves Bolivia. 而荒谬可笑的是，最棘手的国家要事却牵涉到了玻利维亚。 来自互联网