时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:VOA2005(上)--国政军事聚焦


英语课

 


Britain Rejects Early Pullout from Iraq


 


British Foreign Secretary Jack 1 Straw says it would be "utterly 2 irresponsible" to remove the U.S.-led multinational 3 force from Iraq while work remains 4 to train Iraqi security forces and reconstruct the war-ravaged country.


 


Mr. Straw made a statement in Parliament on the Iraq elections, in which he praised the determination of Iraqis to vote, despite the threats from Islamic militants 6.


 


Jack Straw: In Sunni areas in central Iraq, large groups of people defied terrorist intimidation 7, and walked several kilometers to polling stations to cast their votes. These elections were a moving demonstration 8 that democracy and freedom are universal values to which people everywhere aspire 9.


 


Mr. Straw also rejected calls from anti-war lawmakers that Britain set a timetable to pull its troops out of Iraq.


 


Jack Straw: It would be utterly irresponsible for this House or this government to make a premature 10 decision about the withdrawal 11 of British or other forces. It is for the Iraqis themselves to make that judgment 12. If the Iraqi government today wanted to say that our mandate 13 had ended, we would leave tomorrow. But they understand fully 14 that, without foreign forces on their soil for a period, they cannot rebuild their country and create the freedom and security and democracy that they all so desperately 15 need.


 


In a related development, the Iraqi ambassador to Britain, Salah al-Shaikhly, told reporters Iraq needs support from the international military coalition 16, while it trains its own security forces. He also praised Iraqi voters for braving the terrorist threats.


 


Salah al-Shaikhly: All in all, I believe it was a day of triumph for the Iraqis. And I'm so glad to say that the voters have silenced the voices of doom 17 and gloom, the prophets of misery 18, who were forecasting all sorts of destruction and mayhem in the country.


 


Meanwhile, the British Defense 19 Ministry 20 says nine airmen and one soldier are missing and presumed killed in the crash late Sunday of a military transport plane northwest of Baghdad.


 


A militant 5 group, called Ansar al-Islam, claims it shot the plane down with an anti-tank missile. Britain says the cause of the crash remains under investigation 21.


 


Michael Drudge 22, VOA news, London.



注释:


war-ravaged 被战争蹂躏的


Sunni [5suni:] n. 伊斯兰逊尼派


intimidation [in7timi5deiFEn] 胁迫


aspire [Es5paiE] vi. 热望


premature [7premE5tjuE] adj. 未成熟的


mandate [5mAndeit] n. 要求,委任托管,委任统治


desperately [5despEritli] adv. 拼命地,强烈地


triumph [5traiEmf] n. 胜利,成功


mayhem [5meihem] n. 故意的伤害罪行


Ansar al-Islam 伊斯兰辅助者组织


 



1 jack
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
2 utterly
adv.完全地,绝对地
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
3 multinational
adj.多国的,多种国籍的;n.多国籍公司,跨国公司
  • The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
  • He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。
4 remains
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
5 militant
adj.激进的,好斗的;n.激进分子,斗士
  • 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。
6 militants
激进分子,好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )
  • 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。
7 intimidation
n.恐吓,威胁
  • The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
  • The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。
8 demonstration
n.表明,示范,论证,示威
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。
9 aspire
vi.(to,after)渴望,追求,有志于
  • Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
  • I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。
10 premature
adj.比预期时间早的;不成熟的,仓促的
  • It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
  • The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。
11 withdrawal
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销
  • The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
  • They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。
12 judgment
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
13 mandate
n.托管地;命令,指示
  • The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
  • The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。
14 fully
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
15 desperately
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地
  • He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
  • He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
16 coalition
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合
  • The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
  • Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。
17 doom
n.厄运,劫数;v.注定,命定
  • The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
  • The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。
18 misery
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
19 defense
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
20 ministry
n.(政府的)部;牧师
  • They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
  • We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
21 investigation
n.调查,调查研究
  • In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
  • He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
22 drudge
n.劳碌的人;v.做苦工,操劳
  • I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作!
  • I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷,倒运,走投无路的苦力,只会拖累你。