VOA标准英语2013--Syria, Surveillance Issues Await Obama at G8, Berlin-英语课

时间：2019-01-14 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2013年(六月)

英语课

Syria, Surveillance Issues Await Obama at G8, Berlin

While the G8 is normally considered an economic summit, this year’s gathering 1 at a resort in Northern Ireland will address the bloodshed in Syria…and whether eight of the world’s most influential 2 countries can stop it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only G8 leader who supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He is seen as the key to any G8 agreement on Syria, according to Scheherazade Rehman, the director of Europe studies at George Washington University.

“Putin loves this kind of stuff," Rehman said. "He is the center of attention at this particular juncture 3. He knows that, without him, no peace deal can be brokered 4 with Assad.”

Presidents Obama and Putin will meet separately at the G8, and Syria will likely be the main topic there, too, says James Goldgeier, Dean of the American University School of International Service.

“[The] best that probably could be hoped for is, again, a push for an international conference, at which the different parties in the Syrian conflict would actually attend," said Goldgeier. "And whether or not they can achieve that, or whether or not events on the ground are preventing that from happening, remains 5 to be seen.”

However, Goldgeier believes the U.S. and Russian presidents can work together on some other issues. “They both have a strong interest in counterterrorism. I think both sides have an interest in seeing that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons. They have an interest in trying to defuse the situation on the Korean Peninsula,” he added.

While in Northern Ireland, Obama also wants to push forward talks toward a major U.S.-European Union free trade agreement, which could boost jobs and growth by eliminating tariffs 6 and other barriers.

The president is likely to be confronted with the issue of U.S. government surveillance, both at the summit and when he meets with German Chancellor 7 Angela Merkel in Berlin later in the week.

Rehman said the issue might complicate 8 their meeting. “NSA had put that program in place to spy on Middle East intelligence. It has now since come out that this has been in Europe and particularly Germany as well," he noted 9. "And the German public are in a bit of an uproar 10 about this. Rightly so, because they believe that the U.S. is infringing 11 on basic civil rights, not only in the U.S., but it is extending to Western Europe now.”

Obama also will speak at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, near where he addressed an estimated 200,000 people during his 2008 presidential campaign.

1 gathering

n.集会，聚会，聚集

He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 influential

adj.有影响的，有权势的

He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

3 juncture

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

4 brokered

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…