时间:2018-12-19 作者:英语课 分类:VOA双语新闻 2011年5月


英语课

  Reaction to President Barack Obama's speech on the Middle East has prompted some initial mixed reactions in Egypt. While plans for economic and development aid are being welcomed, hopes for a more consistent stand on regional unrest and a new approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict were largely dashed.

奥巴马总统就中东局势发表的演说在埃及引起了褒贬不一的反应。奥巴马的经济和开发援助计划受到欢迎,然而人们期待美国对地区动乱表现出一致的立场,在以、巴冲突问题上采取新的作法,在他们看来这些希望大都落空。

The promise of aid, in the form of debt relief and loan guarantees, is helping 1 allay 2 some fears in Egypt and Tunisia. Popular uprisings in the two nations succeeded in toppling the old governments, but at a cost.

以免除债务和贷款保证的方式提供援助的承诺,有助于消除埃及和突尼斯的一些忧虑。两国的民间起义成功地推翻了旧政权,却也付出了代价。

"The economic situation has become very dire 3, particularly on the financial front. There is a big financing gap and this needs to be closed right away. So I think any amount of money and any opportunity to have access to cash would help this situation immensely," said Magda Kandil, director of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies.

埃及经济研究中心主任坎迪尔说:“经济情势变得非常可怕,特别是在财务方面。现在出现了一个急须弥补的财务裂痕。因此我认为任何数额的金钱,以及任何可以获得现金的途径,都是非常有帮助的。”

Both Tunisia and Egypt have been hard hit by a drop in tourist revenue. In Egypt, remittance 4 earnings 5 are down after more than a million of its workers fled the conflict in neighboring Libya. General uncertainty 6 has kept foreign investment at bay and led to hoarding 7 of key commodities at home - all elements that put the chances of a peaceful transition at risk.

突尼斯和埃及两国都遭受到观光收益下跌的打击。由于一百多万埃及劳工逃避利比亚内战,使埃及外汇收入大幅滑落。一般情势的不确定,使国外投资裹足不前,主要商品囤积仓库。所有促使政权和平转移的因素,都在飘摇不定。

Economist 8 Kandil says that the way the economic assistance has been structured will help. "I think the beauty about the debt forgiveness is that it starts in the form of debt swap 9, which means that the money will not be just loose cash that the government can do whatever it wants to do with it," he said.

坎迪尔说,经济援助方式的设定,将有助于目前的情势。他说,“我认为债务减免的妙处是把减免的债务用作发展项目基金。这笔钱政府不可以随便动用。”

She is encouraged that some of the money is slotted for development projects, a key issue, she argues, at this juncture 10.

对于这些资金分用于发展项目上,坎迪尔感到很受鼓舞。她认为在这个时刻这是关键的问题。

The economic part of Mr. Obama's speech appears to be the one aspect that will resonate strongly in the weeks and months to come.

奥巴马总统演讲中有关经济的部分看来会在未来几个星期乃至几个月中产生强烈的反响。

The rest, according to Egyptian publisher and long-time democracy advocate Hisham Kassem, was a profound disappointment.

至于奥巴马讲演的其他方面,埃及出版人、长期倡导民主的卡萨姆认为都令人十分失望。

"He [Obama] reiterated 11 double standards while trying to package it as a support for freedom. But we saw how he made clear that [Libyan leader] Moammar Gadhafi has to leave, and then referring to the actions of the government of Bahrain as 'the rule of law,' enforcing the rule of law - that was the bottom line - no. No, no," Kassen said.

他说:“奥巴马表示支持自由,却又重申了双重标准。我们可以清楚地看到他让利比亚领导人卡扎菲下台,而提到巴林政府的行动时,却说这是法制,是在执行条例或执法。这就是底线。 这是不行的。”

Kassem argues that the unevenness 12 of Mr. Obama's approach to the region extends to Saudi Arabia - like Bahrain, a key ally and a fierce suppressor of government opponents - which the president did not mention at all.

卡萨姆说,奥巴马总统对这一地区不均衡的手法也袒护了沙特阿拉伯。沙特和巴林一样,也是美国的重要盟友,沙特阿拉伯强烈镇压反政府人士,但奥巴马总统根本就没有提到沙特。

As for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, there was hope that the U.S. leader would seize this period of dramatic change to take an equally dramatic new approach to the peace process. Washington had tried to dampen such expectations, but again, some sense a missed opportunity.

至于巴勒斯坦以色列之间的冲突,人们希望奥巴马政府能够在这个剧烈变化的时期,采取同样戏剧性的新措施来推动以巴和平进程。虽然美国之前试图减少这方面的期盼,但在奥巴马讲话后, 有人还是认为这是失去了时机。

Publisher Kassem says he had hoped that in the political part of the speech, Mr. Obama would offer something tangible 13, whether on peace talks, or a tougher stand on Syria. He recalls an earlier effort by the president to reach out to the region, during a 2009 address in Cairo.

出版人卡萨姆说,他希望在奥巴马讲话中有关政治的部分应该提出一些具体的东西,不论是有关和平谈判,还是对叙利亚采取更为强硬的立场。他回忆奥巴马2009年在开罗发表演讲时曾经向这一地区表达过善意。

"I personally, at the time, in spite of a lot of optimism, thought he said nothing, had no time frames, no concrete plans for anything. And it turned out to be true. And now he's doing more of the same, almost two years later," Kassen said.

他说:“尽管激发了很多乐观期盼,就我个人来说,当时就认为他言语空洞,没有制定时间框架,对任何事情都没有具体的计划。这些最终都得到了证明。这次讲话尽管是在上次演讲两年之后,但跟上次没有什么不同。”

The question now may be how much that argument will even matter. The uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East began, as Mr. Obama noted 14, without U.S. political help. The economic aid, however, could ensure that the successful ones can carry through.

就像奥巴马总统所指出的那样,虽然北非和中东抗议运动并不是在美国的政治帮助下兴起的,但美国的经济援助却可以使取得成功的国家能继续坚持下去。



1 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • 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。
2 allay
v.消除,减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)
  • The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧,但是没有收到什么效果。
  • They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。
3 dire
adj.可怕的,悲惨的,阴惨的,极端的
  • There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
  • We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了,但是我们渡过了困难。
4 remittance
n.汇款,寄款,汇兑
  • Your last month's salary will be paid by remittance.最后一个月的薪水将通过汇寄的方式付给你。
  • A prompt remittance would be appreciated.速寄汇款不胜感激。
5 earnings
n.工资收人;利润,利益,所得
  • That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
  • Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。
6 uncertainty
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物
  • Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
  • After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后,压力开始产生影响了。
7 hoarding
n.贮藏;积蓄;临时围墙;囤积v.积蓄并储藏(某物)( hoard的现在分词 )
  • After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学
8 economist
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人
  • He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
  • He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家,自以为什么都懂。
9 swap
n.交换;vt.交换,用...作交易
  • I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
  • This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。
10 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。
11 reiterated
反复地说,重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )
  • "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯,我一定要知道你的休假日期,"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后,波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。
12 unevenness
n. 不平坦,不平衡,不匀性
  • This unevenness comes about because topics are developed in a logical order. 所以出现这种不平衡,是因为课题是按逻辑顺序展开的。
  • I sanded the corners to take away any unevenness in the joints. 我用砂纸磨边边角角的地方,去除接头处的不均。
13 tangible
adj.有形的,可触摸的,确凿的,实际的
  • The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
  • There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。
14 noted
adj.著名的,知名的
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
学英语单词
absorptivity emissivity ratio
all in service station
ammonium metaperiodate
associate dean
bare bus-bar
be no exception
being restrained
Blighia sapida
camalexin
carbonylsalicylamide
citophone
citrullol
clettis
cloud-covered
colorless metal indicator
curiegram
cystic lithiasis
Dadorī
daoy
decay process of excited state
decidable language
deperimeterization
develop in a capitalist way
dihexagonal bipyramids
document transport
doublet-fine structure
eco-tours
effective reflecting surface
enter one's head
enzymatic polymerization
epigastric vein
eumerus figurans
executive directors
farking
filobactivirus
finish-curl die
flank correction
gemmiger
golds of pleasure
halvdan
hill-farmer
homoisothermal
hostile witness
hot parts
immunoproliferative disorder
in rush
information source system
Joseph Banks
lencophenga (lencophenga) abbreviata
lipid granulomatoses
Lord Castlereagh
low counter gear
magnaglo process
Malloy Seamount
masking liquid
menoot
metacomments
moon shots
mothlike
Nachtigal, Chutes
negative radical
on-peak energy
orbit coordinate system
Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
paurometabilism
Pielograf
pinarello
pioneering
pitchfork bifurcation
plenarly
polygon filling algorithm
precompetition
pressure-volume-temperature
probe aircraft
protected state
puir
pulsation error
pyr(r)hic succession
rate of debarkation
reflection amplifier
reverse-blocking triode thyristor
rip-rap
sack sewing machine
showl
simeon stylites
single silk-covered
steinman
strategic missile support area
subduction complex
swelling of vein
Symmetric Multi-Processing
t-butyl hydroperoxide
tellurious
turbine guide wheel
twiddled
two-cover-coat ware
unspiritedness
vergery
vetturas
Wagga Wagga
y-junction coupler
yeast strain