VOA标准英语2011--Tumultuous Year Strains US Pakistani Relations
时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2011年(十二月)
Tumultuous Year Strains US Pakistani Relations
Pakistan and the United States have maintained a critical strategic partnership 1 for the past 10 years despite tense relations over the war in Afghanistan and U.S. suspicions that Islamabad maintains ties to militant 2 groups.
But the past year was a particularly difficult one for the two uneasy allies.
The deterioration 3 of an already-fragile relationship began in January, when police in Lahore arrested, Raymond Davis, a civilian 4 contractor 5 working for the Central Intelligence Agency, for killing 6 two Pakistanis.
Davis claimed “self defense” and was ultimately released. But the incident unleashed 7 public criticism against the Pakistani government over its oversight 8 of CIA contractors 9.
Before the rift 10 had healed, U.S. special forces conducted a unilateral raid and killed fugitive 11 al-Qaida chief Osama bin 12 Laden 13 in Abbottabad, a Pakistani garrison 14 city.
The covert 15 raid in May plunged 16 the relationship to a new low. Outraged 17 Pakistani leaders, like Pakistan's foreign secretary Salman Bashir, criticized it as an attack on the country’s sovereignty.
“The fact is that the Pakistani armed forces, they had not been consulted, they were not in the know," said Bashir.
For their part, U.S. officials questioned how the world’s most-wanted man was able to evade 18 detection for years, living near a large Pakistani military base.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Islamabad days after the Abbottabad operation to tell Pakistan the way forward for both countries was to step up joint 19 efforts against terrorism.
"The United States and Pakistan have worked together to kill or capture many of these terrorists here on Pakistani soil," said Clinton. "This could not have been done without close cooperation between our governments, our militaries, and our intelligence agencies. But we both recognize there is still much more work required and it is urgent."
The powerful Pakistani military came under intense pressure at home for failing to detect both the presence of the al-Qaida leader and the U.S. raid that killed him.
In response, the Pakistani army ordered U.S. military trainers to leave Pakistan and tightened 20 visa restrictions 21 on U.S. staff. American officials in turn linked billions of dollars of financial assistance to improved cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
In late November, the relationship suffered another blow when NATO air strikes on Pakistani border posts killed 24 soldiers. Pakistan closed its borders to supplies for the U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan, expelled American personnel from an air base used for drone attacks, and boycotted 22 an international conference held in Germany to discuss the future of Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said parliament is now reviewing the country’s cooperation with the United States.
“I think one of the major reasons why this year has been a bad year is because there are too many gray areas in this relationship.”
Cameron Munter, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, agreed with Khar's assertion that 2011 has been a very difficult year.
“The best way for us to deal the difficulties we have had is to be honest with each other to try to have more engagement, not less. to work together to discuss the problems we have and to see that 2012 will be better,” Munter said.
Despite the tense political situations throughout the year, educational and cultural programs have continued in an attempt to bridge the differences through more personal interactions.
But whether this kind of public diplomacy 23 outreach can overcome the two countries' deep political conflicts remains 24 uncertain.
- The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
- Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。
- 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。
- Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长,心智和体力自然衰退。
- The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。
- There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
- He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
- The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
- The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样,有几分要看地势而定。
- Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
- Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
- The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
- The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
- Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。
- We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后,接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
- The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。
- The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
- The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。
- 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。
- 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。
- The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
- The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。
- We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
- The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。
- The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
- She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
- Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
- He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。
- He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
- You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人,你怎么能对这个问题不置可否?
- I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤,肩膀脫臼了。
- We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。
- The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
- His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机,然后又松开了。
- I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
- a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制
- Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
- The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程,要宫路下台。
- The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
- This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。