VOA标准英语2013--Washington Week: Focus on Syria, Immigration Reform
时间：2019-01-14 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2013年(六月)
Washington Week: Focus on Syria, Immigration Reform
President Barack Obama attends the G-8 forum 1 days after the United States announced it will provide military aid to Syrian rebels. Deputy National Security Adviser 2 Ben Rhodes said, “We have steadily 3 increased the size and scope of our assistance to the political opposition 4 and the SMC (Supreme 5 Military Council). And we have decided 6 to take an additional step forward and provide dramatically-increased assistance to the SMC going forward."
The decision follows setbacks for the rebels at the hands of forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and U.S. assessments 7 about chemical weapons.
“We assess with high confidence that Sarin (nerve agent) has been used, and frankly 8 the (Assad) regime retains custody 9 of those weapons," said Rhodes.
U.S. public opinion remains 10 firmly opposed to direct military intervention 11 in Syria, and even the most outspoken 12 congressional advocates of expanded U.S. involvement say there should be no American troop deployments to Syria.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate is moving forward on immigration reform.
The chamber 13 voted to begin debate on a bill that would provide a path to citizenship 14 for most of the 11-million undocumented immigrants in the country, and streamline 15 the process for legal immigration.
Such changes are long overdue 16, according to Democratic Senator Charles Schumer. “Our country, amazingly and counterproductively, turns away hundreds of thousands of people who will create jobs and improve our economy. And at the same time, we let cross the border millions who take jobs away from American workers," he said.
Senate debate is expected to be long and contentious 17. Some Republicans want guarantees of air-tight border security before any undocumented workers are legalized. Even if the Senate passes a bill, its fate is far from certain in the Republican-controlled House, where Speaker John Boehner has expressed reservations.
“Especially in the area of border security, and internal enforcement of this system, I am concerned that it [the bill] does not go far enough," he said.
President Obama says he wants to sign an immigration reform bill into law in coming months.
The coming week could also see further developments concerning the U.S. government’s domestic surveillance program. And the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue landmark 18 rulings on same-sex marriage either this week or next.
- They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
- The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。
- They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
- Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
- The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
- Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
- The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
- The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
- It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
- He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句
- To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
- Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。
- He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
- He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。
- 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。
- The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
- Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。
- He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
- She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。
- For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
- The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
- He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
- Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。
- We must streamline our methods.我们必须简化方法。
- Any liquid or gas passing it will have streamline flow.任何通过它的液体或气体将呈流线型的流动。
- The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
- The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。
- She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
- Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。