时间:2019-01-31 作者:英语课 分类:VOA常速英语2008年(四月)


英语课
By Michael Bowman
Washington
13 April 2008

Senior U.S. legislators of both political parties say critical questions remain unanswered concerning America's strategy in Iraq, despite days of testimony 1 before Congress by the top U.S. military commander in Iraq as well as the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad. From Washington, VOA's Michael Bowman reports.


Last week saw General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker tell members of Congress that significant military progress has been achieved in Iraq over the last year, but that the country's improved security situation is fragile and could be reversed.


Accordingly, General Petraeus said he is recommending that President Bush continue with a modest drawdown of last year's U.S. troop surge in Iraq, and then hold troop levels steady for a period of months to assess the situation.


The general's words failed to impress the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joseph Biden of Delaware, who spoke 2 on CNN's Late Edition program.


"He [Petraeus] is saying, 'Look, we have made some progress," said Senator Biden. "We have not made a lot of progress, and what little progress we have made is reversible.' The reason it is reversible is not so much [that the U.S. is] drawing down troops, the reason is that what little political accommodation has been made [by Iraqi leaders] is very fragile. The whole deal [reason] for this surge was to provide breathing space so the parties that are killing 3 each other - Sunni-Shi'a, Shi'a-Shi'a - stop killing one another. There is no evidence that that has been done."


Even the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, says the Petraus-Crocker testimony left him with doubts. Lugar also spoke on Late Edition.


"I thought the hearing demonstrated that we do not have, still, a definition of success or victory [in Iraq]," said Senator Lugar. "As a matter of fact, I asked General Petraeus for some idea of a formula for how the politics of Iraq might turn out. He really had no response to this [question]."


President Bush has said that, as security improves in Iraq, U.S. forces will be brought home so long as their absence does not put progress in Iraq at risk. He has refused to agree to a timetable for withdrawals 4, saying reductions in troop levels will be determined 5 by conditions on the ground in Iraq that are impossible to predict in advance.


Appearing on CBS' Face the Nation program, Defense 6 Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged Congress' impatience 7 to arrive at a definitive 8 endgame for America's involvement in Iraq. But he said the situation in Iraq remains 9 fluid and fragile, and under such circumstances the United States must keep its future options open and flexible.


"I think people want certainty about things that no one can know," said Secretary Gates. "Very few would have thought a year ago that things would be as good as they are in Iraq despite the challenges that remain before us now."


Gates added that Iran's influence in Iraq, as well as al-Qaida's continued presence in the country, constitute additional complicating 10 factors that must be taken into account in determining America's course of action in Iraq.




n.证词;见证,证明
  • The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
  • He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
  • 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。
n.收回,取回,撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 );撤退,撤走;收回[取回,撤回,撤退,撤走]的实例;推出(组织),提走(存款),戒除毒瘾,对说过的话收回,孤僻
  • He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句
adj.坚定的;有决心的
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
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。
n.不耐烦,急躁
  • He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢,他显得不耐烦。
  • He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。
adj.确切的,权威性的;最后的,决定性的
  • This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
  • No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样,还没有人给出明确的答复。
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。
使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )
  • High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热,暗示合并门静脉炎。
  • In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国,这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例,使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。
学英语单词
aerocrete block partition
affektepilepsie
aggressive driving
agroupment
air liaison officer
Ambājogāi
augets
battle of wits
bayesianism
be of interest
behavlor reflex
blocking buffer
bone in the throat
brittle cleavage
buffer-saline
calibrated step wedge
caligusiasis
cascade particles
centralising
chargeable with a duty
chinidine
clamping element
cocktail fruit jam
Colgout
copper-plated
creature comfortss
cyclic binary unit-distance code (gray code)
debt-management
difference linear ratemeter
douglas spruce
Draba stenocarpa
euroart
fantastically
forced mode
forward clearing
fulfilment of contract
gentlemanlike
golovnins
grid indication
group line
hindsights
hobbyists
Huka Falls
ideal parallel
incrdment tax
kreyscloth
layer of oxidem
leaving behind
Leech Lake Indian Reservation
licensed prostitution
localized heating
low acid foods
low-energy particle
microkinetic
momin'em
monosynaptic reflex
Morner's reagent
mucoteme
muntin
network optimigation
nonselective translocated spray
Ogilvie syndrome
one year seedling
order of transmission
parah(a)ematin
pay homage to
permanent precipitation
pharyngitis ulcerosa
Pittsburgh tank furnace
Proteistic
prudish
pseudo-edge
rail breakage
relubrication
replacement of track materials
saccharescent
scabiosaefolia
seaquariums
sherriffs
Siamese fighting fish
silo mercerizer
slight
snowmelt runoff
specialist
specific absorbance
SS (signal selector)
stall condition
stapedial plate
starwave
stuck it out
sulfonic acid halide
tank capacitor
TIS11
Tohaku
tonguetie
Toynbee's corpuscles
trilineatus
two-component coating
umbilical catheterization
visualisation
windblower
without external cutting edge bevels