VOA常速英语2008年-US Defends Record Against Racial Discrimination
时间:2019-01-31 作者:英语课 分类:VOA常速英语2008年(二月)
Geneva
22 February 2008
A U.S. delegation 1 has vigorously defended the U.S. record on efforts to combat racial discrimination before the U.N. Committee on the Elimination 2 of Racial Discrimination. The committee has just completed a two-day review of the United States compliance 3 with the 1969 International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, which it ratified 4 in 1994. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.
The U.N. Committee of 18 independent experts peppered the U.S. delegation with numerous questions. It challenged assertions that the government was doing enough to combat alleged 5 racial discrimination in the detention 6 of African-Americans and other minorities.
It questioned Washington's treatment of illegal immigrants and demanded answers to a range of issues including alleged disparities in housing, education, employment and health care.
The Committee members also expressed concern about issues such as racial profiling, alleged racial bias 7 in the legal system and the sentencing of African-American juveniles 8 to life long prison terms.
Acting 9 U.S. Assistant Attorney General at the Justice Department's civil rights division, Grace Chung Becker said the delegation shared the Committee's concerns about police brutality 10.
"In the civil rights division, we have increased by 25 percent the number of cases that we have brought in this area and we have increased the convictions by 53 percent over the last seven years," she said. "In addition, on the civil side, we continue to pursue pattern and practice cases against police departments for what we perceive as unconstitutional policing. This can include excessive uses of force, as well as biased 11 policing and unconstitutional searches and seizures 12."
Vice 13 Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Leslie Silverman, said the goal of her agency was to eliminate discrimination in the workplace. She said the U.S. has made substantial progress over the years.
"At the EEOC, we do believe that racial discrimination still occurs far too often in the employment context," she said. "And, we also believe that stereotypes 14 and unconscious bias contribute to this problem. That is why this past year, we decided 15 to take a new approach to combating race discrimination, which we call ERACE and it stands for eradicating 16 racism 17 and colorism from employment."
Advocacy Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Jamil Dakwar, was not impressed. He said the delegation presented existing laws, Supreme 18 Court cases and other policies to justify 19 their actions, but did not really address the questions and concerns of the Committee.
"So, I think at times the dialogue between the Committee and the U.S. delegation was a dialogue of the deaf," he said. "They were not communicating and there were sometimes attempts by the U.S. delegation to mislead the Committee on issues."
A coalition 20 of 250 U.S.-based human rights organizations accuses the United States of persistent 21 and systematic 22 racial discrimination. The Committee based many of its questions on a 600-page report the coalition presented to it.
The Committee will present its final observations and conclusions in two weeks.
- The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
- We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。
- Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
- I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。
- I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
- She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。
- The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准,因此被宣布无效。
- The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。
- It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
- alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为
- He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
- He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。
- They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
- He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。
- Do you think that punishment for violent crimes should be the same for juveniles and adults? 你对暴力犯罪的惩罚对于青少年和成人应一样吗? 来自生活英语口语25天快训
- Juveniles Should we not exactly in need of such strength and conviction? 少年的我们难道不正是需要这种力量和信念吗? 来自互联网
- Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
- During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
- The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
- a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军
- a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
- The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。
- Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因,有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句
- He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
- They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
- Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
- It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调,我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- 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。
- Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的:探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
- We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿?痹症的边缘了。
- He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
- Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。
- 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。
- He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
- Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗?
- The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
- Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。
- Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
- She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤,使她很难为情。
- The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
- The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。