India Remains Non-Committal on IMF Job

    India remains¹ non-committal on supporting French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde for the top job at the International Monetary² Fund.  Lagarde visited the Indian capital during a campaign（运动活动） to counter opposition³ from emerging nations to the seven-decade convention of having a European IMF leader.
    After meeting French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde in New Delhi, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee extended no assurances about India’s support for her candidacy.
    Mukherjee reiterated⁴ that India wants the job to go to the best candidate.
    “We want selection of the managing director of IMF or that of the World Bank should be on the basis of merit, competence⁵ in a transparent⁶（透明的） manner, not according to any particular nationality,” said Mukherjee.
    Lagarde’s visit to India is part of a tour to gather support for her bid for the job, which fell vacant after IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested on sexual assault charges. She is focusing on emerging nations, which have criticized the tradition of a European IMF head as obsolete⁷. Lagarde came to New Delhi from Brazil, and next travels to China.
    After meeting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the finance minister and finance officials, Lagarde said she agreed with Indian officials the selection process should be open, transparent and merit-based.
    “We also agreed on the fact that nationality, region of origin, should not either prejudice or privilege a particular candidate,” she said.
    Lagarde said Indian officials had “positive views” on her credentials⁸. She said many countries will decide whom to back only after the last date for applying for the job closes on June 10.
    Indian officials did not say whether emerging countries will name their own candidate for the IMF job. Finance Minister Mukherjee said “there is a divergence⁹ of views in respect of different candidates,” indicating there is no consensus¹⁰.
    Developing economies have been lobbying for a greater role in the governance of financial institutions, pointing to their growing role in the global economy.
    Lagarde promised to support more representation for countries like India, China and Brazil, saying emerging nations need more focus at the IMF.
    “I think that process is an ongoing¹¹ process," she said. "There has to be a constant review of the relationship between the size of the economy, its contribution to world GDP, and its population has to be clearly taken into account, and its voice and quota¹² at the IMF.”
    Another candidate for the job, Mexico Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens, also is expected to visit India this week.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• 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。

2 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• 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。

4 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "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。

5 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

6 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

7 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

8 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

9 divergence   

n.分歧，岔开

参考例句：

• There is no sure cure for this transatlantic divergence.没有什么灵丹妙药可以消除大西洋两岸的分歧。
• In short,it was an age full of conflicts and divergence of values.总之，这一时期是矛盾与价值观分歧的时期。

10 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。