Japan's Cabinet Resigns, Parliament to Confirm New PM

 　　Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet resigned early Tuesday, making way for Yoshihiko Noda to be confirmed by parliament as the nation's new prime minister.

　　Outgoing finance minister Noda emerged as the surprise winner in Monday's vote for the new chief of Japan's ruling Democratic Party. He is expected to be confirmed by parliament Tuesday as Japan's sixth prime minister in five years.

　　Mr. Kan stepped down as the party chief last week amid widespread criticism of his handling of the crisis caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami¹ in March.

　　After his election, Noda made an immediate² plea for unity³ in his divided party. Addressing party lawmakers from both chambers⁴ at a Tokyo hotel, he called on the Democrats⁵ to close ranks and stop bickering⁶ as they face tough challenges.

　　Noda stressed the importance of cooperation in addressing the nation's troubled economy, recovery from the March disasters, and ending the nuclear crisis from the damaged Fukushima power plant.

　　As an ally of the outgoing Mr. Kan, Noda is likely to continue many of his predecessor's policies. He is also considered a staunch supporter of the Japan-U.S. security alliance.

　　In Washington, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, Victoria Nuland, said the United States is looking forward to continuing close cooperation with Japan and its next prime minister across a broad range of issues.

　　Noda will have to deal with a deeply divided parliament.  While the ruling party has a solid majority in the lower house, the upper house is in the hands of the opposition⁷ Liberal Democratic Party and in a position to block any legislation.

　　Noda is expected to seek a coalition⁸ with the Liberal Democrats and a third party, but it is not clear whether the LDP will be willing to cooperate.

　　More than 20,000 people are dead or missing from March's earthquake and tsunami, and thousands more have been displaced from homes near the Fukushima plant.

　　Across Japan, homes and factories are operating on reduced power as the government conducts safety tests on all of the country's nuclear reactors⁹.

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 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。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• 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。

9 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。