美国国务卿访问巴西

 　　BRASILIA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Brazil on Aug. 13 to meet his counterpart Antonio Patriota, the Foreign Ministry¹ confirmed Thursday.

　　"The officials (Kerry and Patriota) will examine the main issues of the bilateral², regional and global agendas," the ministry said in a statement.

　　Kerry's visit, his first to the Southern American country as top U.S. diplomat³, occurs amid allegations over U.S. cyber espionage⁴ against Brazil as unveiled by local daily O Globo based on the documents leaked by the U.S. espionage intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden.

　　The documents showed massive U.S. spying on Brazilian phone calls and e-mails, and the Brazilian government said the U.S. explanations about the issue have so far been "insufficient⁵."

　　On Tuesday, Patriota told reporters that "the issue can not be left out of the U.S.-Brazil bilateral agenda."

　　Kerry's visit is also part of the preparatory work for President Dilma Rousseff's planned summit with her U.S. counertpart Barack Obama when she visits U.S. on Oct. 23.

　　Patriota said Rousseff's trip "is confirmed, for the time being," adding that "we are going to keep a specific dialogue with the U.S. to discuss the spying allegations through the appropriate channels."

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

3 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

4 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

5 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。