奥巴马将访问非洲联盟总部

 　　U.S. President Barack Obama visits the African Union's headquarters in Addis Ababa on Tuesday after spending a day focusing on Ethiopia and South Sudan.

　　Obama met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in the Ethiopian capital on Monday, saying their two countries are "strong partners" on many issues.

　　However, he urged Ethiopia's government to allow journalists and opposition¹ parties to operate more freely.  In a news conference Monday, Obama said he held "frank discussions" with the prime minister, and said creating space for journalists and opposition voices "will strengthen rather than inhibit²" the ruling party's agenda.

　　Obama to Visit African Union Headquarters

　　Hailemariam said Ethiopia is committed to improving human rights and governance.

　　"Our commitment to democracy is real, not skin deep," he said.

　　Obama also focused on the civil war in South Sudan on Monday, meeting with leaders of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and the African Union  to discuss the crisis.

　　Before going into the meeting, the U.S. president said conditions in South Sudan are getting "much, much worse."  He said South Sudan's president and opposition leaders have been stubborn and are looking out for their own self-interests rather than the interest of their country.

　　A U.S. official told reporters after the meeting that the leaders discussed options for penalties against South Sudan if an August 17 deadline for a peace deal is not reached, including imposing³ sanctions and deploying⁴ a regional intervention⁵ force.

　　South Sudan was thrown into conflict more than a year-and-a-half ago when clashes broke out between forces loyal to the president and vice⁶ president.

　　Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit Ethiopia.  In line with Monday's bilateral⁷ talks, the White House announced the United States intends to provide at least $40 million in assistance related to countering violent extremism in East Africa on top of some $465 million in proposed funding for training, equipment, capacity building and countering violent extremist initiatives throughout Africa.

　　During Monday's news conference, Obama said Ethiopia has played a vital role in fighting the Somali militant⁸ group al-Shabab. He also praised Ethiopia's economic record, noting the country has lifted millions out of dire⁹ poverty.

　　Rights groups have called for Obama to demand reforms from Ethiopia, where the government controls 100 percent of the seats in parliament and keeps a tight leash¹⁰ on the media.

　　Before Ethiopia, Obama spent two days in his father's homeland of Kenya, where he was hailed as a native son.

　　In a speech before his departure Sunday, the president said Kenya is at a crossroads "filled with peril¹¹, but also with enormous promise."

　　In Nairobi, the president praised Kenya's achievements winning independence in 1963, among them ending one-party rule and overcoming the deadly tribal¹² and ethnic¹³ violence that broke out in 2007 and plagued the country for several months.

　　"The people of Kenya chose not to be defined by the hatreds¹⁴ of the past," Obama said, "you chose a better history."

1 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。

2 inhibit   

vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制

参考例句：

• Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。
• They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

3 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

4 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

5 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• 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。

7 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。

8 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

11 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

12 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

13 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

14 hatreds   

n.仇恨，憎恶( hatred的名词复数 )；厌恶的事

参考例句：

• He had more enimies and hatreds than anyone could easily guess from his thoughtful expression. 从他的思想表达方式难以被人猜透来看，他的敌人和仇家是不会多的。 来自辞典例句
• All the old and recent hatreds come to his mind. 旧恨新仇一起涌上他的心头。 来自互联网