CNN 美国有线新闻 2014-09-17

 So tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations¹  with allies abroad, and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition² to roll back this terrorist threat. 

 

President Obama discussing a plan last night for dealing³ with ISIL, or what we call, ISIS. We’ve talked about them a lot this year on CNN Student News. ISIS is a terrorist group. The name stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. That’s what it wants - its own country based on its own severe interpretation⁴ of Islam. And Iraq and Syria are where ISIS has gained ground, taking over huge portions of land. They’ve killed hundreds of civilians⁵. They’ve brutally⁶ murdered a pair of American journalists. President Obama has been criticized for how he’s handled the situation. Two weeks ago, he said his administration didn’t have a strategy for dealing with ISIS. In last night’s speech to the American public, he wanted to both layout the strategy and get Americans’ support for it. 

 

And I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will not involve American combat troops, fighting on foreign soil. This counter-terrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless⁷ effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support from partners’ forces on the ground. 

 

One thing that President Obama has asked the Congress for is the authority to give weapons and training to Syrian rebels. These are people who are fighting the Syrian government in that nation’s civil war and President Obama wants to help them fight ISIS as well. It’s not clear whether the Congress will vote to authorize⁸ that, especially so close to November’s mid-term elections. Another issue is that some terrorists may be fighting alongside the rebels. 

 

Today is 13th anniversary of a very dark day in the American history. On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists hijacked⁹ 4 commercial airlines. They crashed two of them into the two World Trade Center towers in New York city, one of them into the Pentagon, one of them into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3000 people were killed. Yesterday three Congressional Gold Metals were presented. These are the highest awards that the US Congress can give civilians. One metal will go to each of the attack sites. There are also memorials nationwide today. At anniversary ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, the names of 2983 victims will be read. Their families will be able to visit the museum afterwards. It’ll be open to the public tonight. American flags flown at half-staff commemorate¹⁰ Patriate Day. It’s held every year on this day. It remembers the tragedy, the American resolve and the heroes who gave their lives to save others. Now we’ll look at three powerful symbols of September 11.

1 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 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。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

7 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

8 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

9 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

10 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。