英闻天下——13 Obama Nominate Kerry to Replace Clinton

 　　Related: Profile of John Kerry

 

　　US President Barack Obama has nominated Senator John Kerry as his next secretary of state, elevating the longtime lawmaker and foreign policy expert to the top diplomatic job he had coveted².

 

　　Obama says Kerry has all the credentials³ for the job.

 

　　"... I think it's fair to say few individuals know as many Presidents and Prime Ministers or grasps our foreign policy as firmly as John Kerry. And this makes him a perfect choice to guide American diplomacy⁴ in the years ahead."

 

　　The nomination⁵ came after U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew from the consideration last week.

 

　　If confirmed by the Senate, Kerry would replace Hillary Clinton, who plans to leave Obama's second-term Cabinet early next year.

 

　　The 69-year-old Democrat⁶ is expected to be easily confirmed by his Senate colleagues.

 

　　He would be the first of what are expected to be several new faces on Obama's national security team, including a new defence secretary and director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

 

　　The son of a diplomat¹, Kerry has served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate.

1 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。

2 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。