VOA慢速英语2009年-IN THE NEWS - Japan's Next Leader, Promisi

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Japan's parliament is expected to vote on September sixteenth to make Yukio Hatoyama the next prime minister. Later this month he plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York and the Group of Twenty meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

His Democratic Party of Japan ended more than fifty years of nearly continuous rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. The D.P.J. won almost two-thirds of the seats in lower house elections last Sunday. Not bad after just eleven years as a party.

Yet many observers see the results as more a rejection¹ of the old than an acceptance of the new. Many voters were dissatisfied with the L.D.P. and its reaction to Japan's worst recession since the Second World War. Japan has the world's second largest economy after the United States.

Taro² Aso, prime minister since last September, resigned as leader of the L.D.P. after its defeat.

Yukio Hatoyama is sixty-two years old. He trained as an engineer at Stanford University in California. He is one of Japan's wealthiest lawmakers. He once belonged to the L.D.P. In fact, his grandfather, a former prime minister, helped form the party. But he says the Liberal Democrats³ left policymaking to aging politicians out of touch with the needs of the people.

The next prime minister promises to clear out government bureaucrats⁴. But there are risks if the D.P.J. dismisses experienced civil servants. Almost half of its newly elected members have never served as lawmakers.

Yukio Hatoyama promises "revolutionary change." He says he wants to move resources away from corporations and toward families in the form of child care support and free education. He wants to take Japan in a new economic direction, away from what he considers the undesirable⁵ parts of American-style capitalism⁶.

His campaign promises also included seeking greater independence from American policies and closer ties with China and other neighbors in Asia.

He may not extend Japan's operation to refuel ships for the war in Afghanistan. And the D.P.J. has questioned an agreement about an American Marine⁷ base on the island of Okinawa. But the United States says deals governing the forty-seven thousand American troops in Japan are not up for renegotiation.

Japan's next leader says his policies are not anti-American. He spoke⁸ to President Barack Obama by phone. He said Japan's alliance with the United States will remain what he called the "foundation" of his government's diplomacy⁹.

The White House says President Obama stated his strong wish to work together to strengthen global economic recovery and fight climate change. Other wishes included working for a nuclear-free Korea and to defeat extremists in Afghanistan.

The first test of the new government's popularity may come next year in upper house elections in Japan.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake with Kate Woodsome. I'm Steve Ember.

1 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

2 taro   

n.芋，芋头

参考例句：

• Main grain crop has taro,corn,banana to wait.主要粮食作物有芋头、玉米、芭蕉等。
• You celebrate your birthday with taro,red bean and butter.用红豆、芋头和黄油给自己过生日。

3 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》

4 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

5 undesirable   

adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子

参考例句：

• They are the undesirable elements among the employees.他们是雇员中的不良分子。
• Certain chemicals can induce undesirable changes in the nervous system.有些化学物质能在神经系统中引起不良变化。

6 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 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。