VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS - Americans increasingly unlikely to support military intervention overseas

 

AS IT IS - Americans increasingly unlikely to support military intervention¹ overseas

From VOA LEARNING ENGLISH, welcome to AS IT IS!

Hello, I’m Steve Ember. 

Today, studies show Americans more and more unlikely to support military intervention overseas…a natural gas pipeline² project between Turkey and Israel—a possibility…and the matter of patenting human genes⁴. The Supreme⁵ Court examines it. Those stories coming up. 

More than 10 years have passed since the United States began sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, studies show the American public increasingly unlikely to support military intervention overseas. Yet some activists⁶ would like to see the U-S take a larger part in conflicts like the ongoing⁷ civil war in Syria. Bob Doughty⁸ has more. 

The Syrian Support Group was formed by Syrian-Americans opposed to the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. The group raises money for and sends aid to what it considers moderate members of the opposition⁹ Free Syria Army. The organization is now seeking to raise support among the American public. 

Dan Layman¹⁰ is with the Syrian Support Group. He says getting Americans interested in the Syrian conflict has not been easy. 

“The American public feels a little bit burned from the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and the resources and lives that were spent in Iraq, and so it is a little bit hard to get the large galvanization of support.” 

VOA recently spoke¹¹ with several Americans who were visiting Washington. Many showed an unwillingness¹² to get involved in overseas conflicts. 

“I think we have to be very cautious about that and very careful about how we go about getting into other countries’ affairs. 

“I think they are tired of war. Hopefully President Obama, will keep us out of any future wars.” 

“Yeah, I definitely think we should pull back quite a bit, actually, from what we have done in the past ten years, especially for the state of the economy right now.” 

Most observers refuse to call these opinions a new sign of isolationism, a desire to withdraw from world politics. But opinion studies are showing this lack of support for American involvement in overseas issues. 

Carroll Doherty is with the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press in Washington. He says Americans are not turning away from problems in the Middle East or events in China. But in his words, “there is certainly no desire on the public’s part to get involved in hot spots around the world.” 

Dan Layman says he understands the public’s feelings about foreign military involvements. But he says it is tiring to persuade Americans in what he believes is a worthwhile cause. 

I’m Bob Doughty. 

You are listening to AS IT IS from VOA Learning English. 

Relations between Israel and Turkey recently improved. And now, Turkey’s energy minister says a natural gas pipeline project between the countries could become possible. Mario Ritter has the details. 

Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz says his country would be open to the pipeline project. The pipeline would carry gas that was recently discovered in Israel. 

His announcement follows Israel’s apology to Turkey over the killing¹³ of nine Turks on an aid ship in 2010. The Turks were attempting to break an Israeli economic blockage¹⁴ of the Gaza Strip. 

Soli Ozel is an international relations expert at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. He says energy cooperation offers help for both countries. 

“The issue may become an important topic on which the two can cooperate on. The Israelis have already suggested sending of their gas by pipelines¹⁵ to Turkey.  And this fits well with Turkey’s grand desire to be the grill¹⁶ full of pipelines from north to south, from east to west.  And therefore become, on energy matters, if not a hub, but certainly an indispensable transition place…” 

But the hard question of payments for the Turkish flotilla victims remains¹⁷. The Israeli government has promised to pay the families of those killed. Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc says both sides want to settle the issue quickly. 

He says the Israelis would like to pay the money now and solve the issue as soon as possible. He says payments would end continuing court cases in Turkey against the Israelis involved. That is an important demand by Israel. 

Turkish and Israeli diplomats¹⁹ are to meet in Ankara to talk about a possible payment. One Turkish diplomat¹⁸ said he hopes the issue will be settled during the talks. 

But Soli Ozel says even if the money is received, the Middle East peace process is a barrier for improving Turkish-Israeli relations. 

I’m Mario Ritter. 

AS IT IS is coming to you from VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember. 

For more than 30 years, businesses in the United States have been able to patent human genes. The government has given companies rights to make drugs, medical tests and other tools based on those genes. But now, the United States Supreme Court is reconsidering the issue. The court’s decision could influence the development of medicine, agriculture and clean energy. 

Myriad²⁰ Genetics was the first company to identify two genes that can greatly increase a woman’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer. 

The genes, when defective²¹ --not normal, can cause these common and often deadly forms of the disease. 

The company patented the genes and used them to produce a test for the gene³ defects. The test was designed to show women whether they had a greater than normal chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer. 

Patent protection gave Myriad 20 years to recover its investment. But the American Civil Liberties Union says no one should have exclusive rights to a human body part. Chris Hansen is a lawyer for the ACLU. 

“The Supreme Court has held for 150 years that you can’t patent a product of nature. You can’t patent gold or iron. A human gene is nothing more than just the same thing. Its structure and function are dictated²² by nature. It’s not an invention.” 

Greg Castanias is a lawyer for Myriad. He says identifying those genes took a lot of work and an investment of 500 million dollars. 

He notes that the company’s research can save lives. 

“It’s not just the work but it’s ultimately what the result of the work was, which was a new molecule²³ that was never before available to the world, that has potentially lifesaving applications.” 

The biotechnology industry says gene patents have led to other possibly life-saving uses like man-made insulin for the disease diabetes²⁴. The industry says patents could also provide new treatments for anemia²⁵ and other disorders²⁶. 

Greg Castanias says striking down these patents would slow progress. He says investments in biotechnology might decrease. He also warns that businesses might keep trade secrets. While patents are freely available for others to study and learn from, trade secrets would make these discoveries unavailable to others. 

But the ACLU’s Chris Hansen says it is possible that the patents could do more harm than good. He says Myriad has the power to stop all research on a piece of the human body. And worse, he says, is that the company has prevented women from getting a second opinion about their condition. 

And that’s our program for today. Remember -for the latest world news, tune²⁷ in to VOA News at the top of the hour Universal Time on radio or here on our web site. I’m Steve Ember. Thanks for joining us.

1 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。

2 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

3 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

4 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

9 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。

10 layman   

n.俗人，门外汉，凡人

参考例句：

• These technical terms are difficult for the layman to understand.这些专门术语是外行人难以理解的。
• He is a layman in politics.他对政治是个门外汉。

11 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。

12 unwillingness   

n. 不愿意，不情愿

参考例句：

• Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题，这不利于她所处的形势。
• His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱，他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 blockage   

n.障碍物；封锁

参考例句：

• The logical treatment is to remove this blockage.合理的治疗方法就是清除堵塞物。
• If the blockage worked,they could retreat with dignity.如果封锁发生作用，他们可以体面地撤退。

15 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

16 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 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。

19 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

21 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

22 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

24 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

25 anemia   

n.贫血，贫血症

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。
• I was put on iron tablets for my anemia.我曾因贫血吃补铁药片。

26 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。