IN THE NEWS - Condoleezza Rice Nominated as Secretary of Sta

IN THE NEWS - Condoleezza Rice Nominated as Secretary of State
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Saturday, November 20, 2004

I'm Steve Ember with In the News in VOA Special English.

President Bush this week nominated his national security adviser¹, Condoleezza Rice, to replace Colin Powell as secretary of state. Mister Powell resigned.

Condoleezza Rice has had a long relationship with the Bush family. She worked on the National Security Council when President Bush's father was president. She is an expert on the former Soviet² Union and Eastern Europe.

She became a political science professor at Stanford University in California in the nineteen eighties. Later Condoleezza Rice was a top administrator³ there.

 
Condoleezza Rice
She advised George W. Bush during the two thousand presidential campaign. Once in office, he appointed her his national security adviser. This week he named her deputy, Steven Hadley, to replace her.

Condoleezza Rice had her fiftieth birthday last Sunday. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama, during the time of racial separation laws in the South. She is a classical pianist and an ice skater, and is known as a big sports fan.

"Condi" Rice, as she is known, would be the first African American woman as America's top diplomat⁴. The only other woman was Madeleine Albright, appointed by President Bill Clinton.

President Bush called Secretary Powell "one of the great public servants of our time." Colin Powell was a solder⁵ in the Vietnam War. Later, as a general, he served as chairman of the Joint⁶ Chiefs of Staff. He also served for a time as national security adviser when Ronald Reagan was president.

Yet his moderate positions on issues like Iraq often clashed with those of Vice⁷ President Dick Cheney and Defense⁸ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

For the past four years, Condoleezza Rice has not said much publicly about her opinions. She is considered more conservative on foreign policy than Colin Powell. But critics say she did not do enough to ease tensions between the State Department and the Defense Department. She was also criticized for the way the administration dealt with terrorism threats before the attacks of September eleventh, two thousand one.

Condoleezza Rice is expected to win Senate conformation as the next secretary of state. Some people say her strong ties to Mister Bush will be helpful because governments will know she speaks for the president. Others say they worry that she will be less open to dissenting⁹ opinions and debate because of her loyalty¹⁰.

President Bush announced her nomination¹¹ on Tuesday. That was a day after the White House announced the resignation of Colin Powell and the secretaries of agriculture, energy and education. Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Attorney General John Ashcroft resigned earlier.

Among the replacements¹² nominated are White House counsel Alberto Gonzales as the new attorney general. The president also chose his domestic policy adviser, Margaret Spellings, as secretary of education.

In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk. I'm Steve Ember.

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

4 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。

5 solder   

v.焊接，焊在一起；n.焊料，焊锡

参考例句：

• Fewer workers are needed to solder circuit boards.焊接电路板需要的工人更少了。
• He cuts the pieces and solders them together.他把那些断片切碎，然后把它们焊在一起。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 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。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

10 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

11 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。

12 replacements   

n.代替( replacement的名词复数 )；替换的人[物]；替代品；归还

参考例句：

• They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
• For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说，价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网