棘手的联合国种族主义大会预备工作

 

 

Preparations Not Easy for UN Racism¹ ConferenceGordon MartinGeneva7 Aug 2001 15:04 UTC

The preparatory work for the Durban 1)racism conference has not been easy.

There is continuing 2)controversy over the wish of some Arab countries to 3)equate 4)Zionism, the movement that led to the creation² of Israel, with racism. Other countries want an 5)apology from former 6)colonial powers, even if it falls short of reparations, which some countries want.

The United States has threatened to 7)boycott the Durban conference if these issues come up. A spokesman³ for South Africa's ruling African National Congress⁴ has criticized⁵ the U.S. for its 8)stance.

But South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was more diplomatic⁶. "What I will say is from the government 9)standpoint, we would really like the United States to participate, in as much as we would like every single state that is a member of the United Nations to participate. So that is our 10)starting point. And we do indeed hope they will participate. But we have no control over whether they come or not. I mean, in the end that is their decision. But from our point of view, we would like them to be there," she said.

Foreign Minister Dlamini-Zuma said countries should come to the Durban racism conference feeling they have the right to raise any subject. But she felt the difficult issues were not 11)insurmountable if everyone displayed a spirit of give and take.

"In our assessment⁷ of what people think, because we tried to interact⁸ with as many people as possible, we think there is nobody who feels that the matter is a matter of life and death. But I think there are countries which feel strongly that something must be said about the situation in the Middle East. They do not feel strongly about that particular phrase - Zionism as racism - but they do feel strongly that with what is going on, on the ground, in the Middle East it will be difficult not to say anything on that issue," she said.

On the issue of colonialism, the South African foreign minister said there must be, what she calls, acknowledgement of the past and a 12)recognition that a lot of the problems that Africa is now facing are a result of those practices. "We feel that we have to talk about the past. It is important to talk about it, and it is important to close the chapter, so that in the next century we will not be talking about the same thing. But if you do not talk about it, it will 13)accumulate as a 14)grievance and will continue to 15)dog all of us," she noticed.

Let us 16)acknowledge the past, said Foreign Minister Dlamini-Zuma, let us look at the present and let us work towards the future.

On the progress of the Geneva preparatory conference, Foreign Minister Dlamini-Zuma said that she had found a much more positive spirit than before.

 

 

(1)      racism n.种族主义, 人种偏见, 种族歧视

(2)      controversy[5kRntrEv:sI]n.论争, 辩论, 论战

(3)      equate[I5kweIt]vt.使相等vi.等同

(4)      zionism[5zaIEnIz(E)m]n.犹太复国主义,犹太复国运动

(5)      apology[E5pRlEdVI]n.(为某种思想, 宗教, 哲学等)辩解, 道歉

(6)      colonial[kE5lEJnIEl]adj.殖民的, 殖民地的 n.殖民地居民

(7)      boycott[5bCIkRt]n.vt.联合抵制, 联合排斥某国货物或与某国绝交

(8)      stance[stR:ns, stAns]n.姿态

(9)      standpoint[5stAndpCInt]n.立场, 观点

(10)      starting point n.出发点, 起跑点

(11)      insurmountable[InsE5maJntEb(E)l]adj.不能克服的, 不能超越的

(12)      recognition[rekE^5nIF(E)n]n.赞誉, 承认, 重视, 公认

(13)      accumulate[E5kju:mjJleIt]v.积聚, 堆积

(14)      grievance[5^ri:vEns]n.委屈, 冤情, 不平

(15)      dog[dR^; (?@) dC:^]n.狗, 小人, 坏蛋vt.跟踪, 尾随

(16)      acknowledge[Ek5nRlIdV]vt.承认, 答谢, 报偿

 

 

 

1 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

2 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

3 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

4 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

5 criticized   

vt.批评(criticize的过去式)v.评论，批评( criticize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The decision was criticized by environmental groups. 这个决定受到了环保团体的批评。
• The movie has been criticized for apparently legitimizing violence. 这部电影因明显地美化暴力而受到了指责。

6 diplomatic   

adj.外交的，从事外交的，策略的，有手腕的

参考例句：

• There are certain forms that must be followed in diplomatic circles.在外交界有一些礼节是必须遵守的。
• You must be more diplomatic in handling the situation.你在处理这一情况时，必须圆滑。

7 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

8 interact   

vi.相互作用，相互影响，互通信息

参考例句：

• All things are interrelated and interact on each other.一切事物互相联系并相互作用。
• The policeman advised the criminal to interact with the police.警察劝罪犯与警方合作。