Putin Vows to Defend Democracy in Russia

 

Lisa McAdams

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed Russia's commitment to democratic values, while building what he called a state strong and free. He rejected Western criticism that his government is running an authoritarian¹ regime. The president outlined his domestic and international priorities Wednesday in his annual state of the nation address.
In a nationally-televised address before a joint² session of Russia's parliament, President Putin laid out his vision of a Russia politically and economically stable and free.
He said the main goal for his government during his second four-year-term will be to build what he called, an open society of free people.
He also rejected frequent Western criticisms that he oversees⁴ a government increasingly moving in an authoritarian direction. Mr. Putin said the criticism stems from those who do not want to see Russia, in his words, independent, confident and strong.
Mr. Putin says steps taken by his government to strengthen the state have been wrongly interpreted and, because of that, he said he wanted to reaffirm Russia's commitment to democratic principles.
He also restated two main goals from his address last year - to double Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) within a decade and to reduce overall poverty among Russians.
Much of the president's fifth annual state of the nation address was devoted⁵ to the economy. He said Russia was at long last economically stable. But he said more remains⁶ to be done to raise the people's overall standard of living and expand future job prospects⁷.
President Putin made only brief mention of Russia's ongoing⁸ war with Chechen separatists. His government's policy on Chechnya is widely viewed as being in disarray⁹ following the recent assassination¹⁰ of pro-Moscow Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov.
The killing¹¹ was captured on national television and came during celebrations earlier this month meant to highlight the nation's military defeat over Nazi¹² Germany. President Putin called the killing a provocation¹³, but said Russia would not be stopped from fighting terrorists at home.
Mr. Putin also addressed the need to strengthen the international anti-terrorism coalition¹⁴, based on the mechanisms¹⁵ of the United Nations and international law.
Veteran political analyst¹⁶ Masha Lippmann with Moscow's Carnegie Center says the speech yielded few real surprises but was notable in one sense.
"He [Putin] didn't sound anti-Western, not at all, but he sounded just slightly isolationist, sending the signal that Russia should rely only on itself, and that Russia's problems - even smaller Russian problems - are much more important than big world problems," she said.
On the domestic front Mr. Putin also outlined in broad terms his goals to improve Russia's health care, education, housing and transport systems.
注释：
reaffirm [5ri:E5fE:m] vt. 重申，再肯定
commitment [kE5mItmEnt] n. 责任
authoritarian [C:7WCri5tZEriEn] adj. 独裁的
oversee³ [5EuvE5si:] v. 管理
reject [ri5dVekt] n. 否认
stem from 源于
restate [ri:5steIt] v. 重申
gross domestic product 国内生产总值
ongoing [5Cn^EuiN] adj. 正在进行的
Chechen separatists  车臣分裂分子
Chechnya 车臣
disarray [dIsE5reI] n. 混乱，无秩序
highlight [5haIlaIt] n. vt. 强调，使显著
provocation [prCvE5keiFEn] n. 挑衅
veteran [5vetErEn] adj. 经验丰富的
Moscow's Carnegie Center 莫斯科卡内基中心
Notable [5nEutEbl] adj. 值得注意的
isolationist [9aIsE`leIFLnIst] n. 孤立主义者

1 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

2 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。

3 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

4 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

5 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

6 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。

7 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

8 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。

9 disarray   

n.混乱，紊乱，凌乱

参考例句：

• His personal life fell into disarray when his wife left him.妻子离去后，他的个人生活一片混乱。
• Our plans were thrown into disarray by the rail strike.铁路罢工打乱了我们的计划。

10 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

11 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。

12 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

13 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

14 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

15 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。