2006年VOA标准英语-US Senators Urge Sanctions Against Iran Ov

By Michael Bowman
Washington
15 January 2006

High-ranking senators from both major U.S. political parties are urging prompt action to stem Iran's development of nuclear capabilities¹. The statements come as Iran continues to defend its right to have a nuclear program and to call for continued diplomatic efforts to resolve the matter.

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Sen. John McCain
  

Arizona Senator John McCain says Iran's nuclear ambitions constitute the gravest situation facing the United States since the end of the Cold War, aside from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Speaking on CBS's Face the Nation program, the Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said it is time to bring the matter before the U.N. Security Council.

"We must go to the U.N. now for sanctions. If the Russians and the Chinese, for reasons that would be abominable², do not join us, then we would have to go with the willing," said McCain. "There is only one thing worse than the United States exercising a military option, that is a nuclear-armed Iran."

Senator McCain acknowledged that the U.S. military is stretched thin in Iraq and elsewhere, but said the United States must keep a military option on the table when it comes to dealing³ with Iran.

"Let us be honest," he said. "We are tied up to a great degree [militarily in Iraq]. But that does not mean that we do not have military options. We do. To say that under no circumstances would we exercise military options would be crazy."

Iran recently announced it was restarting nuclear research and development. It has long maintained that it only aims to provide for the country's growing energy needs. Iran's leaders have questioned the right of major nuclear powers to dictate⁴ what other nations may do in pursuing peaceful nuclear technology.

In a rare news conference Saturday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would not abandon its nuclear program, even if the matter is referred to the U.N. Security Council.

A Democrat⁵ on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Indiana's Evan Bayh, says that Iran cannot be trusted. Speaking on CNN's Late Edition program, the senator pointed⁶ to recent statements by Iranian President Ahmadinejad calling for the eradication⁷ of Israel and calling the Holocaust⁸ a "myth" as evidence of extremism and irrationality⁹ on the part of Iran's leadership.

"Iran is the foremost sponsor of terrorism in the world. Iran is a menace. They have to be dealt with. Appeasement¹⁰ will not work. Nice words will not work," said Senator Bayh. "We need to use diplomacy¹¹, economic sanctions, other means so that we will not have to resort to military action. But the time to act is now. We [the United States] have been in denial for four long years."

Senator Bayh accused the Bush administration of having largely ignored the threat posed by Iran until now. Last week, President Bush described anti-Israeli statements from Tehran as "unacceptable" and said that Iran's development of nuclear weapons would give them the capability¹² to go from words to actions against the Jewish state. He said Iran must not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.

1 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 abominable   

adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的

参考例句：

• Their cruel treatment of prisoners was abominable.他们虐待犯人的做法令人厌恶。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

8 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

9 irrationality   

n. 不合理，无理性

参考例句：

• Such stoppages as are observed in practice are thus attributed to mistakes or even irrationality. 在实际情况中看到的这些停工，要归因于失误或甚至是非理性的东西。
• For all its harshness and irrationality, it is the only world we've got. 尽管它严酷而又不合理，它终究是我们具有的唯一的世界。

10 appeasement   

n.平息，满足

参考例句：

• Music is an appeasement to shattered nerves. 音乐可抚慰受重创的神经。
• There can be no appeasement with ruthlessness. 对残暴行为是不能姑息的。 来自演讲部分

11 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。

12 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。