2006年VOA标准英语-Robert Gates Takes Oath as US Defense Secretary

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
18 December 2006

The new U.S. Defense¹ Secretary, Robert Gates, took office Monday, with a private swearing-in at the White House and a public ceremony later at the Pentagon. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

From left: Robert Gates, his wife Becky and Vice-president Dick Cheney

Gates: "I, Robert Gates, do solemnly swear."

Cheney: "That I will support and defend."

Gates: "That I will support and defend."

Cheney: "The constitution of the United States."

Gates: "The constitution of the United States."

Cheney: "Against all enemies foreign and domestic."

Gates: "Against all enemies foreign and domestic."

Cheney: "That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same."

Gates: "That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same."

Cheney: "That I take this obligation freely."

Gates: "That I take this obligation freely."

Cheney: "Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion²."

Gates: "Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion."

Cheney: "And that I will well and faithfully discharge."

Gates: "And that I will well and faithfully discharge."

Cheney: "The duties of the office."

Gates: "The duties of the office."

Cheney: "On which I am about to enter.

Gates: "On which I am about to enter."

Cheney: "So help me God."

Gates: "So help me God."

Cheney: "Congratulations."

Robert Gates took his ceremonial oath of office as U.S. defense secretary, administered by Vice-president Dick Cheney, who was defense secretary 15 years ago.

After taking the oath in the Pentagon auditorium³, surrounded by some of the 2.5 million members of the U.S. military and half a million civilians⁴ he now leads in the Defense Department, Secretary Gates said dealing⁵ with the situation in Iraq is his top priority.

"We simply can not afford to fail in the Middle East," said Robert Gates. "Failure in Iraq at this juncture⁶ would be a calamity⁷ that would haunt our nation, impair⁸ our credibility and endanger Americans for decades to come."

Speaking at the ceremony, President Bush called Robert Gates a man of "vision" and "integrity," and said he comes into office at a time of "great consequence."

"He understands that defeating the terrorists and the radicals⁹ and the extremists in Iraq and the Middle East is essential to leading toward peace," said President Bush. "As secretary of defense he will help our country forge a new way forward in Iraq."

Secretary Gates addressed President Bush directly at Monday's ceremony.

"You have asked for my candor¹⁰ and my honest counsel at this critical moment in our nation's history," he said. "And you will get both."

Gates said he will soon travel to Iraq to seek the advice of U.S. military commanders and others.

"I look forward to hearing their honest assessments¹¹ of the situation on the ground and to having the benefit of their advice, unvarnished and straight from the shoulder," said the new U.S. defense secretary.

And Gates said he will also be focusing on Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents¹² and criminals have been threatening the new government and the coalition¹³ that supports it.

"Progress made by the Afghan people over the last five years is at risk," he said. "The United States and its NATO allies have made a commitment to the Afghan people, and we intend to keep it."

Analyst¹⁴ Lawrence Korb of the Center for Defense Information, a former senior defense department official, says there are no easy answers in Iraq, but he expects Secretary Gates to make some changes in an effort to reduce the violence and help the Iraqi government take hold.

"I find it very hard to think Gates would have taken the job if he did not feel he could change the current policy," said Lawrence Korb. "I really feel that he will make a difference. Certainly, if Secretary Rumsfeld had remained there, I think there would have been very little chance to make any meaningful changes."

At his confirmation¹⁵ hearing earlier this month, Gates said there are "no new ideas on Iraq," and that the challenge is to combine existing ideas to develop an effective strategy. He also said the United States is not winning in Iraq, and he did not take this job to do nothing about that.

Robert Gates comes to the job of defense secretary after spending most of the last four decades in government service - starting in an entry-level job at the Central Intelligence Agency, and rising to lead that agency, as well as to serve as deputy national security adviser¹⁶ to President Bush's father. Gates said Monday decisions that will be made in the remaining two years of the president's term will determine whether the United States succeeds in Iraq and Afghanistan, or whether what he called "the forces of extremism and chaos¹⁷" will be on the rise.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whose term ended Monday morning, said last week he would spend the Christmas and New Years holidays with his family, and might write a book about his time in office. His press secretary says Rumsfeld will have a government office near the Pentagon for several months to sort through his papers and provide any further help that is needed in the transition to Secretary Gates' leadership.

1 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。

2 evasion   

n.逃避，偷漏(税)

参考例句：

• The movie star is in prison for tax evasion.那位影星因为逃税而坐牢。
• The act was passed as a safeguard against tax evasion.这项法案旨在防止逃税行为。

3 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 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。

6 juncture   

n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头

参考例句：

• The project is situated at the juncture of the new and old urban districts.该项目位于新老城区交界处。
• It is very difficult at this juncture to predict the company's future.此时很难预料公司的前景。

7 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

8 impair   

v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少

参考例句：

• Loud noise can impair your hearing.巨大的噪音有损听觉。
• It can not impair the intellectual vigor of the young.这不能磨灭青年人思想活力。

9 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

10 candor   

n.坦白，率真

参考例句：

• He covered a wide range of topics with unusual candor.他极其坦率地谈了许多问题。
• He and his wife had avoided candor,and they had drained their marriage.他们夫妻间不坦率，已使婚姻奄奄一息。

11 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

12 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

13 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。

14 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。

15 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

16 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。

17 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。