2006年VOA标准英语-Bush: America Laying Foundation for Victory Ove

By Michael Bowman
Washington
27 May 2006

President Bush says, just as the United States persevered¹ and ultimately won the Cold War against communism, America will emerge victorious² in the war on terror. Mr. Bush addressed graduates at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the first class of future Army officers to have entered the institution since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

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George Bush watches caps fly at US Military Academy graduation at West Point,  NY  
  

President Bush delivered a history lesson in his commencement address to 861 West Point graduates, their families and dignitaries. He said a dire³ threat to America's security emerged after the Second World War: the expansion of communism in much of Europe, Asia and elsewhere. Mr. Bush said, in the early years of the Cold War, world events seemed to foreshadow a bleak⁴ future for democracy.

Mr. Bush said a predecessor⁵, President Harry⁶ Truman, recognized the threat as an ideological⁷ struggle, and acted to confront adversaries⁸, build alliances, and expand freedom, thereby⁹ laying the foundation for eventual¹⁰ victory in the Cold War. Today, Mr. Bush said, the United States is employing a similar strategy in confronting terrorism.

"When President Truman spoke¹¹ here for the 150th anniversary of West Point, he told the class of 1952, 'You cannot have lasting¹² peace, unless we work actively¹³ and vigorously to bring about conditions of freedom and justice in the world.' That same principle continues to guide us in today's war on terror. Our strategy to protect America is based on a clear premise¹⁴: the security of our nation depends on the advance of liberty in other nations," the president said.

President Bush noted¹⁵ that it took more than four decades to win the Cold War. Similarly, he said, victory in the war on terror will not come overnight. Mr. Bush predicted that the struggle against extremism will occupy the careers of this year's graduating class at West Point and other U.S. military academies.

But he said important objectives have been met in the war on terror, and are already bearing fruit.

"Just as an earlier generation of Americans helped change Germany and Japan from conquered adversaries to democratic allies, today a new generation of Americans is helping¹⁶ Iraq and Afghanistan recover from the ruins of tyranny," he said.  "In Afghanistan, the terror camps have been shut down, and Afghans have chosen a new president and a parliament in free elections. In Iraq, last week, Iraqis made history when they inaugurated the leaders of a new government of their choosing. With the formation of this unity¹⁷ government, the world has seen the beginning of something new: a constitutional democracy in the heart of the Middle East."

After the commencement address, President Bush handed out diplomas. Once commissioned as officers, many of the graduates are expected to be deployed¹⁸ to Afghanistan or Iraq.

In his weekly Saturday radio address, President Bush paid tribute to fallen armed services members ahead of Monday's Memorial Day holiday. In the Democratic Party response, Hawaii Senator Daniel Akaka criticized the Bush administration's treatment of military veterans. The Senator blasted a recent admission by the Department of Veterans Affairs that it had failed to safeguard the personal information of millions of veterans, possibly allowing the information to fall into criminal hands.

1 persevered   

v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She persevered with her violin lessons. 她孜孜不倦地学习小提琴。
• Hard as the conditions were, he persevered in his studies. 虽然条件艰苦，但他仍坚持学习。 来自辞典例句

2 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

3 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

4 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

5 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

6 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

7 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

8 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

9 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

10 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

13 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

14 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

18 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。