2006年VOA标准英语-G-8 Leaders Issue Statement on Energy

By Lisa McAdams
St. Peterburg
16 July 2006

G8 Summit in St.Petersburg, Russia, July 16, 2006  
  

Group-of-Eight foreign ministers opened their meeting at the G-8 summit by discussing host country Russia's Number-One agenda item, energy security. Meanwhile, anti-globalization protesters have criticized police tactics in keeping them far from the official meeting site.

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Group of Eight foreign ministers approved a first statement on global energy security that acknowledges differences over nuclear energy and climate change.

At a meeting with youth leaders earlier at Constantine Palace, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated¹ his belief that the world needs to diversify² its global energy resources. He also praised the young leaders for concluding that nuclear energy is, in his words, a safe and viable³ resource still waiting to be tapped.

Nuclear energy is seen as a viable alternative energy source by some, because, they say it does not produce polluting greenhouse gasses, but others warn nuclear power plants could be vulnerable to terrorist attacks, or used to convert nuclear fuel to weapons-grade material. 

The ministers also unified⁴ their positions on two other summit agenda items - education and the fight against infectious diseases. But the afternoon sessions are likely to veer⁵ away from the official agenda, with attention focused on violence in the Middle East and the stand-off over Iran's nuclear program.

Western concerns over what is seen as a Russian retreat on democratic reforms may also be raised. At a late-night news conference Saturday, President Putin reiterated that Russia would find its way to democracy in its own way and in its own time.

"All that I am doing aims at making all of this process of democratization and setting our market economy irreversible in the Russian Federation," he said. "Beyond that, it is also a question of putting in place the conditions required for the Russian people to make their own free choice. It is not I. It is the Russian people. And I am sure, the Russian people will show themselves to be reliable allies, reliable partners, and will not disappoint the other members of the G8."

Russian civil society groups and some members of the U.S. Congress are urging Western leaders to take a tougher stance on democracy during their talks with President Putin. They say all vestiges⁶ of civil society and political opposition⁷ in Russia have been virtually negated⁸.

Police detain protesters against the G8 summit, July 16, 2006
  
  
Meanwhile, activists⁹ say police have detained nearly 40 anti-globalization protesters. The protesters have been kept far from the summit site.

The director of Moscow's Institute of Globalization Studies, Boris Kagarlitsky, is among the activists. He says the police have gone too far.

"Let me say quite honestly, the measures by the authorities were absolutely appalling¹⁰. There were dozens of people who were detained, arrested, Said Kagarlitsky. "In some cases, passports were destroyed. In some cases, people were arrested for like 10 days with very strange and sometimes funny charges and so on. Especially as all these people arrested were only planning to participate in peaceful protests."

Russian officials and law enforcement deny they are in any way hindering the activists.

1 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

2 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

3 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

4 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

5 veer   

vt.转向，顺时针转，改变；n.转向

参考例句：

• He is unlikely to veer from his boss's strongly held views.他不可能背离他老板的强硬立场。
• If you fall asleep while driving,you'll probably veer off the road.假如你开车时打瞌睡，可能会驶离道路。

6 vestiges   

残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不

参考例句：

• the last vestiges of the old colonial regime 旧殖民制度最后的残余
• These upright stones are the vestiges of some ancient religion. 这些竖立的石头是某种古代宗教的遗迹。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 negated   

v.取消( negate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；否定；否认

参考例句：

• Our historical right to rule ourselves as a people had been negated. 我们被剥夺了作为一个民族治理自己国家的历史权利。 来自辞典例句
• Thus far we have negated frictional effects in the harmonic oscillator. 到现在为止，我们一直没有考虑谐和振荡器中的摩擦效应。 来自辞典例句

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。