2007年VOA标准英语-President Bush Delivers Annual State of the Uni

By Scott Stearns
White House
24 January 2007

U.S. President George Bush says sending more troops to Iraq will make both Iraqis and Americans safer. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports on the president's annual State of the Union address.

 
President Bush smiles while being applauded by Vice¹ President Dick Cheney, left, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

In his first State of the Union before a Congress led by political opponents, Mr. Bush congratulated Democrats² now leading both the House and Senate, saying Congress has changed but its responsibilities have not.

"We are not the first to come here with government divided and uncertainty³ in the air," said Mr. Bush.  "Like many before us, we can work through our differences, and we can achieve big things for the American people. Our citizens don't much care which side of the aisle⁴ we sit on as long as we are willing to cross that aisle when there is work to be done."

Public opinion polls show a majority of Americans disapprove⁵ of the way the president is doing his job. Following the terrorist attacks of 2001, President Bush came to Congress for his 2002 State of the Union with an 84 percent approval rating. It is now 34 percent.

Much of that drop comes from opposition⁶ to the war in Iraq. President Bush has already launched what he says will be a new way forward in that conflict, sending more than 20,000 additional troops and holding Iraq's government to benchmarks for improving security and political cooperation.

White House officials say one of the reasons the war is unpopular is because Americans do not understand the link between fighting in Iraq and security at home.

So instead of going over the details of his plan again, President Bush sought to portray⁷ the battle's broader implications, telling Americans that it is a decisive ideological⁸ struggle between moderates and extremists with America's security in the balance.

"So we advance our own security interests by helping⁹ moderates, reformers, and brave voices for democracy," added Mr. Bush.  "The great question of our day is whether America will help men and women in the Middle East to build free societies and share in the rights of all humanity. And I say, for the sake of our own security, we must."

While recognizing opposition to his plan, Mr. Bush said the consequences of failure would be grievous and far-reaching.

 
President Bush delivers the State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington
"If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides," he explained.  "We could expect an epic¹⁰ battle between Shia extremists backed by Iran, and Sunni extremists aided by al Qaeda and supporters of the old regime. A contagion¹¹ of violence could spill out across the country, and in time the entire region could be drawn¹² into the conflict."

That, he says, is the enemy's objective: to find new safe havens¹³, new recruits, and new resources in a chaotic¹⁴ Iraq to pursue what Mr. Bush says is an ever greater determination to harm America.

Outside that conflict, the president says he is continuing to work with the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia to bring about a two-state solution to Israeli/Palestinian violence.

Mr. Bush says NATO is taking the lead in turning back the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. He says he is working with regional allies to achieve a nuclear free Korean Peninsula.

The president says America will continue to speak out for freedom in Cuba, Belarus, and Burma and will work to awaken¹⁵ the conscience of the world to save the people of Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

He also called on Congress to keep funding programs to fight hunger, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and malaria¹⁶, saying American foreign policy is more than a matter of war and diplomacy¹⁷.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

4 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

5 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

6 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。

7 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

8 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。

9 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。

10 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

11 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

14 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

15 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

16 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

17 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。