VOA常速英语2007-Al Gore, UN Panel, Win Nobel Peace Prize

By Kevin Billinghurst
Stockholm
12 October 2007

Former U.S. Vice¹ President Al Gore² and a U.N. panel on climate change have been awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to educate the public on the threat of global warming. Kevin Billinghurst reports from Stockholm.

In its citation³ Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee calls Al Gore "one of the world's leading environmentalist politicians," and says the IPCC has created an "ever-broader informed consensus⁴ about the connection between human activities and global warming."

Thousands of scientists and officials representing more than 100 countries collaborated⁵ within the U.N.-sponsored IPCC to study the causes and potential effects of climate change. The IPCC based its assessments⁶ and policy suggestions on peer-reviewed and published scientific literature.

Al Gore served in the United States Congress from 1977 to 1993, and as vice president under Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. Running for president in 2000, he lost a disputed vote to George W. Bush. Since leaving office, he has devoted⁷ himself to speaking on climate and environmental issues around the world, and in 2006 he produced the award-winning documentary An Inconvenient⁸ Truth.

Even before the announcement, activists⁹ in favor of a movement to draft Gore to run again for president next year were saying that a Nobel Peace Prize would force him to re-evaluate his repeated assertions that he is not interested in a new race. Those calls are now certain to grow more insistent¹⁰.

Immediately after the announcement, reporters questioned Nobel Committee Chairman Ole Danbolt Mjøs on the political significance of this year's award, and whether it was an explicit¹¹ renunciation of the environmental policies of the Bush administration, which has questioned the IPCC's consensus on climate and has refused to ratify¹² the international Kyoto Protocol¹³ aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions¹⁴.

"I am very much for support for all the measures that go to inhibit¹⁵ global warming," he said. "This prize should give the measure to everybody to say to themselves - every state's leader, every politician, every human being, me and you - what can we do to help the situation, because it is so important that everybody is taking part in this fight."

The Nobel Peace Prize is arguably the world's most prestigious¹⁶ civic¹⁷ award, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee has often used the prize to support individuals and organizations fighting for contemporary causes.

Earlier American Nobel Peace laureates include then-President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906; the civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1964; Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who shared the prize in 1973 with his North Vietnamese counterpart Le Duc Tho; and former President Jimmy Carter, who received his award in 2002.

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 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

3 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

6 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

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

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 insistent   

adj.迫切的，坚持的

参考例句：

• There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
• He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。

11 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

12 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

13 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

14 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

15 inhibit   

vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制

参考例句：

• Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。
• They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

16 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

17 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。