VOA常速英语2007年-French President Calls for Release of Hostages

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
06 December 2007

French President Nicolas Sarkozy again marked his hands-on diplomatic style by personally requesting the head of Colombia's FARC guerrillas release 45 hostages the group has been holding for years. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.

In television and radio messages released overnight by the French government, President Sarkozy directly appealed to FARC leader Manuel Marulanda to release the 45 hostages, who include three Americans and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

He said France did not share Marulanda's views and condemned¹ his methods. But he also said that releasing the hostages would show FARC understands humanitarian² principles.

Mr. Sarkozy also delivered words of encouragement to the hostages, singling out Betancourt, who was captured by the rebels six years ago as she campaigned for the Colombian presidency³.

The French president praised Betancourt's dignity and courage and told her to stay strong. He said her family waits for her release and that France will never drop her cause.

Talks between the Colombian government and the rebels have been stalled over proposals to swap⁴ the hostages for about 500 FARC prisoners in Colombian jails. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recently tried to mediate⁵ a solution, but he has fallen out with Colombia's leader, Alvaro Uribe.

Paris has kept Betancourt's cause high on its agenda and posters of the politician, who has family members in France, are draped in public places. Recently released videos of some of the hostages showed Betancourt looking thin and despondent⁶.

Mr. Sarkozy's direct intervention⁷ is becoming a trademark⁸ of his diplomacy⁹. He sent his ex-wife Cecilia to Libya a few months ago to lobby for the release of Bulgarian health workers imprisoned¹⁰ there. Last month, he flew to Chad to bring back 10 Europeans jailed on charges of involvement in a botched effort by a French charity to fly 103 African children to France.

1 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

5 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

6 despondent   

adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的

参考例句：

• He was up for a time and then，without warning,despondent again.他一度兴高采烈，但忽然又情绪低落下来。
• I feel despondent when my work is rejected.作品被拒后我感到很沮丧。

7 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

8 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

9 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。

10 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。