VOA常速英语2007年-Africa-Europe Summit Concludes with Mixed Resul

By Scott Bobb
Lisbon
10 December 2007

The Africa-European Union summit ended Sunday in Portugal with agreement on many global challenges but with differences on other key issues. Correspondent Scott Bobb has this report from Lisbon.

European and African Union leaders left the Portuguese¹ capital expressing satisfaction for the most part with their first summit in seven years and what they called a new spirit in relations between the two continents.

The head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said they agreed that climate change probably represents the most important challenge of the 21st Century.

"Climate change is not just an issue for environment," he said. "It's also an issue for development. And only with the commitment of African leaders and European leaders can we really achieve some progress."

The leaders agreed to increase efforts to fight deforestation and desertification.

The president of the European Union, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, said the summit's plan to deal with migration² was an example of the new partnership³.  He says the leaders want to combat illegal immigration but encourage legal migration and help immigrants to integrate more fully⁴ into their new countries.

The leaders agreed to develop information programs for would-be migrants in Africa and to address the drain of African skilled workers by promoting ethical⁵ recruitment policies in critical fields.

On governance, the head of the African Union, Ghana's President John Kufuor, said Africa has an interest in good governance and respect for human rights.

"Transparency is the order of the day," he said. "This is not to saying there is perfection. The point is that we all see that it is with good governance that we will attract the partnerships⁶ for development that we need."

He noted⁷ that the AU has created mechanisms⁸ such as the Africa Peer Review to promote these ideals.

The leaders also agreed to promote security by developing a system for rapid conflict prevention and funds for an African rapid deployment¹⁰ force.

But human rights issues brought discord¹¹.

German Chancellor¹² Angela Merkel criticized Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe's human rights record as bringing shame on the continent. This led Mr. Mugabe to accuse her of arrogance¹³. A dispute over whether to invite Mr. Mugabe blocked the summit for five years and was only resolved a few months ago.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir met with United Nations officials seeking to deploy⁹ a joint¹⁴ U.N.-Africa peacekeeping force in Darfur. The two sides said some clarifications were obtained but that critical needs remain, in particular air support.

The issue of free trade agreements caused the most public controversy¹⁵.

Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade¹⁶ said the accords would set back African development.

He says there is no African industry that can withstand competition from Europe with its millions of consumers.

Most African governments have refused to sign the accords. The accords exempt¹⁷ African exports from European tariffs¹⁸ but also call for lower African tariffs on European goods. European officials said negotiations¹⁹ will continue.

Civic²⁰ organizations had little praise for the summit.

The Oxfam group said African opposition²¹ to the trade agreements should serve as a wake-up call to European leaders.

Human Rights Watch said the summit failed to make any progress on restoring the rule of law in Zimbabwe, bringing peace to Darfur or preventing banks from protecting the wealth of corrupt²² officials.

And Save The Children called the meeting a high profile exercise of little substance, noting that five million African children continue to die of preventable causes every year. It said since the leaders declared this a summit of equals they must bear equal responsibility for its failures.

1 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

2 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

6 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

10 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

11 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

12 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

13 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。

14 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

15 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

16 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

17 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

18 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

19 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

20 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。

21 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。

22 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。