2007年VOA标准英语-Ethiopian President Hopeful for Stable Somalia

By Peter Heinlein
United Nations
02 March 2007

Ethiopia's president has voiced optimism about the prospects¹ for a power-sharing agreement in Somalia that could lead to long-term stability in the Horn of Africa. VOA's Peter Heinlein spoke² with President Girma Wolde-Giorgis during the Ethiopian leader's visit to United Nations headquarters in New York.

Ethiopian soldiers walk past a technical vehicle of the Islamic Courts movement in Mogadishu, 18 Jan 2007

Mr. Wolde-Giorgis says Ethiopia's military offensive into Somalia in December has advanced the cause of regional peace.  Despite a surge of violence in Mogadishu, the Ethiopian president says the ouster of Islamist forces from the Somali capital has made possible the formation of a unity³ government after 15 years of clan⁴ warfare⁵.

"It's not easy after 15 years of no governance to come up and put [establish] order straight away," he said.  "But we've got a wise way of involving the ex-fighters and warlords and other institutions that are important in power sharing through negotiation⁶, and there could be peace soon. They cannot get peace unless they negotiate and agree in power sharing, and they cannot develop their country without stability and peace and they need to do that."

Mr. Wolde-Giorgis reaffirmed that enough Ethiopian troops will remain in Somalia to maintain order until African Union peacekeepers arrive. The first contingent⁷ of about 30 Ugandan troops is reported to have landed in the Somali town of Baidoa Thursday.

The force is eventually expected to number 8,000, but AU officials have said they have received pledges of only half that many troops to man the force.

President Wolde-Giorgis told VOA he is confident the lack of troop contributions is only a temporary setback⁸.

"I don't know if one could blame them. It didn't happen according to program, some incident has come in. They need time to work up the budget and get troops and so on," he added.

Mr. Wolde-Giorgis was at the United Nations to speak at a 25th anniversary tribute to Orbis International, a non-profit organization dedicated⁹ to preventing avoidable blindness.  Assisted by British philanthropist Richard Branson and his Virgin¹⁰ airlines, Orbis operates flying eye hospitals that have brought vision to hundreds of thousands of blind people in 85 countries.

Ethiopia is among the main destinations for the flying eye hospitals, and President Wolde-Giorgis has been working for the past decade to promote the Orbis campaign in his country. 

The World Health Organization estimates that of the 37 million people around the world who are blind, 28 million need not be. In Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest countries, an estimated 1 million people are blind and more than ten million others suffer from curable eye diseases. 

1 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

5 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

6 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

7 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

8 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

9 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

10 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。