2007年VOA标准英语-Ukraine's Political Crisis Enters Second Week

By Lisa McAdams
Moscow
10 April 2007

Ukraine's political crisis enters its second week, with no signs of a breakthrough. Pro-reform President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, a supporter of closer ties with Moscow, have held more talks aimed at defusing the standoff, but failed to reach a compromise. VOA's Lisa McAdams in Moscow reports:

President Yushchenko met rival Prime Minister Yanukovych as thousands of the prime minister's supporters converged¹ again in downtown Kiev.

The protests had dwindled² a bit during the long Easter holiday weekend, but demonstrators were back out again in force in support of Mr. Yanukovych. He and his supporters say the president's decree last Monday to dissolve parliament and call new elections May 27 is unconstitutional.

Supporters of Ukrainian PM Viktor Yanukovych attend a rally in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, 10 Apr 2007

The protests have done little to sway President Yuschhenko, who reiterated³ to Mr. Yanukovych that the only way out of the crisis is new elections. The president has accused the prime minister of trying to usurp⁴ power through a series of unconstitutional maneuvers⁵. The two have met several times during the past few weeks, but neither party has shown any willingness to alter their position.

Ukraine's Constitutional Court is to take up the issue on Wednesday in a process that could yield a result at any time in the next month.

Until then, the battle of wills plays out in the streets, with Yanukovych's Regions Party vowing⁶ to bring thousands of more demonstrators to Kiev as time goes on. This pro-government supporter, Valentina Mikhalenko, says she is demonstrating against Yushchenko's pro-Western aims, such as NATO membership for Ukraine.

Valentina says she and other pro-government supporters do not want to see Ukraine join NATO. She says they want to stay close to Russia and other former Soviet⁷ Republics like Belarus.

Opposition⁸ supporters have been largely absent from the streets in order to lessen⁹ the chance for confrontation¹⁰. But opposition leaders have said they could still bring their supporters out in protest, if deemed necessary in the coming days.

Polls show that if an election were held today, President Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party would place a distant third, behind Orange Revolution ally Yulia Timoshenko's bloc¹¹ and the Regions Party.

1 converged   

v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的过去式 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集

参考例句：

• Thousands of supporters converged on London for the rally. 成千上万的支持者从四面八方汇聚伦敦举行集会。
• People converged on the political meeting from all parts of the city. 人们从城市的四面八方涌向这次政治集会。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

4 usurp   

vt.篡夺，霸占；vi.篡位

参考例句：

• Their position enabled them to usurp power.他们所处的地位使其得以篡权。
• You must not allow it to usurp a disproportionate share of your interest.你不应让它过多地占据你的兴趣。

5 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

6 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 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。

9 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

10 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

11 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。