2007年VOA标准英语-Former US Senator Expresses Concern Over Growin

By Meredith Buel
Washington
13 April 2007

Former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn has dedicated¹ much of his career to reducing global threats from weapons of mass destruction. He is currently the co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a private group working to decrease such threats worldwide. In an interview with VOA, Nunn expressed concern that the risk of such an attack is growing, as we hear in this report from correspondent Meredith Buel in Washington.

More than 15 years ago, the U.S. Congress approved the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. The legislation provides funding to the former Soviet² states to dismantle³ their nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

In the years since the program began, thousands of nuclear warheads have been dismantled⁴, and hundreds of intercontinental ballistic missiles have been destroyed.

Sam Nunn

Former Senator Sam Nunn co-sponsored the legislation creating the program, and now co-chairs the Nuclear Threat Initiative, an organization working to reduce the danger of weapons of mass destruction.

Despite those efforts, Nunn says, the risk of such weapons being used today is growing, not receding⁵.

He says more than 40 countries have enough highly enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb.

The former senator says the rise of global terrorism and the availability of technology increase the likelihood of a nuclear attack.

"The ability now to discover or find out how to make a nuclear weapon and the knowledge that is proliferated⁶ to lots of individuals around the globe, that is a totally different thing than we faced 20-years ago," he said. "You combine all of that, and you have got a very dangerous situation."

Nunn says countries such as Iran and North Korea are, as he puts it, pushing international will to the brink⁷ by developing nuclear technology, and in the case of North Korea, producing nuclear weapons.

He says there are stockpiles of loosely guarded nuclear weapons-grade material scattered⁸ around the world, offering tempting⁹ targets for theft or sale.

"So the first step is to secure the material everywhere it is, wherever it is on the face of the earth," he said. "That takes cooperation of lots of different countries. As I view it, we are in a race between cooperation and catastrophe¹⁰, and, right now, the outcome is unclear."

Nunn says the potential for conflict among the major powers, most notably¹¹ between the United States and Russia, has dramatically declined.

However, he says, nations with and without nuclear arms must embrace the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.

"The United States is not going to give up our nuclear weapons without other countries giving them up, and that is the same for everybody that has nuclear weapons," said Nunn.

"But, if all of our countries that have nuclear weapons insist we are going to retain them forever, we are going to have a lot more company in that circle. That is a world I do not want to leave to my children and grandchildren," he continued.

Nunn says nations must redouble efforts to resolve regional conflicts, if the world is to reduce the incentive¹² for acquiring nuclear weapons in places such as the Middle East, southwest Asia and the Korean peninsula.

He says potential regional confrontations¹³ create tensions that shape the security outlook for the entire world.

1 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。

2 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。

3 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

4 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

5 receding   

v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• Desperately he struck out after the receding lights of the yacht. 游艇的灯光渐去渐远，他拼命划水追赶。 来自辞典例句
• Sounds produced by vehicles receding from us seem lower-pitched than usual. 渐渐远离我们的运载工具发出的声似乎比平常的音调低。 来自辞典例句

6 proliferated   

激增( proliferate的过去式和过去分词 )； （迅速）繁殖； 增生； 扩散

参考例句：

• Books and articles on the subject have proliferated over the last year. 过去一年以来，论及这一问题的书和文章大量涌现。
• Influenza proliferated throughout the country. 流感在全国蔓延。

7 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

8 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

9 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

10 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

11 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

12 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

13 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句