2007年VOA标准英语-US - EU Leaders Discuss Missile Defense, Enviro

By Paula Wolfson
White House
30 April 2007

The latest United States-European Union summit has ended with signs of progress on several issues that have strained trans-Atlantic ties, including alternative energy and pushing ahead on world trade talks. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports from the White House, where President Bush held talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and German Chancellor¹ Angela Merkel, who currently holds the revolving² EU presidency³.

U.S. President Bush (r) meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center) and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, 30 Apr 2007

They had a wide-ranging agenda for the summit. And they emerged with talk of progress.

The three leaders stressed their desire to see the stalled world trade talks succeed. EU Commission President Barroso said the level of agreement on energy and the environment exceeded his expectations.

"To be very frank, it was better than I was planning," said Jose Manuel Barroso. "I think it was real progress."

They agreed on the need to limit the emissions⁵ that scientists say contribute to global warming, to promote the use of renewable fuels, and to encourage cooperation on these matters. Mr. Bush made clear he remains⁶ opposed to the kind of mandatory⁷ emission⁴ controls contained in the global treaty known as the Kyoto Protocol⁸, which the United States has refused to sign.

But on both sides there was recognition of the extent of the problem, and the need for industrialized countries to take action, and convince developing nations to follow suit.

Chancellor Merkel vowed⁹ to make the issue a priority when she hosts the Group of Eight Summit in June.

"We, as industrialized countries, need to address this issue, need to develop necessary technology," said Angela Merkel. "But, we alone, without the emerging countries, will not be able to solve this problem."

These annual U.S.-EU meetings are technically¹⁰ a venue¹¹ for economic discussions. But, over the years, security issues have increasingly risen on the agenda.

One matter of high concern to the trans-Atlantic alliance is Russia's reaction to an American proposal to build a missile-defense¹² shield that would put radar¹³ and interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic, both of which were once part of the Soviet¹⁴ military alliance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to retaliate¹⁵ by pulling out of a treaty that sets limits on the deployment¹⁶ of military forces in Europe.

President Bush told reporters at a joint¹⁷ news conference after his talks with the EU delegation¹⁸, that he is taking some advice on the matter from Chancellor Merkel, with whom he consults regularly.

"She expressed her concerns that the U.S. position was not very clear about the missile defense systems, and that there were some people concerned in Germany, as well as [in] Europe, about our intentions," said President Bush. "And, she also suggested it might make sense for me to share our intentions more clearly with President Putin."

Mr. Bush said that is why he asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to go to Russia last week.

"I called President Putin, and asked him to see Secretary Gates, and [said] that we would put forward an interesting information-sharing proposal," he said. "Our intention is to say to Russia that, 'the system is something you ought to think about participating in.'"

President Bush is expected to highlight the missile defense program when he goes to Europe in June. Before and after the G-8 Summit in Germany, he will visit the Czech Republic and Poland, as well as Albania and Bulgaria.

1 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。

2 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

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 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

5 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

8 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

9 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

10 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

11 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

14 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。

15 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

16 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。

17 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。

18 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。