2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Praises Iraqi Political Deal

By Paula Wolfson
Washington
27 August 2007

President Bush has hailed the political agreement reached late Sunday by Iraqi leaders, calling it a promising¹ sign of progress. VOA White House Correspondent Paula Wolfson has details.

President George W. Bush

The president says the deal is an important step towards resolving some of the issues standing² in the way of political reconciliation³.

The agreement emerged from talks involving five of Iraq's top elected leaders. The president says he talked to them on Monday. "These leaders represent all the Iraqi communities. These leaders - Prime Minister [Nouri] al- Maliki,[a Shiite], President [Jalal] Talibani [a Kurd], Vice⁴ President [Tariq al-] Hashemi,[a Sunni], Vice President Abdul Mahdi [a Shiite] and President [Massoud) Barzani [head of the semiautonomous Kurdish region] - recognize the true and meaningful reconciliation that needs to take place. And they recognize this is a process," he said.

Mr. Bush says the agreement demonstrates their commitment. "The agreement begins to establish new power sharing agreements, commits to supporting bottom-up security and political initiatives and advances agreement among Iraq's leadership on several key legislative⁵ benchmarks," he said.

President Bush spoke⁶ on an airport tarmac in Albuquerque, New Mexico, shortly after he arrived in the southwestern city for a campaign event.

In a brief statement, he sounded optimistic. But he acknowledged one major hurdle⁷ remains⁸: winning the approval of the Iraqi parliament. "The Iraqi parliament will convene⁹ again in early September and it will need to act to codify¹⁰ this political progress," he said.

Details of the deal have not been released, but it is said to lift restrictions¹¹ that prevent former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from joining the civil service and the military. The political leaders also agreed to release certain detainees.

The consensus¹² agreement was welcome news for the Bush administration which faces a showdown with Congress in a few weeks. That is when the American military commander in Iraq General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are to report to lawmakers on progress since the arrival of an additional 30,000 U.S. troops.

1 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

6 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。

7 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

8 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。

9 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

10 codify   

v.将法律、法规等编成法典

参考例句：

• The noble,Dracon,was asked to codify the laws.贵族德拉古被选为立法者。
• The new government promised to codify the laws.新政府应允要编纂法典。

11 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？