VOA标准英语10月-UN Chief Says Financial Crisis Will Not Weaken Re

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the global financial crisis may have shaken world confidence, but not the international community's resolve to help the United Nations continue working to fight poverty and disease. From United Nation's headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.
　

United Nations Secretery-General Ban Ki-moon

Mr. Ban said the international community's determination to help what he calls the world's "bottom billion" - those who live on less than $1 a day - has not weakened. During the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly that wrapped up last week in New York, member states pledged $16 billion to help the U.N. meet targets of cutting poverty and disease worldwide by 2015.

"Everyone has felt the earthquake on Wall Street," said the U.N. chief. "But it has not shaken our resolve. Banks may be failing, but the world's bottom billion can bank on us."

He said the generosity¹ of these commitments is very encouraging, given the economic climate. "It means the world is not forgetting the needs of the world's poorest people, notwithstanding the prospect² of harder times," said Mr. Ban.

In the first of a new monthly series of press conferences, Mr. Ban spoke³ about the many challenges facing the United Nations - among them, the deteriorating⁴ situation in Darfur, the precarious⁵ political and military situation in Afghanistan, piracy⁶ and instability in Somalia and the effects of climate change.

The U.N. chief said that amid these crises the world must not forget the plight⁷ of others and he urged world leaders to honor the monetary⁸ pledges they have made. "Grave as it may be, today's financial crisis will be overcome," he said. "We must underline the need for "crisis-proofing" of the important priorities of the United Nations from international financial turbulence⁹."

Mr. Ban said that he held more than 100 bi-lateral meetings with world leaders in the margins¹⁰ of the U.N. General Assembly debate. He said the financial crisis was high on all their agendas. The secretary-general said he hopes leaders of industrialized nations will be able to contain the crisis and find medium and long term measures to resolve it.

1 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

2 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

3 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。

4 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

5 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

6 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

7 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

8 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

9 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

10 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。