voa标准英语2008-Hawkish Candidates Top Israel's Likud Party Elec

With Israeli elections just two months away, the party that is slated¹ to win is moving further to the right. The trend is expected to have serious implications for the Middle East peace process.

Israel's right-wing Likud party has chosen top hawks² to lead its list of parliamentary candidates for the February 10 elections. Polls show that the Likud has the best chance to form the next Israeli government. The party is headed by opposition³ leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
　

Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he casts his vote in primaries for the party list in Jerusalem, 08 Dec 2008

"Today we have chosen a new leadership for Israel," Netanyahu told supporters. He said it is the best list of candidates any party could offer the country.

The Likud list could have a negative impact on Middle East peace talks because it includes outspoken⁴ supporters of Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank and opponents of a Palestinian state.

Benny Begin, the son of Likud founder⁵ and the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin, is number five on the list. He opposes further territorial⁶ concessions⁷ to the Palestinians.

"All these far-reaching concessions would lead nowhere. We are on a dead-end street, there is no possibility whatsoever⁸ of reaching a peace agreement with our neighbors in the foreseeable future," Begin said.

U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are based on the formula of trading land for peace. Therefore, the Israeli center and left said the Likud list is a disaster for the peace process.

"This is an ultra-rightist and extremist list," said Zehava Galon of the left-wing Meretz party. She told Israel Radio that a Likud government would "torpedo⁹" any chance for a peace agreement.

1 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

2 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

3 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。

4 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

7 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

8 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

9 torpedo   

n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏

参考例句：

• His ship was blown up by a torpedo.他的船被一枚鱼雷炸毁了。
• Torpedo boats played an important role during World War Two.鱼雷艇在第二次世界大战中发挥了重要作用。