voa标准英语2008-US Says North Korea Deal Can't Advance Without V

The State Department says the deal under which North Korea is to end its nuclear program in return for aid and diplomatic benefits cannot go any farther without an agreement to verify disarmament steps. Four days of talks in Beijing on a verification protocol¹ have ended without agreement.

Bush administration officials had hoped that the final weeks of their tenure² would yield an agreement that would propel the six-party North Korea disarmament process into its conclusive³ stage.

But they say North Korea resisted a draft verification plan supported by all the other participants, and the process is stalemated unless there is a change of heart by Pyongyang.

North Korea has partially⁴ disabled the reactor⁵ complex that produced plutonium for its small arsenal⁶ of nuclear weapons in return for energy aid from the other parties.

After difficult negotiations⁷, Pyongyang in June made a declaration of its nuclear activities and assets upon which further disarmament steps and benefits for the communist state would be based.

But efforts to come up with a plan to verify the North Korean disclosure have stalled, amid a dispute between Washington and Pyongyang over whether samples can be taken from North Korean nuclear sites for outside analysis.
　

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Sean McCormack, during a news briefing at the State Department in Washington, (file)

Officials say in this week's Beijing talks, North Korea would not accept a draft Chinese plan that allowed sampling among other verification steps. At a news briefing, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the process can go no further unless Pyongyang accepts the draft.

"North Korea said it could not, at that meeting, accept the draft, could not initial the draft," he said. "All the parties said o.k., let us adjourn⁸ the meeting, go back to capitals, think about it, and we will keep working this process. But this is an indication, a public indication, of how central to this process we view verification. Verification is absolutely essential to the process. And frankly⁹, it is not going to be able to move forward without a verification protocol."

North Korea has said sampling would violate its sovereignty and has denied U.S. assertions that it verbally committed to the procedure at talks in October. Spokesman McCormack says the North Korean agreement was explicit¹⁰.

"We got a commitment," he said. "And we have very, very precise notes about those commitments, and we committed those to paper also in the form of a memorandum¹¹ for the record, if you will. So we know what was committed to in those discussions. Now we will see if North Korea is willing to take the next step and formalize that among the six."

A Chinese communiqué from the heads-of-delegation meeting said the six parties will hold another meeting at an early date, but it is unclear whether they will convene¹² again before the change in U.S. administrations in January 20.

At the White House, spokeswoman Dana Perino said the negotiating process had deteriorated¹³ because of North Korea's refusal to put verification pledges in writing, and said the United States will re-think the reciprocal concessions¹⁴ upon which it is based.

But the State Department's McCormack said he was unaware¹⁵ of any consideration of returning North Korea to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, from which it was removed in October.

1 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。

2 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

3 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

4 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

5 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

6 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 adjourn   

v.（使）休会，（使）休庭

参考例句：

• The motion to adjourn was carried.休会的提议通过了。
• I am afraid the court may not adjourn until three or even later.我担心法庭要到3点或更晚时才会休庭。

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

11 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

12 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。

13 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

14 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。

15 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。