VOA常速英语2008年-UN Envoy Hopes for Burma Visit in Early March t

By Nancy-Amelia Collins
Jakarta
21 February 2008

The United Nations envoy¹ to Burma says he thinks Burma's military rulers are preparing to invite him to the country in early March to discuss planned elections. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins in the Indonesian capital Jakarta has more.

The U. N. secretary-general's special advisor² for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, says he will discuss with the military rulers their decision to ban democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from elections planned for 2010.

"This is one of the issues that I intend to discuss with the authorities and I believe that they are in the process of inviting³ me to return to Myanmar, hopefully within the first week of March," he said.

Gambari made the comments to journalists in Jakarta Wednesday during a tour of Asian countries. He hopes to drum up regional support to press for democratic reforms in Burma, which is also called Myanmar.

The military has brutally⁴ ruled Burma for over four decades. In 1990, elections were held and the National League for Democracy party, or NLD, won by a landslide⁵. The military never allowed the NLD candidates to take power.

The leader of the NLD, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years. In its new draft constitution, the government has barred her from contesting the 2010 elections because she was married to a foreigner.

The NLD says to achieve democracy Burma's rulers must honor the party's victory in 1990.

Gambari, who has visited Burma twice since September to open talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the military, says Burma must respect the rights of its people.

"What we want to see is a peaceful, united, stable, prosperous Myanmar, moving along the path of democracy with full respect for human rights of its people," he said.

Burma has come under increasing international pressure to move toward democracy, especially since its violent crackdown against peaceful demonstrations⁶ led by Buddhist⁷ monks⁸ in September.

The United Nations says at least 31 people were killed and thousands arrested, but rights groups put the death toll⁹ much higher.

The United States and many other countries have imposed economic sanctions on Burma, but most of its Asian neighbors, including China, India and Southeast Asia, have not done so. Most Southeast Asian governments say that economic and diplomatic engagement will encourage reform more effectively than sanctions.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

4 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

5 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

6 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

7 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

8 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。