VOA常速英语2008年-UN Chief Committed to Israeli and Palestinian S

By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
25 March 2008

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pledged his personal support to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is urging both parties not to let recent violence derail the peace process. From United Nations headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

The secretary-general told members of the Security Council that he and his senior advisors¹ would work diligently² with every means available to them to end the conflict and realize the creation of a Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel.

"This process is too important to be allowed to lose momentum³ through inaction or indifference⁴, or to be overwhelmed by violence," he said. "It is essential that it receives the support of the international community, including this Council."

Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe briefed the council. He expressed concern that efforts to advance the political process are being overshadowed by violence, high numbers of civilian⁵ casualties and a lack of concrete improvements on the ground.

He said it is very important that the political process is even continuing, given the many negative developments. And he welcomed on-going discussions about a proposed international meeting in Moscow in the coming months, saying the U.N. supports such an initiative.

Each month the U.N. secretariat briefs the council on the situation in the Middle East. The Israeli and Palestinian representatives also address the forum⁶, as do the council's 15 members, and often other countries with interests in region.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad asked the council whether the format⁷ of these debates is really helpful to solving the crisis between the Arabs and Israelis. He told reporters later that the United States is not calling for an end to these monthly meetings, but whether the public format of the debate helps create the necessary environment for pursuing peace.

"The constructive⁸ role the international community, the Security Council, the United Nations can play, is to help the parties realize this vision of a two-state solution. But often these meetings tend to get polarized, tend to be used as opportunities for posturing⁹, rather than doing what is necessary to help the parties," said Khalilzad.

The Palestinian representative said he is open to any constructive suggestion that would allow the Security Council to shoulder its responsibility in a concrete way to help end the conflict.

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

3 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

4 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

7 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

8 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

9 posturing   

做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was posturing a model. 她正在摆模特儿的姿势。
• She says the President may just be posturing. 她说总统也许只是在做样子而已。