VOA标准英语2008年-US Official Affirms Need for International Broa

By Michael Bowman
Washington
15 May 2008

The top official for U.S. government international broadcasting says threats to press freedom around the world are boosting the need for accurate, objective transnational news sources. From Washington, VOA's Michael Bowman reports.

James Glassman is chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, which overseas the Voice of America and more than half a dozen other U.S. international broadcasting agencies. At a public forum¹ in Washington, Glassman said many had hoped that the end of the Cold War would bring lasting² press freedoms across the globe, but those hopes have not been fulfilled.

In fact, he argued that access to independent sources of news and information are being curtailed³ in many parts of the world by governments that view the control of information as critical to maintaining power. He referred to a recent study by the U.S-based non-governmental organization, Freedom House.

"Freedom House just two weeks ago issued a report on press freedom that called the past year one of global decline," said Glassman. "[In] a total of 64 countries, one-third of those studied had a press that was not free. And for every advance that Freedom House noted⁴ on its 'press freedom' scale, there were two declines."

In such a challenging global environment for the free flow of information, Glassman argued the need for international broadcasting remains⁵ critical. He said, in many countries from the Americas to Africa to Asia, the Voice of America, the BBC, and other broadcasting entities⁶ constitute the only source of objective, reliable news.

Glassman said U.S. international broadcasting continues to utilize⁷ shortwave radio transmissions in many regions, even as it embraces medium wave and FM radio broadcasts, as well as television and the Internet. At present, he said U.S international broadcasts reach a weekly audience of more than 175 million people around the globe.

1 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。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

7 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。