VOA标准英语2009年-US Seeks to 'Head Off' North Korean Missile Tes

The U.S. State Department said Thursday that the United States is working to dissuade¹ North Korea from going ahead with its plan to launch a satellite next month. U.S. officials say the launch is a disguised long-range missile test and would be destabilizing.

State Department officials give no credence² to the notion that the launch would be for scientific purposes and they say the United States is working diplomatically to try to prevent a North Korean action that they say would be provocative³, destabilizing and unhelpful.

North Korea had been hinting for several weeks that a major missile test was upcoming. And Thursday, the reclusive communist government told U.N. aviation and maritime⁵ agencies of plans to launch a satellite early next month.

North Korea fired a long-range missile over Japan in 1998 in an action that generated broad international protests. The United States maintains that the self-described satellite launch would violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718, which bans North Korean nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests, and was approved after Pyongyang's 2006 nuclear test.
　
State Department Acting⁶ Spokesman Robert Wood (undated photo)

State Department Acting Spokesman Robert Wood says U.S. officials are in contact with regional allies and other concerned governments to try to "head off" the launch.

"The only thing that this act would do is to de-stabilize the region," he said. "And as you know, this region doesn't need any further destabilization. And so what we're going to try to do is convince the North not to carry out this launch. It is indeed provocative and we will work, as I said, with others to try and see what we can do to head this off."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that the parties to the Chinese-sponsored negotiations⁷ on North Korea's nuclear program are united in their opposition⁸ to the missile launch.
　
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 11 Mar⁴ 2009

She said they have agreed, if the launch goes forward, to discuss a collective response, perhaps in the Security Council.

Clinton also said the United States is trying to restart the stalled six-party nuclear negotiations as soon as possible.

A senior State Department official said the Obama administration's envoy⁹ for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, still intends to have direct engagement with Pyongyang to encourage the North Koreans to return to negotiations.

Secretary Clinton said Wednesday that Bosworth had been prepared to travel to North Korea "at a moment's notice" during his first mission to the region last week, but said he regrettably did not get an invitation to do so.

1 dissuade   

v.劝阻，阻止

参考例句：

• You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好劝阻他别那样干。
• I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。

2 credence   

n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证

参考例句：

• Don't give credence to all the gossip you hear.不要相信你听到的闲话。
• Police attach credence to the report of an unnamed bystander.警方认为一位不知姓名的目击者的报告很有用。

3 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

4 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

5 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

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 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。

9 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。