VOA标准英语2009年-US Peace Envoy in Egypt in Effort to Reviv

Special U.S. peace envoy¹ George Mitchell is in Egypt as part of a push to resume Arab-Israeli peace talks.
　
US Presidential envoy to Middle East George Mitchell delivers astatement to media after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo, Egypt, 27 July 2009.

George Mitchell looked tired but sounded upbeat, on the latest lap of his shuttle mission that has brought him from Syria and Israel to Egypt.

The visit was his fifth to Cairo and the second in just more than a month and a half. One Egyptian analyst² quipped Senator Mitchell is starting to become "a household name in Egypt and the Arab world."

Egyptian TV showed the envoy meeting with President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abou Gheit, reporting that he briefed them about his weekend talks with Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Israeli Defense³ Minister Ehud Barak.

After the meetings, Mitchell told journalists it is imperative⁴ to achieve a full and comprehensive peace in the region to improve the lives of everyone.

"We believe that a full comprehensive peace represents the best way to help all of the people of the region achieve the security, the peace, and the prospect⁵ for prosperity for individual citizens that all deserve," Mitchell said.

The former senator said he has taken his plea for normalization⁶ in relations with Israel to various Arab leaders during his travels across the region.

"We are also meeting with the leaders of many of the Arab nations of the region to encourage them to take genuine steps toward normalization," he said. "We are not asking anyone to achieve full normalization at this time, we recognize that that will come further down the road in this process."

Egypt has had full diplomatic relations with Israel since the 1979 Camp David peace accords were signed by former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. But Israelis often complain that it is a "cold peace."

The Arab daily al Hayat headlined that Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Mitchell, over the weekend, that "Arab rights and the return of the Golan Heights," were at the top of his agenda.

An Arab summit, earlier this year, called for Israel to accept a 2002 Arab peace plan, which calls for "full normalization, in exchange for the return of occupied lands."

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 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 normalization   

n.（normalisation）正常化，标准化

参考例句：

• The visit signalled the normalization of relations between the two countries.这次访问显示两国关系已经正常化。
• He was pleased to the normalization of relationship between the police and the people.他很高兴警方和人民之间关系的正常化。