VOA标准英语2010年-India Increasing Defense Spending as E

Assorted¹ military guns are on display at India's defense² show in New Delhi, 15 Feb 2010

India is expected to spend $100 billion in the next decade on its military.  The South Asian nation is believed to be the world's largest buyer of weaponry, and there is an intense competition among foreign arms merchants for a slice of that market.  The key players have gathered in New Delhi for the four-day India Defense Exhibition.

India Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurian Antony says he expects military spending, currently 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, to substantially increase as the nation's robust³ economy continues to grow.

That is welcome news at this biennial⁴ defense show for the dozens of countries pitching their armaments and other military equipment to India's armed forces.

But the defense minister cautions India's ultimate goal is self-reliance.

"We want to produce equipment for the armed forces internally, domestically. We want to strengthen our defense industries in India. India needs a strong defense industrial base," he declared.

That has the international defense industry scrambling⁵ to find Indian partners. For the time being, foreign entities⁶ are still the source of 70 percent of India's military acquisitions. Russia remains⁷ the top supplier but has slipped since the end of the Soviet⁸ era.

The Israeli exhibit at India's defense show, New Delhi. 15 Feb 2010

Israel - which has the biggest amount of floor space at this year's defense exhibition - is now number two and believed to be supplying most of India's advanced weapons systems. 

The United States - which has the most companies exhibiting at the expo - is hoping to increase its share, pitching everything from handheld tactical field radios to naval⁹ warships¹⁰.

Mark Kronenberg is a vice¹¹ president in the defense systems division of U.S. aerospace¹² giant Boeing.

"There's been increasing cooperation between India and the United States from both the defense side and security side," he said.  "More importantly, from the Boeing perspective, it's not just about increased presence on the military side - we've always had a strong commercial presence here - we think with Indian suppliers and partnerships¹³ we can be here for a long time to come," said Kronenberg.

Boeing is among several companies competing to replace India's aging fleet of Russian-made MiG-21 fighter jets with a newer system.  India is expected to choose a supplier in the first half of next year.  The purchase of 126 jets is potentially worth $11 billion.

Since gaining independence in 1947, India has had several military confrontations¹⁴ with neighboring Pakistan and fought a one-month war against China in 1962. Neither Pakistan nor China was invited to participate in this year's India Defense Exhibition.

 

1 assorted   

adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的

参考例句：

• There's a bag of assorted sweets on the table.桌子上有一袋什锦糖果。
• He has always assorted with men of his age.他总是与和他年令相仿的人交往。

2 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。

3 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

4 biennial   

adj.两年一次的

参考例句：

• The workers were strongly against the biennial election.工人们强烈反对两年一次的选举。
• His is a biennial,and one of the most useful pasture plants we have.这是两年生植物，也是我们最有用的牧草之一。

5 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 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。

8 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

9 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

10 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

13 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

14 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句