VOA标准英语2010年-Clinton Bringing Communications Gear t

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on the eve of a visit to Chile to show solidarity¹ with that country amid its earthquake disaster, says she is bringing in communications gear requested by the Chilean government.  Clinton spoke² in Montevideo where she attended the inauguration³ of new Uruguayan President Jose Mujica.

In the wake of the earthquake, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton decided⁴ to scale back her planned daylong visit to Chile to just a few hours of airport meetings with President Michelle Bachelet and President-elect Sebastian Pinera on Tuesday in Santiago.

But at a press event in Uruguay's capital, Clinton said she decided to go ahead with at least a symbolic⁵ visit, to underscore U.S. solidarity with Chile and deliver a first installment⁶ of emergency communications gear requested by Chilean authorities.

"They have asked for communication equipment, some which I am bringing on our plane," she said.  "Other technical equipment will be flown there in addition.  But one of the reasons they have asked me to continue my trip is to assess whatever else they might need, and immediately to begin the process of providing it."

The electronic equipment is the first U.S. aid sought by Chile after Saturday's powerful earthquake.

In telephone calls to Chilean leaders, U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary Clinton have also offered, along other things, to deploy⁷ U.S. search and rescue teams.

Clinton's presence at the Uruguayan inauguration underlines the Obama administration's commitment to work with Latin American governments from across the political spectrum⁸, including left-leaning ones like Uruguay's.

The new President, Jose Mujica, is a former member of a 1970s left-wing urban guerrilla movement and succeeds another member of the Broad Front coalition⁹ of leftist parties, Tabare Vazquez.

At a joint¹⁰ press appearance after a pre-inaugural meeting with Mr. Mujica, Clinton paid tribute to his efforts to unify¹¹ the country after hard-fought elections in November and to work with the opposition¹².

Mr. Mujica, for his part, admitted that Latin Americans have long had prejudices and stereotypical¹³ views of U.S. politicians - some of which he said were shattered by the election in November 2008 of Barack Obama, the first African-American U.S. president.

"That is something we had never thought would be possible, and that was out of pure prejudice on our side," he said.  "That is a lesson, a magnificent lesson, that we learned.  And that speaks of the wonderful changes that have been going through in America."

Scrapping¹⁴ plans to spend a night in Santiago, Clinton decided instead to travel to Buenos Aires late Monday for a meeting with Argentine President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The visit comes amid a renewal¹⁵ of tensions between Argentina and Britain over the Falkland Islands, or Malvinas, off Argentina's southern coast.

The United States is neutral in the two countries' competing claims to the islands, over which they fought a brief war in 1982.

Clinton told reporters here the dispute should be resolved through negotiations¹⁶ by the two countries and that the United States "stands ready" to be of any assistance it can in that process.
 

1 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

6 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

7 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

8 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

11 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

12 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。

13 stereotypical   

n.常规

参考例句：

• Personas should be typical and believable, but not stereotypical. 人物角色应该是典型和可信赖的，但不是一成不变的。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Anything could be stereotypical, so I guess it could be criticism. 任何东西都可以变的老套，所以我猜那就是一种批评。 来自互联网

14 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

15 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

16 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。