VOA标准英语2012--Giant of US Foreign Policy to Depart Senate

Giant of US Foreign Policy to Depart Senate 

A globetrotter who left his mark in Europe, Asia and beyond, Richard Lugar expressed no regrets over his Senate career, which will end in January.

“I am proud of the solutions we have brought to problems over the years and the initiatives we have undertaken to build Indiana and to protect our country,” Lugar said.

A six-term senator and the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Lugar is best-known for co-sponsoring a 1991 program that helped former Soviet¹ states eliminate thousands of nuclear weapons.

“That was the beginning of what has led to the dismantling² of well over 60 percent of the warheads literally³ taken off the missiles pointed⁴ at the United States, the destruction of well over 60 percent of all the missiles, of the silos in which the missiles are based, of all the ground work,” Lugar said.

Cngressional observer Thomas Mann says Lugar’s departure will leave a void in the Senate.

“They are losing a respected foreign policy leader, and they are losing someone who is not instinctively⁵ engaged in tribal⁶ politics between the parties,” Mann said.

Although a staunch conservative, Lugar did not shy from criticizing the former Bush administration over its response to the 2001 terrorist attacks.

“We are worried about terrorism, but the evolution of national security policy has not kept up with the threat. We have relied heavily on military options and unilateral approaches that weakened our alliances,” Lugar said.

Lugar lost a primary election Tuesday, which means he can not run as the Republican candidate in November. His opponent, Richard Mourdock, portrayed⁷ him as a member of Washington’s political establishment and attacked Lugar's willingness to seek common ground with Democrats⁸. 

A day after Lugar's defeat, Democratic senators paid tribute to him as a consensus-builder in an institution increasingly paralyzed by partisanship¹⁰. Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry:

“He was serious, he was thoughtful, and he refused to allow this march to an orthodoxy about ideology¹¹ and partisan⁹ politics to get in the way of what he thought was the responsibility of a senator, and, indeed, the need of the country to have people come together and find common ground," Kerry said.

Lugar says he hopes to remain engaged in world affairs and to continue to serve the nation. 

1 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。

2 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

7 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

10 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

11 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。