VOA标准英语2008年-Vietnam Considers Navy Exercises with US, as Ho

A senior U.S. Navy admiral says Vietnam is considering fresh offers he made this week for joint¹ naval² exercises. The admiral made the offers during the first ever visit to Vietnam by one of the U.S. Navy's hospital ships. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.
　
Vice³ Adm. Doug Crowder, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, presents a plaque⁴ Vice Minister Nguyen Thi Xuyan during a meeting in Hanoi, 24 Jun 2008

Speaking from the USNS Mercy hospital ship off the Vietnamese coast, Vice Admiral Doug Crowder told reporters here he had a "very warm" meeting with the head of the Vietnamese Navy (Nguyen Van Hien) on Thursday in Haiphong, and discussed expanding U.S.-Vietnamese naval engagement.

"We didn't strike any specific projects," he said. "We just agreed that we would work through our own agencies, our own governments. I made many offers to involve them in some exercises. In fact, this very week they have five of their officers observing one of our bi-lateral exercises down in Singapore, as our guests."

Admiral Crowder says Vietnamese officers have observed U.S. naval exercises with other countries in the region several times, and seem to be ready to participate. He would like to get them involved next summer in annual bi-lateral exercises his Seventh Fleet conducts with Southeast Asian countries, starting with something simple.

"We would probably be looking at search and rescue as far as a first exercise with the Vietnamese," said Admiral Crowder. "So we could start at a level such as search and rescue and work our way up, as we've done with many of the countries out here."

Admiral Crowder, who commands U.S. naval forces in the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, says he would have to know about six months in advance whether Vietnam wants to participate in next summer's exercises.
　
Dr. Lam Hoi Phuong, a plastic surgeon with Operation Smile Vietnam, performs an operation to fix a cleft⁵ palate aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy, 22 Jun 2008

The admiral's visit came near the end of the U.S. hospital ship's approximately 10-day visit to Vietnam. He reports the Mercy treated more than 8,000 patients, and conducted more than 200 surgical⁶ procedures in its operating rooms, nearly half of them to fix cleft lips and palates of Vietnamese children.

Officials say the ship's crew of military and civilian⁷ doctors, nurses, dentists and technicians also helped repair clinics and medical equipment on shore, trained health care workers and helped renovate⁸ an orphanage⁹.

The ship already visited the Philippines during this deployment¹⁰, and will go on to East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Micronesia. The mission's commander, Captain Bill Kearns, says relationships built during such visits also help make emergency operations more effective, such as responses to natural disasters.
　
USNS Mercy hospital ship

The Mercy's visit to Vietnam came as the country's prime minister was in Washington to meet with President Bush on Tuesday. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said they agreed to increase cooperation on the search for American troops missing from the Vietnam War, and on clearing mines and easing the impact of a U.S. defoliant called Agent Orange. President Bush welcomed improvements in religious and political freedom in Vietnam.

　

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 plaque   

n.饰板，匾，(医)血小板

参考例句：

• There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
• Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。

5 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

6 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 renovate   

vt.更新，革新，刷新

参考例句：

• The couple spent thousands renovating the house.这对夫妇花了几千元来翻新房子。
• They are going to renovate the old furniture.他们准备将旧家具整修一番。

9 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

10 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。