VOA标准英语2014--G7 Leaders to Discuss Containing Russia's Expansion 七国集团领导人的讨论内容包括俄罗斯的扩张问题

 

G7 Leaders to Discuss Containing Russia's Expansion 七国集团领导人的讨论内容包括俄罗斯的扩张问题

Leaders of the seven most developed nations will discuss possible additional responses to Russia's annexation¹ of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands next week.

U.S. President Barack Obama has called for a meeting of G7 leaders in The Hague, conspicuously² leaving out Russia, which is a member of the G8 group. The United States and the European Union already have imposed some travel and economic sanctions on Russia, but analysts⁴ say these are not likely to reverse Moscow's decision on Crimea.

Russian flags are billowing over Crimea's official buildings, local banks are beginning to switch from Ukrainian hryvnia to the Russian ruble, and on March 30, Crimea is slated⁵ to adopt Moscow standard time, moving its clocks two hours ahead.

Ilan Berman, vice⁶ president of the the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, said there is no doubt the Russian-speaking majority on the peninsula supports those changes.

"Realistically speaking, the demographics of Crimea and also the politics of how the referendum occurred, I think — there was obviously a very heavy Russian hand — but even absent a certain Russian influence on Crimea, I think you can see that the plurality of the people see themselves as something other than purely⁷ Ukrainian," he said.

Following Crimea?

Berman says Russians in other parts of the region may want to follow Crimea's example.

"I think certainly there is a dangerous possibility that Crimea is not the end of the story, but the beginning of the story," he said. "You are already seeing stirrings in places like Trans-Dniester in Moldova, where there are echoes of what you saw coming out of Crimea ahead of the referendum, essentially⁸ expressing sympathy for Russia, expressing desire for Russia to play a more active political role.

"All of this is emboldening¹⁰, I think, for Moscow, as it looks abroad for possibilities to revise its territorial¹¹ borders outward, and is hearing these calls for Russian intervention¹² that are likely to embolden⁹ it," he added.

Berman notes that Russia already has a military presence in Moldova's Trans-Dniester region, which proclaimed independence in 1990 and fought a separatist war in 1992. Russian troops entered the region as peacekeepers after the war and have never left.  

Berman said Moscow is less likely to encroach on NATO or European Union member nations. Clearly aware of that, Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti urged EU leaders this week to speed up Moldova's European integration¹³.

"In the context of this regional difficulty in which the Republic of Moldova is involved, I agreed with the Romanian president [Traian Basescu] of the need to give impetus¹⁴ to the process of integrating Moldova in Europe," said Timofti.

Pointed¹⁵ concern

Russia's move in Crimea has sent waves of concern even among some EU and NATO members, where the memory is still fresh of Soviet¹⁶ invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

Leaders of the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan meeting in The Hague Monday and Tuesday will discuss moves to contain Moscow's ambitions and reassure¹⁷ allies in the region.

Former U.S. ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill says the best way to do that is to speed up the Trans-Atlantic integration in eastern Europe and the Balkans. He singled out Macedonia, whose NATO membership has been blocked by Greece over a name dispute.

"I have always believed that Macedonia, which has acted like a NATO country, needs to be accepted as a NATO country," said Hill.

Analyst³ Ilan Berman agrees that NATO should fortify¹⁸ its members in eastern Europe, cautioning that Russia's future actions, however, will be determined¹⁹ primarily by its economic power.

Europe and especially Germany could have more impact on Russia's economy than the United States, he added.

"If there is a holding back as a result of Germany's decision to maintain economic ties with Russia, then the sanctions that come out of Brussels are going to be diluted,: Berman said. "They are not going to be as effective as they could be, and Russia is not going to be as deterred²⁰ as it should be."

 

Russia's takeover of the Crimean peninsula has sparked the biggest dispute between Moscow and the West since the fall of the Iron Curtain, disrupting more than two decades of diplomatic and economic cooperation between the former Cold War adversaries²¹.

1 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

2 conspicuously   

ad.明显地，惹人注目地

参考例句：

• France remained a conspicuously uneasy country. 法国依然是个明显不太平的国家。
• She figured conspicuously in the public debate on the issue. 她在该问题的公开辩论中很引人注目。

3 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。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

6 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。

7 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 embolden   

v.给…壮胆，鼓励

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine,he went over to introduce himself to her.他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• The Prime Minister was steadily emboldened by the discovery that he faced no opposition.发现自己并未遭到反对，首相渐渐有了信心。

10 emboldening   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的现在分词 )

参考例句：

11 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

12 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

13 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

14 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

15 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。

16 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。

17 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

18 fortify   

v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化

参考例句：

• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
• This treaty forbade the United States to fortify the canal.此条约禁止美国对运河设防。

19 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

20 deterred   

v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I told him I wasn't interested, but he wasn't deterred. 我已告诉他我不感兴趣，可他却不罢休。
• Jeremy was not deterred by this criticism. 杰里米没有因这一批评而却步。 来自辞典例句

21 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句