Obama, Faced With Two Wars, Wins Peace Prize

    这里是VOA特别英语IN THE NEWS节目。

    周五,挪威奥斯陆宣布了令人意外的决定:

    诺贝尔委员会主席托尔比约恩·亚格兰:“挪威诺贝尔委员会决定,2009年诺贝尔和平奖授予奥巴马总统,表彰其为推进国际民主,人类合作所做的卓越努力。”

    在华盛顿,以下是奥巴马的反应:

    周五,奥巴马总统发表了获奖感言。

    奥巴马总统:“坦率地说,我觉得自己不够资格与其他曾经获得和平奖的起到重大作用的人物相提并论。他们激励着我,激励着整个世界不懈地最求人类和平。但是我也知道,这个奖项代表着他们以及所有美国人希望创造的世界。”

    在美国和全世界,人们对该决定表示赞扬,但是也有批评声。一些人表示,诺贝尔委员会的 决定过于仓促。提名的最后一天是2月1日,当时奥巴马执政还不足两周。

    过去,曾经获得诺贝尔和平奖的包括美国总统罗斯福和威尔逊。总统卡特和副总统艾尔·戈尔也在结束任期之后获奖。诺贝尔和平奖的奖金为150万美元,将在12月份在奥斯陆授奖。

    宣布奥巴马获奖之日刚好是阿富汗战争八周年之日。本周,奥巴马总统忙于参加一系列会议,探讨对待阿富汗和邻国巴基斯坦未来政策问题。政府官员称,他们预期几周之内将做出决定。

    他们表示,奥巴马正在考虑“中间立场”。据报道,驻阿富汗军队高级指挥官要求增派4万人的军队。Stanley McChrystal将军曾警告称,如果不增派军队,美国将在阿富汗战争中失败。

    但是副总统拜登支持用无人机和特种部队对基地组织采取小范围袭击的提议。

    八年前,美国领导的军队推翻了窝藏本拉登的塔利班政府。本拉登领导的基地组织于2001年9月11日对美国实施了恐怖袭击。几天后的10月7日,布什总统宣布阿富汗战争开始。

    此次战争是继越南战争之后美国历史上最常的战争。三月份,奥巴马总统同意增派2.1万名军队。军事行动逐渐加剧。目前为止,已有超过400名美国和联盟军人牺牲,已超过去年全年的死亡人数。

    还有人指控8月20日的总统选举存在广泛的欺诈行为。预期下周将宣布部分重新计票的结果。

    民意调查显示,美国国内对阿富汗战争的支持率下降。USA Today/Gallup本周进行的民意调查显示,48%的人认为奥巴马总统应该向阿富汗增派更多军队。38%的人表示应该撤军。7%的人认为军队数量应该保持不变。

    而伊拉克也在进行战争。目标是明年9月份之前撤出所有作战部队,但是将有数千人留守,对伊拉克军队进行训练。

    1.award n. 奖品,决定,判决
    vt. 颁发,赏给

    例句:The loser's scorn for the award is pure sour grape.
          失败者对奖品的轻视纯粹是吃不到葡萄说葡萄酸。

          The prize was awarded posthumously.
          该奖是在获奖人死后追赠的。

    2.extraordinary a.非常的,特别的,非凡的

    例句:They all showed extraordinary equestrian skill.
          他们的骑术都很高超。

    3.strengthen vt.加强,变坚固

    例句:His opposition served only to strengthen our resolve.
           他一反对反而增强了我们的决心。

    4.transformative adj.有改革能力的,变化的,变形的

    5.inspire vt.使感动,激发,启示,吸入,鼓舞,产生,使生灵感

    例句:This touching sight inspired her verses.
          这一动人景象给了她创作诗篇的灵感。

          Such a development inspired us to work still harder.
          这一发展鼓舞我们更努力地工作。

    6.anniversary n.每年的,周年的,周年纪念日

    例句:They are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary.
          他们在庆祝他们的五十年金婚纪念日。

    7.shelter vt.庇护,保护,隐匿

    例句:The hen sheltered her chickens under her wings.
          母鸡用翅膀保护鸡雏。

    8.deserve vt.应受,值得

    例句:I think you deserve the highest praise .
          我认为您应该得到最高的赞扬。

    1.The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for two thousand nine is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

    is to表示将来时,和be about to相似。

    be to 表示客观安排或受人指示而做某事。
       be going to 表示主观的打算或计划。

     I am to play football tomorrow afternoon.   (客观安排)
     I'm going to play football tomorrow afternoon. (主观安排)

    2.President Obama spent the week in a series of meetings to consider future policy in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

    a series of一系列,一连串

    例句:There have been a series of airplane crashes lately.
          最近有一连串的飞机坠毁。

          The business cycle is a series of peaks and troughs.
           商业周期是一系列的高峰期和低谷期。

    1.To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize -- men and women who have inspired me, and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

    To be honest插入语

    插入语用法很多,在句子中的位置比较灵活,在学习中应当认真去体会。大体而言,插入语可以分为以下几类:

        1).用简短的句子结构作插入语。这类短语有:I think, I hope, I guess, I believe, I suppose, I wonder, I tell you, I say, I'm afraid, I'm sure, you see, you know, as you know, that is, that is to say, what's more等等,它们可以置于句中或句尾。如:
        I suggest you choose someone who you think is kind and friendly.
        This diet, I think, will do good to your health.
        It won't be raining long, I hope.
        You will have to work harder, you know, if you want to succeed.

        2).副词或副词短语用作插入语,这类插入语一般放在句首或句尾。如:
        Happily for him, his father's second wife was kind to him too.
        You'll be able to pass the coming exam, surely.
        Luckily for him, he didn't hurt in the accident.
        Honestly, I don't need it at the moment.

        3).介词或介词短语作插入语,这类插入语一般放在句首,有时也可放在句中。如:
        Like most of my schoolmates, I have neither brothers nor sisters-in other words, I'm an only child.
        By the way, Bob sends his best wishes.
        On the other hand, I didn't know you were there.
        In short, things have begun to improve since schools were called on to reduce learning load.

        4).分词短语作插入语。如:
        Judging from your accent, you must be from England.
        Generally speaking, he is the best student in our class.
        Compared with China, the USA is smaller.

        5).不定式短语作插入语。如:
        To put it mildly, he was not up to the mark.
        To tell you the truth, I don't want to see her.
        To be sure, Jim is a faster skater, but he is not good at doing figures.
        To conclude, it was a great success.

    2.General Stanley McChrystal has warned that without more troops, the United States could lose the war.

    without虚拟语气

    非真实条件句中的条件从句有时不表示出来,只暗含在短语或上下文中,这种句子叫做储蓄条件句。常见的有but,for ,without等引导的短语,以及or, or else, otherwise, but 等后面的分句。
    例:But for your help we couldn’t have succeeded in the experiment.
    如果没有你的帮助,我们的实验室是不会成功的。
    例:We could have done better under more favourable conditions.
    在更有利的条件下,我们能够做得更好些。