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Words
in the News |
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INTRO
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President
Bush has written to the wife of the Chinese pilot who, it is believed,
died in collision with an American spy plane over a week ago. The
White House has described the move as a humanitarian gesture. It came
as senior officials in administration warned of harm to US-China relations
if the stand off over the spy plane continues. From Washington, Jon
Leyne reports. |
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IN
FULL
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Listen
to the report in full |
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9th
April 2001
American
spy plane: Bush writes
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NEWS
1
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Listen
to the part one of the report |
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President
Bush wrote in response to a bitterly critical letter from the
wife of the Chinese pilot. The pilot's wife accused the President
of cowardice for his refusal to apologise for the incident.
The White House has not released details of the President's
reply beyond saying it is a humanitarian gesture. So it's not
clear whether it has any significance in the intense diplomacy
that is continuing behind the scenes. |
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Listen
to the words |
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WORDS
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bitterly
critical: the letter expressed intensely severe judgements against
President Bush
cowardice:
cowardly behaviour- someone who is cowardly is easily frightened
and avoids doing dangerous things
White House: the official residence of the President of the
United States
humanitarian:
if a person has humanitarian attitudes, they try to avoid making
people suffer
significance: the significance of something is its importance
or special meaning
intense diplomacy: diplomacy is the management of relations
between countries: here, a lot of discussions are happening between
China and the United States
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| NEWS
2 |
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Listen
to the second part of the report |
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Mr.
Schroeder said diplomatically that they would work on other
issues around global warming, such as encouraging renewable resources.
But he did not hide their disagreement over Kyoto. President
Bush has ordered a review of alternatives. In the meantime, though,
there is a policy vacuum. This does not seem to worry him.
Kyoto joins a growing list of policies in which the administration
defines its interests and then accepts arguments, but no real
change. |
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Listen
to the words |
| WORDS |
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conciliation:
conciliation is the process of ending a disagreement
drag on: if something drags on, it takes longer than seems
necessary
service
personnel: members of the armed services
advanced: 'advanced' implies a high level of technology
weaponry:
weaponry is all the weapons that a country has available to it
bitterly
opposed: China
would strongly disagree with this
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Read
about the background in BBC News Online |
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