雅思聽力：印度學生難倒奧巴馬

【聚焦時事】奧巴馬到訪印度圣澤維爾學院時，遭遇大學生尖銳提問，包括圣戰(zhàn)、甘地、美國中期選舉，以及與塔利班的談判等。圣澤維爾學院是一所有140年歷史的學校，那里的許多學生都稱自己很尊敬奧巴馬，然而他們提問時卻不那么客氣，常常提出大膽而直率的問題，讓奧巴馬不得不委婉作答。奧巴馬遇到的難題有：為何不把巴基斯坦當成恐怖主義國家?詳見以下原版新聞：

 

　　Indian students asked Obama very tough questions

 

　　President Obama was challenged Sunday by an Indian university student to explain his administration's unwavering support for Pakistan, exposing in a single question the central challenge to his goal of strengthening the U.S. relationship with India.

 

　　During a town hall forum at St. Xavier's College here, a student rose to ask Obama why he does not refer to Pakistan as a "terrorist state," drawing some gasps from the rest of the audience. Obama told the crowd that he had expected the issue to come up, and he answered by challenging the several hundred students present to view a country against whom India has fought three major wars, and was the staging area for a devastating terrorist attack against this city, from a new perspective.

 

　　"We want nothing more than a stable, prosperous and peaceful Pakistan," Obama said. "Our feeling has been to be honest and forthright with Pakistan, to say, 'We are your friend, this is a problem and we will help you, but the problem has to be addressed.' "

 

　　The question came two years after gunmen trained in Pakistan landed in a fisherman's village on the city's waterfront and killed more than 170 people in a days-long siege. The question highlighted the problem Pakistan presents for Obama as he seeks to strengthen trade, military and cultural ties with one of the world's fastest-growing democratic economies.

 

　　Obama commemorated the Nov. 26, 2008, massacre on his arrival Saturday when he laid a white rose at a memorial to the victims and spoke at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Tower, a main target of the attack. But he infuriated many Indians by not mentioning Pakistan in his tribute, reinforcing the impression here that Obama cares less about India's grievances than he does about defending a key partner in the Afghanistan war.

 

　　The issue will probably come up again Monday, Obama's final day in India, when he appears with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before the U.S. and Indian media and later addresses the Indian Parliament. Obama could well face questions over his position on Kashmir, a religiously mixed region in the subcontinent's northwest that both India and Pakistan claim.

 

　　How he portrays the U.S. interest in Pakistan, whose weak government is defending itself against its own Taliban insurgency, will probably determine whether his visit here succeeds in convincing Indians that he is serious when he says, as he did Sunday, that "the U.S.-India relationship will be indispensable in shaping the 21st century."

 

　　"It may be surprising to some of you to hear me say this, but I am absolutely convinced that the country that has the biggest stake in Pakistan's success is India," Obama told the students. "I think that if Pakistan is unstable, that's bad for India. If Pakistan is stable and prosperous, that's good. Because India is on the move."

 

　　【背景知識】印美關系: 印度曾經(jīng)受到英國200多年的殖民統(tǒng)治，并因此接受了一整套的西方政治、經(jīng)濟、軍事、法律和教育體系，從意識形態(tài)的角度來說，印度本應屬于西方陣營，但在獨立后印度長期奉行不結盟政策，與美國保持較為疏遠的距離。直到上個世紀冷戰(zhàn)結束后，國際格局重新洗牌，美印關系才開始逐漸拉近。冷戰(zhàn)結束后，隨著世界經(jīng)濟重心的東移，美國越來越認識到了印度的戰(zhàn)略價值，想把印度拉入自己陣營的企圖日益明顯。按照美國的戰(zhàn)略構想，印度即使不能成為盟友，也應該成為在印度洋地區(qū)協(xié)助美國實現(xiàn)某種戰(zhàn)略目的的準盟國。