VOA常速英语听力2013年02月（WORD文本）：KERRY-BEGINS-WORK-AS-SECRETARY-OF-STATE_43.doc

1、U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has begun work as Americas top diplomat. On his first day in office, he stressed the need to protect universal human rights.Arriving the first day on his new job, Kerry told State Department employees he will continue President Obamas push to make the world a safer

2、 place.This presidents vision, and what he has implemented through your efforts over the course of the last years without any question, has restored Americas reputation and place in the world, Kerry said.He said that reputation can help empower people.We get to try to make peace in the world, a worl

3、d where there is far too much conflict, far too much killing. There are alternatives, Kerry said. We get to lift people out of poverty. We get to try to cure disease. We get to try to empower people with human rights. We get to speak to those who have no voice.Human rights were a focus of President

4、Obamas first term, including stopping violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Human Rights Watch deputy Washington director Sarah Margon says Kerry can do more.Id like to see in the next Obama administration it become an even more central tenet particularly on some of the central

5、 national security issues that the administration is going to have to address, Kerry said.On the Middle East, Kerry has already phoned Israeli President Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - making a personal commitment to pursue peace bet

6、ween Israel and the Palestinians.Kerry also telephoned the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea. He assured them that North Korea should understand it will face significant consequences if it continues provocative missile tests.Speaking to the departments employees, Kerry addressed the sacrifi

7、ces made by those killed in September at the U.S. mission in the Libyan city of Benghazi.The dangers could not be more clear. We are reminded by the stars and names on the wall, Kerry noted. And we are particularly reminded by Chris Stevens and Glen Dougherty, and Tyrone Woods, and Sean Smith.Cato I

8、nstitute analyst Malou Innocent says Kerry has big challenges in Libya.Its very difficult to transition from a state-building operation to a nation-building operation, the sense of creating a cohesive Libyan identity. Thats something that Gadhafi exploited to his benefit. He ruled by divide-and-rule, of course. So moving forward we are still going to see a degree of chaos in Libya even as it has a veneer of sort of a Western democracy, he said.Kerry joked about succeeding two women - Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice. He told diplomats he has big heels to fill.