He will announce the decision in the next several days, effectively citing a clause in the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that requires the United States and Russia to give six months' notice before abandoning the pact.

　　Wich the decision, Bush takes the first step foward fulfilling a campaign pledge to develop and deploy an anti-missile system that he says will protect the United States and its allies, including Russia, from missiles fired by hostile nations.

　　Russia and many US allies have warned Bush that withdrawing from the pact might trigger a nuclear arms race. Critics of the plan also question whether an effective system can be developed without enormous expense.

　　The president defended his push for a missile shield during a national security speech Tuesday at the Citadel in South Carolina.

　　"Last week we conducted another promising test of our missile defense technology," Bush said. "For the good of peace, we're moving forward with an active program to determine what works and what does not work. In order to do so, we must move beyond the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, a treaty that was written in a different era, for a different enemy."

　　"America and our allies must not be bound to the past. We must be able to build the defenses we need against the enemies of the 2lst century," he said.

　　According to Bush administration officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin had assured Bush during their October talks in Washington that US-Russian relations would not suffer even if Bush pulled out of the treaty.

　　The decision came as Secretary of State Colin Powell, in Moscow, said Russia and the United States are near agreement on drastic cuts in long-range nuclear arsenals, but remain, at odds over a US missile defense.

　　練習題

　　1.The U.S. decided to withdraw from the nuclear treaty because the treaty required its members not__________________.

　　2.When will the U.S. withdraw from the nuclear treaty?

　　3.According to Russia, US' withdrawal from the treaty may bring about__________________.

　　4.What is Russia's attitude towards U.S. withdrawal from the 1972 ABM Treaty?

　　5.Russian and the U.S. still couldn't reach agreement on_________________.

　　答案詳解

　　1.[to test missile defense systems]

　　[定位]首段。

　　解析：原文該段中修飾nuclear treaty的定語從句表明了美國退出核仿控制條約的原因，且原文中的bans...與題目中的require... not同義。要注意的是，require常用require sb.to do/not to do sth.，因此，回答本題時，要先將原文中的testing改為動詞不定式形式to test，故本題答案為to best missile defense systems。

　　2.[In six months.]

　　[定位]開關兩段。

　　解析：第2段段末的six months' notice before...表明美國將在6個月后正式退出條約，故答案為“6個月后”，注意在將來時中表達“6個月后”要用介詞in而非after。

　　3.[a nuclear arms race]

　　[定位]第4段首句。

　　解析：原文該句中的trigger與題目中的bring about都有“導致”的意思，由此可見，原文中tigger的賓語a nuclear arms為本題答案。

　　4.[Approving/Supportive.]

　　[定位]第8段。

　　解析：原文該段末的...US-Russian relations would not suffer even if Bush pulled out of the treaty表明俄羅斯對美國退出ABM條約的態度是“認可的”，這種態度可以表達為approving或supportive。

　　5.[a US missile defense]

　　[定位]末段。

　　解析：該段段末的but表明at odds與該段前半個分句中的agreement表達的含義相反，可見美俄兩國在a US missile defense方面未能達成一致，故可知答案。

　　參考譯文

　　美國政府官員星期二宣稱，美國總統布什不久將會通告俄羅斯，[l]美國將要退出1972年簽署的禁止測試導彈防御系統的核控制條約。

　　布什總統將會在隨后的幾天中宣布這一決定。[2]該決定是基于《反彈道導彈條約》中的一個條款，即美國和俄羅斯若要放棄該條約。都必須提前6個月通知對方。

　　這一決定是布什總統為履行其發展并部署反導彈系統的競選承諾而邁出的第一步。他說，這個系統可以保護美國及其盟國(包括餓羅斯)免受敵對國家發射的導彈攻擊。

　　[3]俄羅斯和美國的許多盟國都曾警告布什，退出該條約有可能引發核武競賽。批評這個計劃的人還懷疑，如果不投入巨大的開支是否有可能開發出一個有效的反彈道系統。

　　星期二在南卡羅萊納州大本營舉行的一場有關國際安全的演講中，布什總統為自己推行導彈防御做出了辯護。

　　布什說：“上周我們又成功進行了一次對導彈防御技術的試驗。為了維護和平，我們必須采取主動的措施，判斷什么有效，什么無效。為此，我們就必須要超越1972年的《反彈道導彈條約》。那個條約是在不同的歷史時期針對不同的敵人而簽署的。”

　　“美國以及我們的盟友不能受過去的束縛，我們必須有能力構建用以防御2l世紀的敵人的防御體系，”布什說。

　　[4]布什內閣的官員聲稱，俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾·普京10月在華盛頓與布什總統會談時曾保證，即使布什退出反導條約，美俄關系也不會受到損害。

　　[5]國務卿科林·鮑威爾在莫斯科說，俄羅斯和美國就急劇削減遠程核武庫基本達成一致意見，但是兩國對美國的導彈防御系統問題存在意見分歧。布什總統的決定就是在這樣的背景下做出的。