Last month, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Bisa Williams became the highest-ranking U.S.official to visit Cuba in several years.

VOA: standard.2009.10.28

The pig is eager to eat" means the state of affairs that we're talking about is when the pig does the eating.

猪想吃东西",意思是我们在说猪吃东西,这个事件的状态

耶鲁公开课 - 心理学导论课程节选

Defamiliarization" means precisely pulling you up short or taking you by surprise, making you feel that what you thought was going to be the case or what you thought was the state of affairs is not the state of affairs.

陌生化“就是指让你“突然停下“,或者说，令你惊讶，猝不及防地，让你感觉,我以为会发生的,或者你原本以为事情处于这个状态，而事实却并非如此。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

William Burns, under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, told the Senate Armed Services panel he believes China will sign on to a council resolution.

VOA: standard.2010.04.14

The Protestant Reformation, and especially the rising energies of Puritanism in the early seventeenth century, are beginning to do a lot to change this state of affairs.

新教宗教改革，尤其是活力不断上升的清教主义,在17世纪早期，为了改变这种状态开始做出许多努力。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选

There were similar comments from Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J.Crowley, who joined Kerry in denying the bill would impinge on Pakistan's sovereignty.

VOA: standard.2009.10.13

It's a pretty state of affairs, in his view, when the most rigorous thinking that's being done about literature is being done in popular journals.

他认为，关于文学的严肃的思考大多,被发表在流行杂志上很不妥当。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

At a news briefing, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J.Crowley said the United States would take part in any meeting arranged by Solana.

VOA: standard.2009.09.11

Confronting the economic downturn and preventing it from boosting hemispheric poverty rates will be urgent priorities at the Summit of the Americas, according U.S.Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs,Tom Shannon.

VOA: standard.2009.04.15

At a news briefing, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake said the sides hope to conclude two related agreements during the Clinton visit, which will span four days.

VOA: standard.2009.07.15

Later,at a briefing for reporters, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J.Crowley said the United States had warned the deposed president not to try to return home in the absence of a negotiated settlement.

VOA: standard.2009.09.22

At a news briefing, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J.Crowley made clear that the Obama administration opposes Dostum's return and possible future role in the government, and that it is reviewing human rights charges against him.

VOA: standard.2009.08.17

nuclear technology and hardware. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Robert Blake, traveling with the Secretary in India, says the Clinton visit is likely to produce follow-on agreements including one designating two sites in India for U.S.designed nuclear power plants.

VOA: standard.2009.07.17

Two senior U.S.diplomats went to Burma last week to open the dialogue and at a Manila news conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, Clinton called the mission by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scott Marciel "very successful."

VOA: standard.2009.11.12