美国国家公共电台 NPR While a hundred people escaped a Ukrainian steel plant, more are still trapped

While a hundred people escaped a Ukrainian steel plant, more are still trapped

Transcript¹

Reports say as soon as evacuations started from the plant, Russian shelling resumed. Also, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic lawmakers in Kyiv.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In Ukraine, around a hundred civilians² have been evacuated⁴ from the bunkers beneath a steel plant in the besieged⁵ city of Mariupol. They had been sheltered there for weeks. They are expected to reach the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia today. But reports say as soon as evacuations ended, Russian shelling resumed. Over the weekend, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders in Kyiv. Colorado Congressman⁶ Jason Crow traveled with the speaker.

JASON CROW: We talked about weapons issues, the current state of the battle in the south and the east, what weapons and equipment that they need to win.

MARTIN: NPR's Tim Mak spoke⁷ with us earlier about the situation in Mariupol.

TIM MAK, BYLINE⁸: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced that those 100 civilians were able to evacuate³ after the United Nations helped mediate⁹ an arrangement. So for days, this idea of a humanitarian¹⁰ corridor where civilians could safely leave - that was discussed between Ukraine and Russia, but those talks repeatedly failed. Now, the fighting has been centered around that massive steel plant where some Ukrainian fighters still remain, along with several hundred civilians. According to the Ukrainian government, approximately 20 children remain in that steel mill. And they say that this morning, after an evacuation was completed, the Russian military began shelling their positions again.

Now, the humanitarian situation in the city continues to be abysmal¹¹. Most of Mariupol has been bombed to rubble¹². Fighting has gone on there now for months, and people still live without running water or electricity.

MARTIN: I mean, the same can be said for several different cities, in particular in the east. You just came back, I understand, from a city in the Donbas region near the front lines. What did you find?

MAK: Well, that city was called Kramatorsk, and it's nearly emptied out. Seventy-five percent of the prewar population has left, the mayor's office told us, and it's immediately obvious why. All through the day, you hear the sounds of explosions and artillery¹³. In the city, you see bombed-out buildings. And at night, you see these flashes of bombardment on the horizon, the movement of vehicles in the distance. Many of those who have stayed don't really have the means to leave.

We met Elena Dolgeg (ph) waiting in line for humanitarian aid that was organized by local authorities. And it was a hectic¹⁴ scene as locals jockeyed for position outside what was once a school. They received some canned goods, a little milk, a little pasta. She needs it because most of the grocery stores in town are closed or have nothing left to sell. And she's been out of work since February 25, the day after the invasion.

ELENA DOLGEG: (Non-English language spoken).

MAK: She told us what she wanted most was peace, that she was concerned about her son, who's in the Kharkiv region, another area that's close to the front lines. She hasn't seen her son in six months, she said, and she wants her grandchildren to be able to visit.

MARTIN: I can't imagine that she's paying attention to a visit to Ukraine by Nancy Pelosi. Nevertheless, it's significant - right? - that the speaker of the House visited Kyiv.

MAK: That's right. Pelosi led this congressional delegation¹⁵ that met with Zelenskyy over the weekend, and that's the second senior U.S. delegation to do so, after the secretaries of state and defense¹⁶ visited about a week ago. Now, President Biden has requested $33 billion in funding from Congress to help aid Ukraine through the end of September. And Pelosi said they were already writing legislation to reflect those initiatives. Overnight, the White House announced that First Lady Jill Biden will be traveling to Romania and Slovakia to spend Mother's Day with Ukrainian refugees who have fled the country due to violence.

MARTIN: NPR's Tim Mak. Thanks so much, Tim. We appreciate your reporting as always.

MAK: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

4 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

5 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

6 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

10 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

11 abysmal   

adj.无底的，深不可测的，极深的；糟透的，极坏的；完全的

参考例句：

• The film was so abysmal that I fell asleep.电影太糟糕，看得我睡着了。
• There is a historic explanation for the abysmal state of Chinese cuisine in the United States.中餐在美国的糟糕状态可以从历史上找原因。

12 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

13 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

14 hectic   

adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的

参考例句：

• I spent a very hectic Sunday.我度过了一个忙乱的星期天。
• The two days we spent there were enjoyable but hectic.我们在那里度过的两天愉快但闹哄哄的。

15 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

16 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。