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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Ukraine's rail system is working overtime1 to keep people and goods moving
With airlines shut down and many of the country's road's destroyed, Ukraine's train system has been both the literal and figurative lifeline for the country.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's the second-largest country in Europe by land area. It stretches some 1,200 miles from east to west. Since Russia re-invaded, no planes are flying, many roads are damaged or blocked or slowed down with checkpoints, but the rail system is working. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley took a ride on the rails.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STATE ANTHEM3 OF UKRAINE")
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE4: Since the war began, the Ukrainian national anthem plays throughout the Dnipro Station every time a train departs. Vadim Busurulov is the director of this rail hub in central Ukraine.
VADIM BUSURULOV: At the beginning of the war, every day we departed about 15,000 people from this station.
BEARDSLEY: Some 4 million Ukrainians have been evacuated5 by train since the Russian invasion on February 24. The activity has been so intense that key rail workers are still living at their stations. Dnipro rail human resources director Irina Lytynova remembers the first days of the war.
IRINA LYTYNOVA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
BEARDSLEY: "When the Russian troops were advancing very fast, we had urgent meetings every hour," she says, "so we could follow the situation on the front lines and know how to adapt our schedules to rescue people and defend our infrastructure6." Valeriy Garbatyuk has been a railroad worker for 40 years. He says his job has never been so important.
VALERIY GARBATYUK: (Through interpreter) Ukrainian railroad does the same job like Ukrainian military, you know, because we are saving people. And our role is very important because one week, we take IDPs, the other week, we take wounded people.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRAIN WHISTLE)
BEARDSLEY: The Russians are targeting railway infrastructure - tracks, electric grids7, stations. At least 161 railway workers have been killed since February. Railway repairs that would have taken weeks before are now done in a few hours, says Oleksandr Kamyshin (ph), head of the state-owned Ukrainian rail system, speaking here in a video about trains in the war.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)
OLEKSANDR KAMYSHIN: And that's our main mission now, once the shelling is over, to repair everything and get back to operations. Railways became the lifeline of the country. We help to do evacuation program. We do humanitarian8 aid program. We bring people with iron diplomacy9 program.
BEARDSLEY: Iron diplomacy - global stars and politicians who have come to visit President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv by train - Angelina Jolie, Nancy Pelosi, Boris Johnson.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON: Hi, it's Boris Johnson here, prime minister of the United Kingdom. I'm travelling on a fantastic Ukrainian Railways train through to Kyiv from Poland. And I just want to say a massive thank you to all the staff of Ukrainian Railways for what you're doing.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: (Speaking Ukrainian).
BEARDSLEY: I finally get my own experience on the Ukrainian train system, known as Ukrzaliznytsia.
Well, we're just setting off from Kyiv to go to the Lviv. It's an overnight trip. I have a little berth10. There's bunks11. It's for two people, but I've got the whole space to myself. And it's kind of nice. Thank you. Dyakuyu.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Please.
BEARDSLEY: Stepping out onto the platform the next morning in Lviv, I meet 18-year-old Lisa Plesshanova who's come to discover the western city.
LISA PLESSHANOVA: So I'm the simple student from Kyiv.
BEARDSLEY: Plesshanova just took the train as a tourist and paying passenger. But in March, she rode for free when she was fleeing the war.
PLESSHANOVA: I don't know how to explain it, but it's pretty cool that we have something more than just train.
BEARDSLEY: Plesshanova says Ukraine's rail system embodies12 the spirit of the country as it's come together in this war. I have one more question before we part. How do you pronounce your train again, the company?
PLESSHANOVA: Oh, Ukrzaliznytsia.
BEARDSLEY: It's very difficult for us.
PLESSHANOVA: Yeah, for us, too, a little bit sometimes. Yeah.
BEARDSLEY: Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Lviv.
![收听单词发音](/images/play.gif)
1
overtime
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adj.超时的,加班的;adv.加班地 | |
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2
transcript
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n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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3
anthem
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n.圣歌,赞美诗,颂歌 | |
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4
byline
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n.署名;v.署名 | |
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5
evacuated
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撤退者的 | |
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infrastructure
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n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施 | |
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grids
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n.格子( grid的名词复数 );地图上的坐标方格;(输电线路、天然气管道等的)系统网络;(汽车比赛)赛车起跑线 | |
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8
humanitarian
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n.人道主义者,博爱者,基督凡人论者 | |
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9
diplomacy
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n.外交;外交手腕,交际手腕 | |
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10
berth
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n.卧铺,停泊地,锚位;v.使停泊 | |
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bunks
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n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位( bunk的名词复数 );空话,废话v.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 );空话,废话 | |
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embodies
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v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 );象征;包括;包含 | |
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