美国国家公共电台 NPR--Twins rescued from Kyiv at the beginning of Russia's invasion are turning 1

Twins rescued from Kyiv at the beginning of Russia's invasion are turning 1

Transcript¹

Ari Shapiro of NPR's All Things Considered talks with Morning Edition's Leila Fadel about twins who were rescued from Kyiv early in the war and how they are faring as they turn a year old.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Nearly a year ago, I was reporting in Ukraine while All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro was across the border in Poland. Hundreds of thousands of people were pouring across that border, fleeing the war that had just begun, and we found out about twin little boys prematurely² born in Kyiv to a Ukrainian surrogate. Their parents were desperate to save them. So together, Ari and I documented their rescue from a hospital in the capital of Ukraine, the dangerous road trip to get them to the Polish border and the trek³ across. And outside of a Polish hospital, the baby's father, Sasha Spektor, met Ari for the first time and described the harrowing trip from the border.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

SASHA SPEKTOR: It was like a storm, a winter storm. It's like...

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE⁴: A snowstorm.

SPEKTOR: It's - the war didn't want to let them go. But we got them out, so...

SHAPIRO: The war didn't want to let them go.

SPEKTOR: Thanks for the good people of Ukraine.

FADEL: Well, tomorrow, those twin boys are turning 1 years old, and Ari is here to update us on the story. Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Hey, Leila.

FADEL: So, Ari, tell me everything. How are these babies? I know you've been speaking to Sasha Spektor, the father, and his partner, Irma Nunez, who live in Chicago. What's the last year been like?

SHAPIRO: It's crazy because of how normal it's been. You know what I mean? I think their days are full of the kinds of excitement and drama that any parents of twin boys would experience, which blows their minds because they got these boys out of a war. Here's what Sasha Spektor and Irma Nunez said when I asked them what their days are like.

SPEKTOR: They're so uneventful right now.

IRMA NUNEZ: Or they're special in the way that is common to everyone raising a child.

SHAPIRO: Like, they spend their days changing diapers and giving baths, making sure the boys are safe and fed, which, as you know, is totally different from a year ago.

FADEL: Yeah. Let's talk about that. How have they processed what happened to them last year?

SHAPIRO: It's still so fresh in their memory and brings up a huge mix of emotions.

SPEKTOR: I think for both of us, it was the most exciting and traumatic and important event that...

SHAPIRO: Yeah.

SPEKTOR: ...Happened in a very long time, if not over our entire lives. So it's incredibly vivid and memorable⁵.

NUNEZ: I remember thinking, I've seen this movie before, and I didn't like it. Like, this is not my genre⁶.

SHAPIRO: And I wasn't starring in it.

(LAUGHTER)

NUNEZ: Yeah. I mean, this was before the happy ending, of course, when it was...

SHAPIRO: Yeah.

NUNEZ: ...Unclear what direction things were going to go.

SPEKTOR: Right.

NUNEZ: It was hard.

SHAPIRO: As you remember, Leila, it felt like a movie as we were reporting it.

FADEL: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: Like, this dramatic evacuation. The stakes were so high. And I think everybody is just grateful that for these babies, it was a happy ending.

FADEL: Did you get to see the babies?

SHAPIRO: I did. Lenny and Moishe, and they have such different personalities⁷. Lenny is a dancer. He bounces up and down all the time. And Moishe, Sasha said he's like a tank, but then he said, no, let's not use a war metaphor⁸.

FADEL: (Laughter).

SHAPIRO: But he's like a little Ukrainian tank who just sort of, you know, bulldozes into whatever he wants.

FADEL: Aw. You can hear more from Ari's conversation with the parents of twin boys who were rescued from Ukraine last year on tonight's All Things Considered. I know I'll be listening. Thanks, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Great to talk to you, Leila.

(SOUNDBITE OF CLEVER GIRL'S "ELM")

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 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

3 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

4 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。

5 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

6 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

7 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

8 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。