纽约时报 乌克兰前线的猜谜游戏(1)

 

 

    The Ukrainian soldiers watch and wait, nervously¹ peering through a periscope² from an icy trench³ at a forward observation post in eastern Ukraine.

    在乌克兰东部的一个前线观察站，乌克兰士兵在观察和等待，他们在结冰的战壕里紧张地通过潜望镜侦查。

    Western governments have sounded alarms that Russia is prepared to attack Ukraine at any time.

    西方政府已经发出警告，称俄罗斯准备随时攻击乌克兰。

    The Biden administration is considering moving troops, warships⁴ and artillery⁵ into Eastern Europe and NATO announced on Monday that member countries are sending ships and jets to the region.

    拜登政府正在考虑向东欧派遣军队、军舰和大炮，北约周一宣布，成员国将向该地区派遣军舰和飞机。

    But how, exactly, military action might start has become an anxious guessing game for military analysts⁶, for Western and Ukrainian officials — and not least for Ukrainian soldiers, who are likely to be the first to find out.

    但是，军事行动究竟如何开始已经成为军事分析人士、西方国家和乌克兰官员、尤其是乌克兰士兵的一个令人焦虑的猜谜游戏，他们很可能是第一个找到答案的人。

    “I would rather have peace,” said Ihor, a sergeant⁷ who is the Ukrainian unit’s cook and offered only his first name and rank, in keeping with military rules. “I have two kids at home.”

    “我宁愿要和平，”伊霍尔说。他是乌克兰部队的厨师，按照军事规定，他只提供了自己的名字和军衔。 “我家里有两个孩子。”

    If an incursion does come, most military analysts agree it won’t begin with a massive show of force — tanks rolling over the border or a sudden and devastating⁸ strike from the air.

    大多数军事分析人士认为，如果入侵真的来了，它不会以大规模的武力展示开始——坦克越过边境或毁灭性的空中突袭。

    Rather, it would start with a more ambiguous, limited action that Moscow would use as justification⁹ for a wider intervention¹⁰.

    相反，它将以一种更为模糊的、有限的行动开始，莫斯科将以此作为更广泛干预的理由。

    Such an action, American and Ukrainian officials say, could come in many different forms — the seizure¹¹ by Russian-backed separatists of a disputed piece of infrastructure¹², like an electrical plant, for instance.

    美国和乌克兰官员表示，这样的行动可能会以多种不同的形式出现——俄罗斯支持的分裂分子可能会占领一处有争议的基础设施，比如一座发电厂。

    It could even start invisibly, with gas wafting¹³ through the air, if Russia decided¹⁴ to stage an accident at an ammonia plant in this area, and then send in troops under the guise¹⁵ of bringing it under control.

    如果俄罗斯决定在这一地区的一家氨气工厂制造事故，然后以控制事态的名义派遣军队，那么入侵甚至可以在不可见的情况下开始，通过空气中飘出天然气。

    That possibility was raised this month by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

    乌克兰军事情报机构本月提出了这种可能性。

    Ukraine estimates that Russia has about 127,000 troops near its borders.

    乌克兰估计，俄罗斯在其边境附近约有12.7万名士兵。

    The buildup, said Dmitry Adamsky, an expert on Russian security policy at Reichman University in Israel, “is visible enough to let people imagine a range of scenarios¹⁶ that might happen.

    以色列赖希曼大学的俄罗斯安全政策专家德米特里·亚达姆斯基说，这种集结“足够明显，让人们可以想象可能发生的一系列情况。”

    At the same time, it’s uncertain enough to conceal¹⁷ the strategic intention.”

    与此同时，这种不确定性足以掩盖其战略意图。”

    Russia has repeatedly denied in recent weeks that it has plans to invade Ukraine and said it is Russia whose security is threatened — by NATO exercises near its borders and weapons shipments to Ukraine.

    俄罗斯最近几个星期一再否认有入侵乌克兰的计划，并表示，北约在其边境附近的演习和向乌克兰运送武器威胁到俄罗斯的安全。

1 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

2 periscope   

n. 潜望镜

参考例句：

• The captain aligned the periscope on the bearing.船长使潜望镜对准方位。
• Now,peering through the periscope he remarked in businesslike tones.现在，他一面从潜望镜里观察，一面用精干踏实的口吻说话。

3 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

4 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

5 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。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

8 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

9 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

10 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

11 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 wafting   

v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But that gentle fragrance was clearly wafting from the window. 但那股淡淡的香气，却分明是从母亲的窗户溢出的。 来自互联网
• The picture-like XueGuo, wafting dense flavor of Japan, gives us a kind of artistic enjoyment. 画一般的雪国，飘溢着浓郁的日本风情，给人以美的享受。 来自互联网

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 guise   

n.外表，伪装的姿态

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
• The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。

16 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

17 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。