纽约时报 乌克兰边境紧张局势升级（1）

 

 

    Western leaders repeat calls for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis.

    西方领导人一再呼吁通过外交途径解决危机。

    Russia fires missiles in a blunt warning of where the conflict could lead.

    俄罗斯发射导弹，直截了当地警告冲突可能导致的后果。

    Artillery¹ fire escalated² sharply in eastern Ukraine on Saturday and thousands of residents fled the region in chaotic³ evacuations周六，乌克兰东部的炮火急剧升级，数千居民在混乱的撤离中逃离该地区— two developments rife⁴ with opportunities for what the United States has warned could be a pretext⁵ for a Russian invasion.

    -有两个事态发展充满了机会，美国警告说，这可能是俄罗斯入侵的借口。

    Russian-backed separatists, who have been fighting the Ukrainian government for years, have asserted, without evidence, that Ukraine was planning a large-scale attack on territory they control.

    俄罗斯支持的分裂分子多年来一直在与乌克兰政府作战，他们在没有证据的情况下声称，乌克兰正计划对他们控制的领土发动大规模袭击。

    Western leaders have derided⁶ the notion that Ukraine would launch an attack while surrounded by Russian forces,西方领导人对乌克兰将在俄罗斯军队包围下发动攻击的说法嗤之以鼻，and Ukrainian officials dismissed the claim as “a cynical⁷ Russian lie.”

    乌克兰官员将这种说法斥为“愤世嫉俗的俄罗斯谎言”。

    But separatist leaders on Saturday urged women and children to evacuate⁸, and able-bodied men to prepare to fight.

    但分裂分子领导人周六敦促妇女和儿童撤离，身体健全的男子准备战斗。

    And the ginned-up panic was already having real effects, with refugees frantically⁹ boarding buses to Russia and refugee tent camps popping up across the Russian border.

    这种被煽动起来的恐慌已经产生了真正的影响，难民们疯狂地登上前往俄罗斯的巴士，难民帐篷也在俄罗斯边境处突然出现。

    At the same time, the firing of mortars¹¹, artillery and rocket-propelled grenades by separatist rebels along the front line roughly doubled the level of the previous two days, the Ukrainian Ministry¹² of Internal Affairs said.

    与此同时，乌克兰内政部表示，分裂主义叛军在前线发射的迫击炮、火炮和火箭推进榴弹的数量，大约是前两天的两倍。

    Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and five wounded, the military said.

    军方称，两名乌克兰士兵死亡，五人受伤。

    Ukrainian officials said the shelling came exclusively from the separatists, who are seen as a proxy¹³ for Russia.

    乌克兰官员表示，炮击完全来自分裂分子，他们被视为俄罗斯的代理人。

    New York Times reporters at the scene witnessed shelling from separatists and saw no return fire from the Ukrainian forces, although residents in the separatist regions said there was shelling from both sides.

    《纽约时报》记者在现场目睹了分裂分子的炮击，但没有看到乌克兰军队还击，尽管分裂地区的居民表示，双方都有炮击。

    “I have a small baby,” said Nadya Lapygina, who said her town in the breakaway region of Luhansk was hit by artillery and mortar¹⁰ fire.

    “我有一个小宝宝，”娜蒂亚·拉皮吉娜说，她所在的小镇位于独立地区卢甘斯克，遭到了炮火和迫击炮的袭击。

    “You have no idea how scary it is to hide him from the shelling.”

    “你不知道把他藏起来躲避炮击有多可怕。”

    In a pointed¹⁴ reminder¹⁵ of where this conflict could lead, Russia engaged in a dramatic display of military theater on Saturday, test-firing ballistic and cruise missiles.

    周六，俄罗斯进行了一场戏剧性的军事展示，试射了弹道导弹和巡航导弹，这尖锐地提醒人们，这场冲突可能会走向何方。

1 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。

2 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

3 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

4 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

5 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

6 derided   

v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His views were derided as old-fashioned. 他的观点被当作旧思想受到嘲弄。
• Gazing up to the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity. 我抬头疑视着黑暗，感到自己是一个被虚荣心驱使和拨弄的可怜虫。 来自辞典例句

7 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

8 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。

9 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

10 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

11 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。