VOA慢速英语2015 美俄争论如何结束叙利亚冲突

US, Russia Clash on How to End Syrian Conflict 美俄争论如何结束叙利亚冲突

Russian warplanes attacked Syrian cities this week but the U.S. disputes whether those targets were the right ones.

本周，俄罗斯战机袭击了叙利亚城市，但是美国则质疑袭击目标是否正确。

Russia says the strikes targeted Islamic State fighters in those cities. But American military officials and Syrian human-rights groups say the cities are controlled by moderates who oppose the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

俄罗斯表示，空袭的目标是那些城市的伊斯兰国激进组织战士。但是美国军事官员和叙利亚人权组织表示，这些城市由反对阿萨德总统政府的温和派控制。

They claim the attacks killed at least 36 civilians¹ near the cities, including children.

他们宣称袭击造成这些城市附近至少36名平民死亡，包括儿童在内。

Najib Ghadbian is the special representative to the United States and the United Nations for the Syrian National Coalition². He told reporters at the UN this week that "the Russian claim that they are there to fight ISIS is...baseless."

纳吉布·加德比安(Najib Ghadbian)是美国和联合国派驻叙利亚全国联盟特别代表。他本周在联合国告诉记者，“俄罗斯宣称他们在那里是为了打击伊斯兰国激进分子，这是毫无根据的。”

Khaled Khodja, the head of the Syrian National Coalition, said the bombed areas were not controlled by terrorists. The Coalition urged the UN and world powers to stop what it called the Russian "aggression³."

叙利亚全国联盟负责人Khaled Khodja表示，被轰炸地区并不是由恐怖分子控制的。该联盟敦促联合国和世界大国制止俄罗斯的“侵略”行为。

U.S. Secretary of Defense⁴ Ash Carter called the Russian airstrikes "ill-advised." He noted⁵ that the strikes took place where "the IS group is not present."

美国国防部长卡特(Ash Carter)称俄罗斯的空袭是“不明智的”。他指出，袭击发生在“没有伊斯兰国组织出没的地方”。

"This is not the kind of behavior that we should expect professionally from the Russian military."

“这不是我们从俄罗斯军队那里期待的专业行为。”

Russia says the strikes hit Islamic State military equipment, command areas and vehicles.

俄罗斯称空袭击中了伊斯兰国军事设备，指挥所和车辆。

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes were requested by President Assad. He said they will continue as long as the Syrian army is fighting terrorists.

俄罗斯总统普京表示，袭击是应阿萨德总统的要求实施的。他表示，只要叙利亚军队仍在打击恐怖分子，袭击就会继续。

The U.S. and Russia disagreed about how to deal with the civil war in Syria before the airstrikes began. The U.S. and many other countries believe the conflict will not end so long as Mr. Assad is in power. Russia believes he should be permitted to remain the leader of the country.

在空袭开始之前，美国和俄罗斯就如何处理叙利亚内战存在分歧。美国和许多其他国家相信，只要阿萨德仍然是总统，这场冲突就不会结束。俄罗斯认为他应该继续担任国家元首。

David Lesch is an expert on Syria at Trinity University in Texas. He told VOA that Russia may be using the airstrikes to force opposition⁶ groups to negotiate. He says the air strikes may make Mr. Assad stronger and eliminate his need to negotiate.

David Lesch是德克萨斯三一大学叙利亚问题专家。他告诉VOA，俄罗斯或许是为了利用空袭强迫反对派谈判。他表示，空袭或许会让阿萨德更加强势，使他没有谈判的必要。

Obama administration spokesman Josh Earnest says "Russia will not succeed in imposing⁷ a military solution on Syria any more than the United States was successful in imposing a military solution on Iraq a decade ago, and certainly no more than Russia was able to impose a military solution on Afghanistan three decades ago."

奥巴马政府发言人欧内斯特(Josh Earnest)表示，“与十年前美国成功地用军事行动解决伊拉克问题不同，俄罗斯不可能成功地用武力解决叙利亚问题，当然，也不可能像三十年前俄罗斯向阿富汗实施的军事行动一样。”

Republicans in Congress say the Obama administration's Syria policy is weak. They say that is the reason Russia has taken such strong action. Senator John McCain says the administration's diplomatic and military efforts have failed.

国会共和党人表示，奥巴马政府的叙利亚政策非常微弱。他们表示，这就是俄罗斯采取如此强势的行动的原因。参议员麦凯恩表示，政府的外交和军事努力失败了。

"This administration has confused our friends, encouraged our enemies, mistaken an excess of caution for prudence⁸ and replaced the risks of action with the perils⁹ of inaction. Into the wreckage¹⁰, into the wreckage of this administration's Middle East policy, has now stepped Vladimir Putin."

“政府迷惑了我们的朋友，鼓励了我们的敌人，把过度警惕当成谨慎，把行动的风险替换为不作为的风险。由于政府中东政策的不利，普京采取了强势行动。”

Some experts say Russia should be permitted to enter the conflict. They say Russia will fail, and become a weaker world power.

一些专家表示，俄罗斯应该获准加入这场冲突。他们表示，俄罗斯会失败，成为一个被削弱的世界大国。

Russia moved aircraft and other military equipment into Syria for weeks before its warplanes bombed Homs and Hama. Some experts said that signaled that Russia supports President Assad.

战斗机轰炸Homs和Hama几周之前，俄罗斯将飞机和其他军事设备运入叙利亚境内。一些专家表示，这预示着俄罗斯支持总统阿萨德。

Experts say the airstrikes may push neighboring countries like Turkey or Saudi Arabia to take force against Russian attempts to strengthen President Assad.

专家表示，空袭会导致土耳其或沙特阿拉伯等邻国对俄罗斯采取行动，抵抗他们增强阿萨德总统力量的努力。

Chris Kozak studies Syria at the Institute for the Study of War.

Chris Kozak在战争研究所研究叙利亚问题。

"You may see these countries step up their own efforts on behalf of their preferred players in Syria in order to counteract¹¹ what the Russians are doing."

“为了抵抗俄罗斯的所作所为，你或许会看到这些国家代表他们在叙利亚的利益方作出了努力。”

Officials say warplanes from the US and other countries will continue to attack Islamic State militants¹² in both Iraq and Syria.

官员们表示，来自美国和其他国家的战斗机将继续袭击伊拉克和叙利亚境内的伊斯兰国激进分子。

This week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met to talk about ways to end the conflict in Syria. Mr. Lavrov said "we all want Syria democratic, united and secular¹³. But we have some differences on the details on how to get there."

本周，美国国务卿约翰·克里和俄罗斯外长拉夫罗夫会晤，讨论终止叙利亚冲突的方法。拉夫罗夫表示，“我们都希望叙利亚实现民主，统一和稳定。但是我们关于如何达成这个目标存在分歧。”

U.S. and Russian representatives have also said they want to talk about ways they can keep their militaries from clashing with each other in Syria.

美国和俄罗斯代表们还表示，他们想要讨论防止他们派往叙利亚的军队互相冲突的方法。

Words in The News

eliminate – v. to remove (something that is not wanted or needed); to get rid of (something)

decade – n. a period of ten years

prudence – n. careful good judgment¹⁴ that allows someone to avoid danger or risks

perils – n. something that is likely to cause injury, pain, harm or loss

prefer – v. to like (someone or something) better than someone or something else

counteract – v. act against (something); to cause (something) to have less of an effect or to have no effect at all

secular – adj. not religious

1 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。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

4 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。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

8 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

9 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

10 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

11 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

13 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

14 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。