VOA标准英语2008年-Georgia Orders Cease-Fire in South Ossetia

Georgia says it has ordered its troops in the breakaway region of South Ossetia to cease fire, after withdrawing its troops from South Ossetia's capital. There was no direct response from Russia to Georgia's offer to negotiate an end to three days of fierce fighting in the region. Russia says Georgia is still firing at targets in South Ossetia, Georgia says Russia has again bombed Gori, and dropped bombs near the international airport of Tbilisi. Emma Stickgold report for VOA from Moscow.
　
A column of Russian tanks near the town of Dzhava in the separatist Georgian province of South Ossetia, 10 Aug 2008

Russian officials say they now control most of Tkhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, as the conflict between Russia and Georgia widened. The fighting spread to Abkhazia, Georgia's other breakaway region, and Georgian officials said Russian planes bombed a military airfield¹ outside the Georgian capital.

Abkhazia announced it had mobilized troops, and called up reservists Sunday to reassert control over the one part of the province that remains² under Georgian control.

Russia sent naval³ vessels⁴ to Georgia's Black Sea coast. Ukrainian officials warned that they may bar Russian warships⁵ taken from the key Russian naval base in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol from returning.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin condemned⁶ Georgia's offensive in South Ossetia, which began early Friday, when Georgia sought to gain control of the region from separatists.

Mr. Putin said there were signs of genocide against the Ossetian people.
　
Georgia troops withdrawing from Southern Ossetia to the Georgian city of Gori, 10 Aug 2008

Georgian officials described their troop withdrawal⁷ from South Ossetia's capital as a goodwill⁸ measure aimed at stopping the military confrontation⁹. Officials said they have asked the United States to mediate¹⁰ the conflict.

The United States called Russia's actions "disproportionate" and called for a cease-fire and return to the status quo of August 6, before the Georgian offensive began.

Russia and Georgia agreed to open two humanitarian¹¹ corridors to evacuate¹² the wounded and refugees in South Ossetia.

Rita Khopzhayva, one such refugee, painted a bleak¹³ picture of the situation.

"It's hell," she said, describing it as a massive use of bombs preventing escape. "Children are hungry," she said. "There is no water, no light, no bread, no gas, nothing. It's a nightmare," she said, adding, "There is nothing you can compare it to."
　
Local people watch a Russian military column on the road to the border of the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia near Alagir 30 km south of Vladikavkaz, 10 Aug. 2008

The fighting began Friday when Georgia sought to regain¹⁴ South Ossetia from separatists in a major offensive. Russia, which has close ties to the province, responded by sending thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks.

Leaders from around the world have called on both sides to end the fighting, issuing statements deploring¹⁵ the current situation and sending a delegation¹⁶ of high-level diplomats¹⁷.

The recent violence is the worst since the region won de facto independence in 1992. South Ossetians are eager to join fellow Ossetians in North Ossetia, which was included within Russian borders following the collapse¹⁸ of the Soviet¹⁹ Union in 1991.

 

1 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

4 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 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。

6 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

7 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

8 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

9 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

10 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

11 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

12 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。

13 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

14 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

15 deploring   

v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的现在分词 )

参考例句：

16 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

17 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

19 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。