VOA常速英语2014--马来西亚航空公司4个月内经历第二场空难

 

Malaysia Reeling: Second Air Disaster in Four Months 马来西亚航空公司4个月内经历第二场空难

KUALA LUMPUR —

Malaysia is reeling from the second air disaster in four months involving the country’s flag carrier. Flight 340 vanished in March and despite an extensive search, no debris¹ has been found. And on Thursday, Flight 17, likely hit by a surface-to-air missile, came apart over eastern Ukraine. The two incidents together have left more than 500 people dead.

It is a scene eerily² reminiscent of just a few months ago. Anguished³ relatives of passengers at Kuala Lumpur's international airport.

这个场景诡异地让人想起几个月前的那幕。在吉隆坡国际机场乘客们痛不欲生的亲属们。

Malaysia's flag carrier under global scrutiny-and questions raised about its chances of survival in the wake of tragedy.

全世界注目下的马来西亚航空公司，对其紧随其后悲剧的生存机会本身也提出了质疑。

Malaysian government officials are back in the same cramped⁴ hotel conference room, struggling to answer tough questions from correspondents who have flown in from around the world.

马来西亚政府官员回到了相同的狭小酒店会议室中,努力回答来自世界各地记者们提出的各种难题。

The transport minister was asked if Malaysia Airlines, taking a shorter route over eastern Ukraine where military aircraft had recently been shot down by pro-Russian insurgents⁵, put fuel cost savings⁶ ahead of safety.

交通部长被问及马来西亚航空公司采取更短的飞行路线通过乌克兰东部是否是出于节省燃料成本而非出于安全考虑，而乌克兰军用飞机曾在这里最近被亲俄分子击落。

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“That's not true. And as mentioned just now, other airlines are taking the same route.”

“不是这样的。正如刚才所提到的,其他航空公司也采取的是同样路线。”

As search teams continued recovering bodies scattered⁷ across Ukrainian farmland, Russia's degree of responsibility in the destruction of a large airliner⁸ is being scrutinized⁹.

随着搜救团队继续在乌克兰农田中寻找遇难者的遗体,对于酿成这架大型客机悲剧的俄罗斯正在受到审查。

Australia's prime minister, Tony Abbott, is among the leaders most blunt in demanding an explanation from Moscow.

澳大利亚总理托尼?阿博特是众多要求莫斯科方面作出解释领导人中最直率的一位。

“The initial response of the Russian Ambassador was to blame Ukraine for this, and I have to say that is deeply, deeply unsatisfactory.”

“俄罗斯大使的最初反应是归咎于乌克兰,我不得不说,此举非常令人不满。”

Malaysia Flight 17, after a stop here, was to continue to Australia. And more than 100 aboard were headed there to attend an international AIDS Conference. The loss to the medical research community is incalculable. As one grieving colleague put it:What if the cure for AIDS was on that plane?

马来西亚MH17航班，在这里稍作停留后,本应继续飞往澳大利亚。而机上超过100名乘客准备出席那里的一场国际艾滋病大会。这场悲剧对医学研究界的损失是不可估量。正如一位悲伤的同事所说的:如果飞机上有人能够治愈艾滋病怎么办?

1 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

2 eerily   

adv.引起神秘感或害怕地

参考例句：

• It was nearly mid-night and eerily dark all around her. 夜深了，到处是一片黑黝黝的怪影。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The vast volcanic slope was eerily reminiscent of a lunar landscape. 开阔的火山坡让人心生怪异地联想起月球的地貌。 来自辞典例句

3 anguished   

adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式)

参考例句：

• Desmond eyed her anguished face with sympathy. 看着她痛苦的脸，德斯蒙德觉得理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The loss of her husband anguished her deeply. 她丈夫的死亡使她悲痛万分。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

8 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

9 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比