VOA常速英语2021--世界最大疫苗生产商将延迟新冠疫苗发货

This is VOA news. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton. U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday made a surprise visit to Afghanistan. It's the first visit to Afghanistan since taking up his post as Washington considers whether to comply with the May the 1st deadline for pulling out all troops from the country under a year-old deal it signed with the Taliban. Austin held a meeting with President Ashraf Ghani after arriving in the Afghan capital Kabul from a trip to India. A Pentagon report quoted Austin as saying he visited Afghanistan to "listen and learn" and that he wanted to understand what Ghani's concerns were. An Afghan presidential statement said Ghani and Austin "expressed concern over the high-level of violence" and stressed the need to find a "just and lasting²" peace in Afghanistan. Austin declined to comment on whether the Taliban have met the necessary conditions for U.S. troops to withdraw from the country by a May deadline.

欢迎收听美国之音新闻。我是玛丽莎·梅尔顿，为您远程报道。美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀周日突访阿富汗。这是他上任后首次访问阿富汗，华盛顿方正在考虑是否要根据与塔利班签署的一年协议，遵守5月1日的最后期限，从阿富汗撤军。奥斯汀在结束印度之行抵达阿富汗首都喀布尔后，与阿富汗总统阿什拉夫·加尼举行了会晤。五角大楼的一份报告中援引了奥斯汀的话，他访问阿富汗是为了“倾听和学习”，他想了解加尼的担忧是什么。阿富汗总统发表声明说，加尼和奥斯汀“对高度暴力表示担忧”，并强调必须在阿富汗找到“公正和持久”的和平。有关塔利班是否满足美军在5月最后期限前撤出阿富汗的必要条件，奥斯汀拒绝发表评论。

Russian jets hit rebel training camps Sunday in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border as Syrian artillery³ killed seven civilians⁴ and injured 14 medics in an attack on a hospital in the area. The sources said a Russian surface-to-surface missile also hit the town of Qah while Russian airstrikes came close to densely⁵ populated refugee camps along the border with Turkey.A gas facility was hit near Sarmada city in Idlib province, but there were no immediate⁶ reports of casualties.

俄罗斯喷气式飞机周日在叙利亚西北部土耳其边境附近袭击叛军训练营，因为叙利亚炮兵在袭击该地区一家医院时打死7名平民，14名医务人员受伤。有消息称，俄罗斯的一枚地对地导弹也击中了卡赫镇，而俄罗斯的空袭靠近土耳其边境人口稠密的难民营。伊德利卜省萨尔马达市附近的一处天然气设施遭到袭击，但目前没有人员伤亡报告。

The world's largest vaccine⁷ producer, the Serum⁸ Institute of India, has told at least three countries that their COVID vaccine shipments will be delayed. The institute has informed Brazil, Morocco and Saudi Arabia that the cause of the delay is India's own overwhelming need for the vaccine. India is experiencing a surge of infections. It has the third-highest number of coronavirus cases recorded, with 11.6 million. Only the United States at 29.7 million cases and Brazil at 11.9 million cases have more. The institute has been criticized for selling or donating more vaccines⁹ than the number of inoculations that it provided to its own people. Meanwhile, Brazil is in talks with the United States to import excess doses of coronavirus vaccine, according to its Foreign Ministry¹⁰ on Saturday. The South American nation recorded 79,069 new cases in a 24-hour period, according to its Health Ministry. It has reported more than 2,400 COVID-19 deaths. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed three measures to speed the purchase of vaccines. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton, VOA news.

世界上最大的疫苗生产商印度血清研究所已经告诉至少三个国家，他们的新冠疫苗将延迟发货。该研究所已通知巴西、摩洛哥和沙特阿拉伯，推迟的原因是印度自身对疫苗的巨大需求。印度目前感染人数激增。印度记录的新冠病例数位列第三，累计1160万例。美国有2970万例，巴西有1190万例。该研究所因出售或捐赠的疫苗数量超过其向本国人民提供的疫苗数量而受到批评。与此同时，巴西外交部周六称，巴西正在与美国谈判进口过量剂量的新冠疫苗。据南美国家卫生部统计，巴西在24小时内新增病例79069例。据报道，新冠死亡病例超过2400例。巴西总统博尔索纳罗签署了三项加快购买疫苗的措施。我是玛丽莎·梅尔顿，为您远程报道美国之音新闻。

1 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。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 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。

4 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。

5 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 serum   

n.浆液，血清，乳浆

参考例句：

• The serum is available to the general public.一般公众均可获得血清。
• Untreated serum contains a set of 11 proteins called complement.未经处理的血清含有一组蛋白质，共11种，称为补体。

9 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

10 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。