美国国家公共电台 NPR--Russia is finishing the year with continued strikes on Ukraine's electrical grid

Russia is finishing the year with continued strikes on Ukraine's electrical grid¹

Transcript²

Lights flickered³ or went out in some Ukrainian cities Thursday. More than 300 days into the war, airstrikes and power outages have become part of life. Where do things stand as the year winds down?

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Russian airstrikes hit multiple cities in Ukraine today. The attacks make this a normal day for Ukraine as 2022 comes to an end. In Lviv in the west, the mayor said this morning 90% of the city is without power. More strikes hit the capital, Kyiv, and also in Kharkiv to the northeast, which is where we find NPR's Tim Mak, who's covered much of this war. Hey there, Tim.

TIM MAK, BYLINE⁴: Hey there. Good morning.

INSKEEP: What's it like there?

MAK: Well, we heard multiple explosions this morning. And actually, as we're sitting and anticipating this air alert, you can kind of almost predict these explosions happening. The light kind of flickers⁵ a little bit. And then, a few seconds later, you hear the explosion catch up to you, and you hear this big boom. Now, we don't know what's been targeted this morning. But yesterday, here in Kharkiv, two strikes hit the city's energy infrastructure⁶. The temperature has been hovering⁷ around freezing over the last week, and this bitter wind makes life here just that much harder. The Ukrainians pushed the Russian military out of this region - the region of Kharkiv - in September in this flash counteroffensive, but there is still concern here that the Russians could be back soon. I spoke⁸ to the brigadier general that's in charge of the defense⁹ of this region, Serhiy Melnyk.

SERHIY MELNYK: (Speaking Ukrainian).

MAK: He says Putin still has the same ambitions, despite losing initial battles in Ukraine, and that they have intelligence that shows that the Russian military is mobilizing again for another possible attack. Meanwhile, the energy issues have been particularly serious in the capital city of Kyiv, and they have been since October, when Russia really started focusing on Ukraine's power system. There's a lot of tension and anticipation¹⁰ in the air about additional strikes around New Year's.

INSKEEP: Well, how do people adjust when the war becomes a daily reality?

MAK: You know, people are so adaptable¹¹. They look at the blackouts as a near-daily matter. I mean, this morning at breakfast, we heard this big explosion. The lights kind of flickered for a little bit. Then the backup power kicked in. The music stopped for a second and then just kind of started up again abruptly¹². I mean, generators¹⁴ here power cafes. And local businesspeople who have been unable to find work inside of Ukraine are looking to clients abroad to make up the difference. And now Yaroslav Trofimov owns a cafe and club in Odesa, and he says small-business owners like himself have to spend thousands of dollars on generators.

YAROSLAV TROFIMOV: Then I take a calculator, and I just do small math. And I see they will maybe spend two years covering the price of a generator¹³. So why do they still do coffee? They do coffee because maybe they just don't want to give up.

MAK: And the national economy needs them not to give up. Ukrainian economists¹⁵ still estimate that the country's GDP has declined by one-third, which would be devastating¹⁶ to any country under any circumstances. But this is actually better than the most dire¹⁷ predictions from the outset of the war. And next year, the International Monetary¹⁸ Fund actually expects the Ukrainian economy to stabilize¹⁹.

INSKEEP: What do you hear from the front lines, where things have not been that stable?

MAK: The battle lines have not moved significantly over the last couple of weeks, but there's been fighting over areas in the south and east of the country. Now, at the moment, there are enormous amounts of munitions²⁰ being used by both sides, but without the sort of sudden advances that we've seen earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the death toll²¹ is climbing. The U.N. estimated this week that nearly 7,000 civilians²² have been killed over the past 10 months. But it also acknowledges that the actual tally²³ is probably much higher, since data from Russian-occupied areas is hard to come by. And that makes negotiating an end to the war really very difficult.

INSKEEP: NPR's Tim Mak in Kharkiv as 2022 nears an end. Tim, thanks so much.

MAK: Thanks a lot.

1 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 flickered   

（通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The lights flickered and went out. 灯光闪了闪就熄了。
• These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad. 这些灯象发狂的交通灯一样不停地闪动着。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 flickers   

电影制片业； （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The fire flickers low. 炉火颤动欲灭。
• A strange idea flickers in my mind. 一种奇怪的思想又在我脑中燃烧了。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 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。

10 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

11 adaptable   

adj.能适应的，适应性强的，可改编的

参考例句：

• He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人，很快就将学会这种工作。
• The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。

12 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

13 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

14 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

17 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

18 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

19 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

20 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

21 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

22 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。

23 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。