美国有线新闻 CNN 特朗普计划让美军4个月内撤离叙利亚 美股震荡中告别2018年

 

This Thursday's show starts with a look at a planned withdrawal¹ of US troops from Syria.

About 2,000 American troops are in the Middle Eastern country. Syria has been in the midst of a civil war since 2011, and members of the US military were first deployed² there in 2015 to help in the fight against the ISIS terrorist group. Last month, US president Donald Trump³ announced that his administration was taking steps to pull all US troops out of Syria.

The statement reportedly came as a surprise to several American officials, and it appeared to lead to the resignation of US Defense⁴ Secretary, James Mattis. The day after President Trump's plan was made public, Secretary Mattis sent him a letter that said the president has the right to a defense secretary whose views are better aligned⁵ with those of the commander in chief.

President Trump has said that ISIS is mostly gone, that withdrawing US troops from Syria would save lives and billions of dollars, and that it follows through on a campaign promise he made. Critics have said that ISIS terrorists could reemerge if US forces leave Syria too soon, and that the withdrawal could cause more instability in the Middle Eastern country.

At first, President Trump said the pullout would happen within 30 days, but the New York Times reported on Monday that the president had extended that time frame to four months.

While debate over the US role in Syria was taking place, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump made a surprise visit to another Middle Eastern country where US troops are deployed. Their trip to Iraq took place the day after Christmas.

Up next today, the US stock market just wrapped up a wild year. There was extra reason for the applause on December 26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index of 30 significant stocks, had its biggest day in history, rising more than 1,000 points. This happened the same year as its biggest drop in history. The Dow closed down more than 1,100 points on February 5. Overall, analysts⁶ say 2018 was the worst year for stocks since 2008, but it was also the year the Dow hit its all time record high. So extreme volatility⁷, major changes in stocks, driven by everything from inflation fears and interest rate increases to rising wages.

1 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。

2 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

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 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。