VOA慢速英语2014 Search for Malaysia Airplane Enters Third Week 对马航飞机的搜寻进入第三周

 

Search for Malaysia Airplane Enters Third Week 对马航飞机的搜寻进入第三周

From VOA Learning English, this is In The News.

这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。

The search for a missing Malaysian airliner¹ continued this week.  The airplane carrying 239 passengers and crew members disappeared on March 8th.  Last Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the flight ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

本周仍在寻找失踪马航飞机，这架载着239名乘客和机组人员的飞机于3月8日消失。上周一，马来西亚总理纳杰布·拉扎克宣布航班消失在南印度洋。

“We wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity.” 

“我们将尽快向大家告知最新进展。”

Satellite records show that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 likely crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.  Malaysian officials say the flight ended west of the Australian city of Perth.

卫星数据显示马来西亚航班370可能在南印度洋坠毁，马来西亚官方称飞机消失在澳大利亚城市佩斯西部。

Australian Defense² Minister David Johnston describes the waters in that area as an extremely difficult environment.

澳大利亚国防部长大卫·庄士顿称那里的水域非常危险。

“Remember, this Southern Ocean, has shipwrecked many, many sailors in our history in Western Australia.  It is rough.  There are 20-, 30-meter waves.  It is very, very dangerous, even for big ships.” 

“历史上澳大利亚西部有很多水手在南印度洋发生海难。那里很危险，有20到30米高的海浪，甚至对大船来说也很危险。”

Chinese Protest Malaysian Delays Releasing Information

The Boeing 777 aircraft was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing at the time of its disappearance³.  On Tuesday, protesters marched toward the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.  They were angry about the way Malaysian officials have reacted to the disappearance of Flight 370.  The protesters demanded more information.  

这架波音777飞机消失时正从吉隆坡飞往北京，周二，抗议者在北京马来西亚使馆游行。他们对马来西亚官方对370飞机失踪的应对感到愤怒，抗议者要求获得更多消息。

The same day, Malaysia Airlines officials met with reporters.  They defended their decision to inform families and the world that Malaysian officials now consider the flight lost. 

就在同一天，马来西亚航空官员与记者会面，他们为自己准备向家属和全世界告知马来西亚官方认为航班失踪的决定进行辩解。

Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese.  The Australian government is easing visa and immigration rules to permit relatives to travel to Perth.  The city’s Chinese community has offered to assist the visitors.

其中有三分之二的乘客是中国人，澳大利亚政府目前放松签证和移民限制，使得乘客亲属能前往佩斯。该市的中国社会为来访者提供帮助。

Critics say Malaysia has been keeping information from victims’ families and the media.  The British satellite company Inmarsat told Malaysian officials four days after the disappearance that they had received hourly signals from the plane.  Yet the officials were said to have waited three days before acting⁴ on that information. 

批评者称马来西亚未能告诉遇难者家属和媒体真实信息，在飞机失踪4天后，英国卫星公司国际移动卫星组织告诉马来西亚官员，他们每小时都从这架飞机收到信号。然而据悉马来西亚官员在等了三天后才就信息采取行动。

John Goglia has investigated plane crashes for the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.  He noted⁵ Malaysia’s lack of experience with air disasters.

约翰·葛戈利亚为美国全国运输安全委员会进行飞机坠毁调查，他指出马来西亚缺少应对空难的经验。

“In this particular instance, what had come out certainly seemed disconnected.  Seemed like they didn’t follow any of the known processes that had been established for years and years.” 

“就这件事来说，透露的消息看来毫无关联，似乎他们并没有遵循过去积累下来的已知程序来办事。”

Other Southeast Asian countries were quick to join the search.  But they were slow to share radar⁶ or satellite information with Malaysia about possible sightings. 

其他东南亚国家也很快加入搜寻，但在与马来西亚分享找到物体的雷达或卫星信息方面行动缓慢。

Malaysia is in a difficult position.  Some observers say it does not want to anger China.  Yet China’s Global Times newspaper published editorials blaming Malaysia’s government.  One piece read: “Malaysia is determined⁷ to enter the ranks of developed countries by 2020.  But judging from its handling of the MH370 incident, Malaysia’s modernization⁸ will take far longer than this.”

马来西亚目前处境困难，有的观察着称不想让中国愤怒。然而，中国的环球时报发表的社论批评了马来西亚政府，一篇文章称，“马来西亚希望能在2020年之前加入发达国家行列，但从对MH370的处理来看，马来西亚要很久才能实现现代化。”

Malaysia has a growing tourist industry.  Last year, 1.8 million Chinese visited the country.  But this could change because of Flight 370. 

马来西亚的旅游业发展很快，去年有180万中国人来该国旅游。但370航班可能将改变这一现状。

On Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry⁹ again called for more exact information from Malaysia on the details of the search.  A spokesman said he hoped Malaysia would improve its communications with China.

周四，中国外交部再次呼吁马来西亚提供有关搜索的更多具体细节，一位发言人称他希望马来西亚能改善与中国的沟通方式。

This continues to be a developing story. For the latest information, go to VOANews.com

这件事仍在进展中，要获得最新信息，请登录 VOANews.com

 

And that’s In The News from VOA Learning English.  I’m Steve Ember.

这就是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道，我是斯蒂夫·恩波。

1 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。

2 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。

3 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 modernization   

n.现代化，现代化的事物

参考例句：

• This will help us achieve modernization.这有助于我们实现现代化。
• The Chinese people are sure to realize the modernization of their country.中国人民必将实现国家现代化。

9 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。