VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-04-09 Experts Liken Ukraine Crisis to Soviet's Afghanistan Invasion 专家比喻乌克兰危机为当年苏联入侵阿富汗

 

AS IT IS 2014-04-09 Experts Liken Ukraine Crisis to Soviet¹'s Afghanistan Invasion 专家比喻乌克兰危机为当年苏联入侵阿富汗

Hello. I’m Jim Tedder² in Washington.  Let’s do it again!  It’s time to learn and improve your American English while learning about the world.  Today we compare the Russian movement into Crimea with their Afghanistan experience 35 years ago.  We’ll hear what some experts have to say. 

Then we turn to Mozambique, a country that hopes to finally be free of many landmines⁴ that were the result of its civil war.

International developments are on the program today. They are all a part of our world  …As It Is.

Recent events on the Crimean peninsula have led to a sharp change in relations between the United States and Russia.  Some critics have compared the Russian takeover of Crimea to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan during the presidency⁵ of Jimmy Carter.  But experts say there are important differences between what happened 35 years ago and the current situation.  To help us understand better, here is Mario Ritter.

During Barack Obama’s first term as president, his administration worked to “reset” relations with Russia.  Ties had been damaged by Russia’s military action in neighboring Georgia in 2008.

Stanislav Markus is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Chicago.  He says President Obama’s “reset” policy showed early signs of progress.

“Given that thaw⁶ in the background, I think there were hopes in the administration that the relations with Russia could get back on a more positive track.”

But Professor Markus says relations cooled again in 2012, when Vladimir Putin was re-elected president.  Any progress to improve relations, he says, ended with Russia’s annexation⁷ of Crimea.

Republican Party lawmakers strongly criticized the administration’s “reset” policy as Russia tightened⁸ its hold on Crimea.  Senator John McCain described the president’s earlier policy toward Russia as “na?ve.”

Former President Jimmy Carter would recognize some of the criticism.  He faced a similar situation when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979.  President Carter describes his reaction to the invasion.

“I withdrew my ambassador.  I broke diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.  I declared a grain embargo⁹ against them.  I supported the Congress and the Olympic Committee in withholding¹⁰ our contestants¹¹ from the 1980 Olympics.”

But much has changed in the 35 years since Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan.  Russia has increased its economic ties with the rest of the world since the collapse¹² of the Soviet Union.  Mr. Carter notes that President Obama has fewer choices to deal with the Russian aggression¹³ than he had.

“Threatening an embargo, even threatening military action in my opinion, would not have deterred¹⁴ Putin from doing that.”

Stinislav Markus says ordering economic restrictions¹⁵ on Russia could increase support for President Putin.

“Crippling the economy by, say, imposing¹⁶ certain embargoes¹⁷ on Russian energy, which obviously a lot of Russian state revenue depends on energy exports, that would have an impact on the Russian people which automatically would be interpreted in Russia as actually confirming what Putin has been saying all along, that a lot of people in the West have not left the past behind, have not left the Cold War behind, they want Russia to be on its knees.”

Ukraine is currently preparing for a presidential election on May 25th. Mr. Carter says he believes President Putin will increase efforts to influence people living close to Russia and who support its policies. But the former president is not sure Mr. Putin plans further action in Ukraine.

“He announced that he would not take military action against eastern Ukraine, and I don’t think he will.  The United States out to be very forceful along with its allies in telling Putin, ‘If you do that, there will be very serious consequences.’”

United States military commanders in Europe estimate an additional 40,000 Russian troops have been sent to the Ukrainian border.  In 1979, President Carter threatened to use military force in Afghanistan.  However, President Obama has said there is no military solution to the deepening Crisis in Ukraine.  I’m Mario Ritter.

When Will Mozambique’s Landmine³ Problem End?

The civil war in Mozambique ended 20 years ago.  When peace finally came, a large number of landmines were still buried across the country.  Now, Mozambique is hoping to be declared mine-free by the end of the year.  But disputes between the two civil war enemies could delay any such declaration.  The two sides are Frelimo, which controls the government, and Renamo, which is now the opposition¹⁸.  Caty Weaver¹⁹ tells us more.

Luis Wamusse was a young soldier fighting in the civil war when he stepped on a landmine. 

He says his story is “no different from that of many Mozambicans.”  He lost his leg in the fighting when he was 22 years old.  He says he was forced to stop school because, as the son of a farmer, he could no longer work to finance his education.

Luis Wamusse did not give up.  Instead, he launched an organization to help other land mine victims.  There are about 20,000 mine victims across Mozambique.  Many are poor people, who live in rural areas and have no medical treatment to help them heal.  Some turn tree branches into sticks to help them walk.  Some never get to visit a hospital at all.

Mr. Wamusse says his organization meets landmine victims who are living with pieces of metal in their bodies.  Doctors never performed operations on them because they have no way to get to the city to get help.

Disarming²⁰ mines presents a major test in a country where floodwaters can displace landmines.  Some of the mines date back not just to the civil war, but to the war against Portuguese²¹ colonial rule.

Alberto Augusto is the director of Mozambique’s national de-mining agency.  He says the government does not have maps that show where the mines are hidden.

As time goes on, accidents are increasingly rare.  Last year, there were only four.  All the victims were de-mining specialists.

With the help of foreign donors²², 200,000 landmines have been disarmed²³.  Mozambique hopes to be declared free of known landmines by the end of the year.

But there is an unexpected problem.  Most of the mines that still need to be cleared are in the central province of Sofala.  That is where Renamo supporters have been leading a campaign against the government, as Mr. Augusto explains.

“We have challenges, of course.  One of the challenges is Sofala and particularly Chibabava.  Last year, we withdrew our people very early, I think around September.  In fact, we had two people that were injured in that area where the conflict, in fact, is taking place.”

 

He says that Renamo and the government must agree to a ceasefire by May if the de-miners are to finish their work by the end of the year.  I’m Caty Weaver.

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

3 landmine   

n.地雷

参考例句：

• A landmine is a kind of weapon used in war.地雷是一种运用于战争的武器。
• The treaty bans the use,production and trade of landmine.那条约禁止使用生产和交易雷。

4 landmines   

潜在的冲突； 地雷，投伞水雷( landmine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The treaty bans the use production and trade of landmines. 该条约规定，禁止使用地雷相关产品及贸易。
• One of the weapon's of special concern was landmines. 在引起人们特别关注的武器中就有地雷。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

7 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

8 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

9 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

10 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

11 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

14 deterred   

v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I told him I wasn't interested, but he wasn't deterred. 我已告诉他我不感兴趣，可他却不罢休。
• Jeremy was not deterred by this criticism. 杰里米没有因这一批评而却步。 来自辞典例句

15 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

16 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

17 embargoes   

贸易禁运令，禁运( embargo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Britain, France and the United States refused to lift their embargoes. 英、法和美国都拒绝取消禁运。
• Its public position is that it abides by all UN arms embargoes. 其公开立场是，他们遵守所有联合国的武器禁运命令。

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

19 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

20 disarming   

adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• He flashed her a disarming smile. 他朝她笑了一下，让她消消气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. 我们将同意解除军队的武装并把武器留在军事阵地。 来自辞典例句

21 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

22 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 disarmed   

v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
• The swordsman disarmed his opponent and ran him through. 剑客缴了对手的械，并对其乱刺一气。 来自《简明英汉词典》