VOA慢速英语2015 2015年,中东难以实现平静

 

AS IT IS 2015-01-13 Calm in Middle East Not Likely in 2015 2015年,中东难以实现平静

It has been four years since uprisings in the Middle East ended a long period of stability. Most observers believe 2015 will be another violent year there. They say political leaders will be forced to make difficult decisions and take strong action.

A year ago few people had heard of the Islamic State terrorist group. But the group quickly took control of large parts of Syria and Iraq. Experts said the militants¹ were also a threat to many other countries.

However, hundreds of airstrikes appear to have hurt the terrorists. Experts such as Paul Salem of the Middle East Institute predict 2015 will be a difficult year for the Islamic State.

“I think the fight against (the) Islamic State will progress in Iraq. I think Iraq -- between the Kurdish army and the national army based in Baghdad, with strong U.S. support -- will make progress in 2015.”

But it does not appear there will be an improvement in the situation in Syria, where the United States is planning to train anti-government fighters. Robert Ford² was the U.S. ambassador to Syria. He says more needs to be done.

“If we don’t help (our) friends on the ground very quickly, there will be no choice in Syria except Bashar al-Assad on one side and jihadi extremists on the other.”

IS became known when it beheaded Western hostages, including journalists, and showed videos of the beheadings on the Internet. Daniel Serwer is a professor at Johns Hopkins University. He says the beheadings caused the terrorists to lose support.

“I think I would bet on it, to lose some territory, because I think it’s making serious mistakes -- especially in Iraq where it has slaughtered³ members of several Sunni tribes.”

The U.S. military says Islamic State fighters have entered Libya, where there is great instability. General David Rodriguez leads the U.S. Africa Command.

“People coming for training and logistics support right now, for training sites and that’s what we see right now.”

There is also instability in Yemen, which has had several changes of leadership in recent months. Members of the Shi’ite Muslim Houthi movement are fighting members of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Mr. Salem of the Middle East Institute said it is not likely the area will be calm for many years. He said the evidence suggests the Middle East will remain an unstable⁴ and unpredictable place in this century.

Words in This Story

uprising – n. a usually violent effort by many people to change the government or leader of a country; rebellion

progress – v. to improve or develop over a period of time (pronounced pro-GRESS)

progress – n. the process of improving or developing something over a period of time (pronounced PRAW-gress)

logistics – n. the things that must be done to plan and organize a complicated activity or event that involves many people

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。