VOA常速英语2013--叙利亚使用化学武器玩过界

 

叙利亚使用化学武器玩过界

There is no doubt that on August 21st, the civilian¹ population of Ghouta, a restive² suburb of Syria's capital, Damascus, was attacked with chemical weapons.

毫无疑问,8月21日,叙利亚首都大马士革的一个不安定郊区古塔的平民遭到了化学武器攻击。

And any careful review of the facts leads to the conclusion that the Syrian government was behind this heinous³ act.

而任何仔细审查的事实都这可憎行为背后的元凶指向了叙利亚政府。

“We know that the Syrian regime maintains custody⁴ of these chemical weapons,” said Secretary of State John Kerry:

“我们知道,叙利亚政权的维持保管这些化学武器的权利,“国务卿约翰·克里说道:

“We know that the Syrian regime has the capacity to do this with rockets.

“我们知道,叙利亚政权凭借这些火箭可以为所欲为。

We know that the regime has been determined⁵ to clear the opposition⁶ from those very places where the attacks took place.

我们知道,这个政权已经决心从那些攻击发生的场所清除反对派。

And with our own eyes, we have all of us become witnesses.”

而我们的亲眼所见让我们大家就成了证人。”

“The meaning of this attack goes beyond the conflict in Syria itself, and that conflict has already brought so much terrible suffering,” said Secretary Kerry.

“这次攻击的意义超越了叙利亚已经造成如此多可怕痛苦的冲突本身,”克里说道。

“This is about the large-scale, indiscriminate use of weapons that the civilized⁷ world long ago decided⁸ must never be used at all-a conviction shared even by countries that agree on little else.”

“这是牵涉武器大规模、滥用，文明世界很久以前就决定决不使用—甚至很少有一致意见的国家都达成共识认为这是一种罪行。”

First used by both sides during World War One, these weapons caused horrible suffering, and those who survived an attack were frequently disfigured, often crippled for life.

第一次世界大战期间双方第一次投入使用的这些武器造成可怕的后果,那些受到攻击存活下来的人变得外形狰狞,往往终生残疾毁容。

Determined never again to witness the use of such a horror against human beings,

经决定再也不想亲眼目睹这样对于人类而言一种恐怖的使用,

the international community banned the use of chemical and biological weapons through the implementation⁹ of the Geneva Protocol¹⁰ of 1925, to which Syria is a signatory.

国际社会通过 1925年的日内瓦协议的实施禁止使用化学及生物武器,而叙利亚就是其中一个签约国。

“There is a clear reason that the world has banned entirely¹¹ the use of chemical weapons.

“这就是为什么世界已经完全禁止使用化学武器的明确原因。

There is a reason the international community has set a clear standard and why many countries have taken major steps to eradicate¹² these weapons.

这也就是为什么国际社会已经明确标准而且许多国家已经采取了重大措施来废除这些武器的个中缘由。

There is a reason why President Obama has made it such a priority to stop the proliferation of these weapons and lock them down where they do exist,” said Secretary Kerry.

这同样也就是为什么奥巴马总统如此这般重要对待阻止这些武器核扩散及对它们确实存在的地方实施封锁的原因。”克里说道。

“Make no mistake: President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people.

“毫无疑问:奥巴马总统认为必须让那些使用世界上最令人发指的武器对抗世界上最脆弱者的人承担责任。

Nothing today is more serious and nothing is receiving more serious scrutiny¹³.”

现今没有什么比这更为重要，没有什么比更为严苛的审查更为重要”。

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。

3 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 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。

6 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。

7 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

10 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

13 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。