VOA常速英语2018--俄日关系能否改善取决于日本的态度

To visit the island of Sakhalin is to be reminded of the shifting fortunes of empire.

访问库页岛，提醒着人们帝国命运的不断变化。 

From Imperial Japan to Tsarist Russia, and later Soviet¹ rule,Wars and changing boundaries have shaped Sakhalin’s history carrying families in their wake.

从日本帝国到沙皇俄罗斯，以及后来的苏维埃统治，战争以及国界的不断变化书写着库页岛的历史，随之而来，一些家庭的历史也被改写。

I was born here, grew up here. Until I was seven, I was brought up in a Japanese family.

我在这出生，我在这长大。在我七岁之前，我在一个日本家庭长大。 

Sirokhata’s parents stayed in Sakhalin after Soviet forces took control of the island in the waning² days of World War two,so young Masaesi adapted learning Russian and later joining the Soviet army to guard against the Japanese.

在二战即将结束、苏联军队控制了库页岛的时候，Sirokhata的父母就在这个岛屿上，所以，年轻的Masaesi学习了俄语，不久后加入了苏联军队来防范日本人。

The Japanese are coming from over there, they’d say during attack drills.

在攻击训练期间，他们会说，日本人会从那儿来。 

What do you mean coming? Here’s one right next to me. We all joked about it.

你怎么说来？我旁边就有一个。我们都这么开玩笑。 

Today, locals prefer to tout³ Sakhalin’s growing economic integration⁴ with Asia while the Kremlin has invested heavily in the island.Sakhalin oil, gas, fishing and tourism industries are all banking⁵ on outside investment and visitors.

今天，当地人更喜欢宣传库页岛和亚洲日益融合的经济，而俄罗斯则斥巨资投资该岛。库页岛的石油、天然气和旅游业都靠外部的投资和游客的到来。

It’s a long way from days when the Soviet territory was closed to outsiders.We were part of the Soviet Union.We were developing the cities and factories. The people came here to live and work.When I was a schoolboy, I was not at all interested if we had some relations with Japan or not.But Sakhalin’s Korean community still vibrant⁶ has never forgotten.My family history is tragic⁷, but that tragedy touched not only us, take almost any family here and it’s the same.Brought to Sakhalin as cheap labor⁸ by the Japanese,the island’s Korean diaspora was cut off from their homeland as the Iron Curtain descended⁹.

从苏联对外界关上大门的日子到如今，这是很长的一段路。我们是苏联的一部分。我们发展城市和建设工厂。人们来这儿工作生活。当我还在读书的时候，我对我们和日本有没有关系一点也不感兴趣。但是库页岛的韩国社区仍然活跃，从未忘记。我的家族历史是悲惨的，但是这样的悲剧不仅是我们家族的，几乎是这里所有家族的，悲剧大抵一样。他们被日本人当作廉价的劳动力带到库页岛，随着铁幕的降临，岛上的朝鲜族侨民被赶出自己的家园。

Even today, the process of family reunification and unfulfilled demands for Japanese reparations is an open wound for many.My home is Sakhalin, but my roots are in Korea, and if we forget our roots, we forget who we are.

即使在今天，家庭团聚的困难、未能实现的日本赔偿对很多人来说都是难以言表的伤痛。我家是库页岛，但是我的根在韩国，如果我们忘记了自己的根，那我们就忘记了自己是谁。

Differences over whose roots also lie at the heart of a dispute over the tiny coral islands that has kept Russia and Japan formally at war for over 70 years.

根的不同也是这个小珊瑚岛争议的核心，因为这个争论，俄罗斯和日本正式开战有70余年。 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo the two sides work how to deal by years then.

经过数年，俄罗斯的总统弗拉基米尔·普京向日本首相安倍晋三建议双方处理此争端的方式。 

How realistic that goal, say some locals, depends on how willing the Japanese are to bend.

这个目标现不现实，取决于日本愿不愿意屈服。 

Russia of course is a generous country and ready to forgive the debts, but give away its territory, no one will forgive that.

俄罗斯当然是个很慷慨的国家，准备好免除债务了，但是放弃自己的领土的话，没有人能原谅。 

And with Russia facing another territorial¹⁰ dispute over the annexation¹¹ of Crimea,the long standoff with Japan may offer a lesson that resolutions to some disputes remain out of reach, somewhere beyond the horizon.

俄罗斯在兼并克里米亚问题上面临另一个领土争端，与日本的长期对峙可能会是一个教训，即某些争议目前还不能解决，远远不能。

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 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 tout   

v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱

参考例句：

• They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。
• If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。

4 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

5 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

6 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

7 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

10 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

11 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。