VOA常速英语2019--美国分析师：朝鲜发射导弹是为了试探美国

For a year, US President Donald Trump¹ has insisted his nuclear talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are progressing. His proof: No North Korean nuclear or missile tests. The speed is not that important to me. I’m very much appreciated no testing and I’m no rush. We don’t want the testing and we’ve developed something very special with respect. Trump can’t say that anymore. Last week North Korea launched its first ballistic missile in a year and a half. The short-range missile launch is Kim’s latest attempt to increase pressure on Trump, says Korean analyst² Scott Snyder.

一年以来，美国总统特朗普一直都坚称自己与朝鲜领导人金正恩的无核化会谈在取得进展。他的证据是朝鲜没有进行核试验或者导弹试验。进展的速度对我来说不是那么重要。对于没有核试验一事，我已心存感激。所以我并不急于一时，我们只是不希望有核试验而已，而且我们已经研发了可以回敬朝鲜的特殊礼物。但这样的话，特朗普再也不能说了。上周，朝鲜发射了近一年半内的首枚弹道导弹。这次短程导弹发射是金正恩最近一次向特朗普施压的尝试，韩国分析师斯科特如是说道。

I do think the North Koreans are testing the US response. They’re trying to find out where the ceiling is in terms of US tolerance³ for provocations⁴. Days after the launch, the White House response has still been muted. Trump hasn’t even criticized the test. Other US officials point out the missile was not capable of hitting the US Navy. But by trying to salvage⁵ the nuclear talks, the US could actually be ensuring that North Korean tests more missiles. The North Koreans may decide that they haven’t hit the ceiling, and therefore there’s a possibility that they will do more tests in order to try to define exactly how far they can go before the United States responds in a more dramatic fashion.

我坚信朝鲜就是在试探美国的反应。朝鲜想要知道美国容忍挑衅的上限。此次导弹发射数天后，白宫依然默不作声。特朗普甚至连谴责此次试验的话都没说。其他美国官员指出，此次导弹试验不具备打击美国海军的能力。不过，美国试图挽救核谈的举动，实际上反而是在确保朝鲜能发射更多的导弹。朝鲜可以决定是否要触碰上限，因此有可能朝鲜会做更多核试验，目的是试探美国采取强硬手段回应的触发点。

It’s the natural outcome of Trump defining the success of the talks in terms of no more North Korean tests, says Latrobe University’s Benjamin Habib. So he’s really trapped in how he responds to this current escalation⁶ by the era he made there in not taking a more incremental⁷ approach. Clearly, any kind of test is going to, after that, is going to damage Trump, and it’s gonna make him harder for him to come back and negotiate again.

这是自然的结果，毕竟特朗普定义会谈成功的标尺是朝鲜不再进行核试验，拉筹伯大学的本杰明·哈比布如是说道。因此，特朗普陷入当前的困境是因为他回应当前局势升级的方式，而局势升级是他一手造成的，因为他没有采取渐进的方式来处理。显然，在经历了凡此种种之后，任何形式的测试都会对特朗普不利，会加大特朗普重新回到谈判桌的难度。

South Korea has also responded cautiously, fearful of ruining talks, the President Moon Jae-in has made a centerpiece of his administration. Here in South Korea, many officials are reluctant to even utter the word missile. Instead, they prefer now to say that North Korea tested projectiles⁸. That is partly explained by the fact that South Korea could be most impacted if Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un begin once again exchanging threats of nuclear war. Bill Gallio, VOA News, Seoul.

韩国的回应也很谨慎，因为担心会破坏核谈。文在寅总统让韩国政府成为了关注点。在韩国，很多官员甚至都不愿提起“导弹”这个词，相反，他们现在更愿意说的是：朝鲜做炮弹试射。有这种倾向的部分原因是：朝鲜首当其冲，会因为特朗普和金正恩再次用核战争互相威胁的受害方。感谢收听Bill Gallio从首尔发回的报道。

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

4 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

6 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

7 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

8 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句