美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-04-09

 I think our response has been appropriate. Cool, calm, but at the same time, putting our military resources ready in case there’s an emergency, but if they try anything with the United States, it’s suicidal. That’s not going to happen.

 

Former Ambassador Richardson talking about the tension between the U.S. and North Korea. He’s not the only one. China and Russia are traditionally allies of North Korea. Those countries are urging everyone involved in this situation to stay calm. An American official says North Korea moved a missile and launch parts to its east cost in the last few days. The U.S. has intercepted¹ communications that indicate North Korea might be planning a launch sometimes soon. You can see the range of one type of North Korean missile outlined by the red circle here on your screen. You see the island of Guam, down toward the bottom? That’s U.S. territory, and it’s home to a major U.S. military base. The U.S. is sending a missile defense² system to Guam. It will be like the one you see here. It’s designed to shoot down incoming missiles.

 

So far, nothing has been launched, no shots have been fired. Tom Foreman talked with a military experts about what might happen if a conflict did start and why this expert doesn’t think it will.

 

Despite the global implications that would follow if North and South Korea went to full-on war, the truth is the Korean Peninsula would really bear the brunt of all of this, and that’s where most of the fighting would take place. So, we know that the DMZ between the South and the North is so heavily fortified³ ...

 

That’s correct.

 

That neither side can just charge in and go across that land to attack the other. So, if the North wanted to step this up and make it happen, what do they do?

 

Tom, the very first thing we are going to see is large concentrations of artillery⁴ and missile fire from the North against targets in the south, for example, Seoul. Which is just a little south of the DMZ. The North is going to activate⁵ the insertion of special operations forces, both along the coasts.

 

Taking them in by ship or by submarine?

 

By submarines, most likely, as well as the activation⁶ of sleeper⁷ agents(潜伏特工) that have been in the South, in some cases as many as a couple of decades, identifying targets for these missiles and for these artillery pieces.

 

OK, the U.S. and South Korea is not just going to sit there while all of this happens. So what is the immediate⁸ response, if such an attack took place?

 

Number one is the U.S. Navy will increase its presence. For example ...

 

More aircraft carriers ....

 

With aircraft carriers ...

 

More aircraft is what we’re looking for. So you have aircraft that’s in Japan, you have aircraft that’s in South Korea. You now have these aircraft to go against these firing positions that are targeting the South. It’s called the counter-fire fight, and once that’s accomplished⁹, they will then go after the command and control capabilities¹⁰ as well as the air defenses.

 

Communications, air defenses ...

 

You got it

 

So they can control the sky.

 

Completely own this air space above North Korea.

 

But you don’t think this is going to happen? You think ultimately that that’s not what is going to happen?

 

Not at all. I don’t.

 

This is worst case scenario¹¹ ...

 

I think the risks are way too high, the North understands that. The United States and South Korea certainly understands.

 

So what would we expect?

 

Mostly limited objective attacks. Not unlike what we saw before.

 

When they bombed those islands, when they attacked the boat off the coast, that sort of thing?

 

You’ve got it, where the North Koreans will go after South Korea specific targets. Not targeting the United States and trying to keep it contained somewhat.

 

And yet send a very clear message that they have a strong new leader and a strong military and that they still need to be respected in that way in the world.

 

Our next story today is also in Asia. This time in China. It’s about a type of virus called avian or bird flu. You can tell from the name this type of virus usually infects birds, but humans can get sick from it, especially if they come in contact with contaminated poultry¹². At least 14 cases have been reported so far. At least five people in China have died after they caught this virus. 

 

Viruses like bird flu can mutate. This specific strain is called H7N9. It had never been seen in humans before. Authorities are trying to figure out how exactly the people in China got infected.

1 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

4 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

5 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

6 activation   

n. 激活，催化作用

参考例句：

• A computer controls the activation of an air bag.电脑控制着气囊的启动。

7 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

10 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

12 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?