时代周刊:拜登系伊朗唯一希望(1)

A ray of hope for Iran after a brutal¹ year

雨后的彩虹

A TERRIBLE YEAR for Iran got worse when the country's top nuclear scientist was killed. As the architect of Iran's nuclear weapons program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was a national hero, and his Nov. 27 assassination² has ignited fury across the country. Iran's Foreign Ministry³ and state media were quick to pin blame on Israel.

顶尖核科学家的遇害让今年本就不堪重负的伊朗雪上加霜。穆赫辛·法赫里扎德是伊朗核武器项目的设计师，是伊朗的民族英雄，11月27日穆赫辛·法赫里扎德遭遇暗杀，引发了伊朗的全民愤怒。伊朗外交部和国家媒体随即将矛头指向以色列。

2020 began with the U.S. assassination in Iraq of General Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran's most powerful men, which was soon followed by Iran's military accidentally shooting down a passenger plane, setting off a round of antigovernment protests.

2020年伊始，美国在伊拉克刺杀了伊朗最有权势的人之一卡塞姆·索莱马尼将军，随后，伊朗军方意外击落了一架客机，引发了一轮反政府抗议。

Then came COVID-19. Iran became the first corona⁴ virus hot spot outside East Asia as Iranian officials lied about the severity of the outbreak to protect voter turnout for parliamentary elections that boosted handpicked hard-line candidates. Bungling⁵ by the government set off more demonstrations⁶, and many more Iranians died than the government acknowledged. The economic toll⁷ grew heavier when the pandemic forced down the global prices of oil and natural gas, vital Iranian exports. In July, a fire at Iran's most important nuclear-fuel-enrichment site, which offi cials blamed on a bomb planted by Israel, inflicted⁸ enough damage to delay Iran's nuclear program by months.

再之后是新冠病毒。伊朗的议会选举中多了一些颇具实力的强硬派候选人，为了维护投票率，伊朗官员谎报了疫情的严重程度，致使伊朗成为东亚以外的第一个新冠病毒热点地区。政府的拙劣表现引发了更多的示威，伊朗的死亡人数比政府宣称的还要多。石油和天然气是伊朗重要的出口产品，当疫情迫使全球石油和天然气价格下跌时，伊朗遭受了更加严重的经济损失。今年7月，伊朗最重要的核燃料浓缩设施发生火灾，造成的破坏足以使伊朗的核计划推迟数月。官员们将火灾归咎于以色列安置的炸弹。

Nor can Iran be pleased to see its two main enemies—Israel and Saudi Arabia— taking steps toward better relations. According to Israeli offi cials, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin⁹ Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in November—though the Saudis deny it happened. The meeting is historic, even if they have little in common beyond a mutual¹⁰ need for regional stability and a shared antipathy¹¹ toward Iran.

伊朗也不愿看到自己的两个主要敌人——以色列和沙特阿拉伯——关系改善。据以色列官员称，去年11月，沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼和以色列总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡会晤了美国国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥——沙特对此表示否认。两国虽说除了在地区稳定和讨厌伊朗上有共同需求之外其它的共同点少之又少，但这次会晤仍具有历史性意义。

1 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

2 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

5 bungling   

adj.笨拙的，粗劣的v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的现在分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• You can't do a thing without bungling it. 你做事总是笨手笨脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Enough, too,' retorted George. 'We'll all swing and sundry for your bungling.' “还不够吗？”乔治反问道，“就因为你乱指挥，我们都得荡秋千，被日头晒干。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

6 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

7 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

8 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

9 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

10 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

11 antipathy   

n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物

参考例句：

• I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
• Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。