万花筒 2013-05-01&05-03 白宫称叙政府动用沙林毒气

 Josh: Now, the stunning¹ statement from the White House,

 

the U.S. saying it now has evidence that Syria has used chemical weapons on its own people.

 

President Obama has said many times that would be a red line for the U.S. to take action.

 

But is the evidence strong enough? A question for ABC's Martha Raddatz, joining us, now, in Washington with more. Good morning to you, Martha. 

 

Martha: Good morning, Josh.

 

The language in this assessment² is the strongest we have seen. And very specific. The white house saying, that the intelligence community believes that the Syrian regime has used the nerve agent serin on a small scale.

 

That's an agent that paralyzes and suffocates³ its victims, but there are many caveats⁴ in the statement.They make clear that there's a varying degree of confidence that sarin was used and basically want more tests to prove it.

 

So this seems a red line, Josh,

 

that still has shades of gray. 

 

Josh: But a red line never the last mark.

 

This is something again the president had been very clear about in the past.

 

Martha: President Obama did say one point there will be enormous consequences if president decided⁵ to use chemical weapons,

 

but we are talking about the possibility of the military action in Syria or a no-fly zone so the administration is not rushing into this.

 

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

3 suffocates   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的第三人称单数 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Greed suffocates humanity and intuitive knowledge. 贪婪可以灭绝人性和良知。
• The thick scent of aromatic plants tears at the throat and suffocates in the vast heat. 植物发散发出的浓郁香气在喉咙里撕裂，在炎热的天气下令人窒息。

4 caveats   

警告

参考例句：

• I would offer a caveat for those who want to join me in the dual calling. 为防止发生误解，我想对那些想要步我后尘的人提出警告。 来自辞典例句
• As I have written before, that's quite a caveat. 正如我以前所写，那确实是个警告。 来自互联网

5 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。