英国卫报:绑架为何成了一门生意(10)

Meanwhile, the government representatives explained that Britain did not pay ransom¹,

同时，政府代表解释说，英国不会支付赎金，

and would not countenance² any arrangement that put money in the hands of terrorists.

而且不会支持任何将钱送到恐怖分子手里的安排。

While the identity of the kidnappers³ was murky⁴, the line between al-Shabaab militants⁵, pirates and criminals in Somalia was a fluid one.

虽然绑架者的身份尚不清楚，但索马里的青年党武装分子、海盗和罪犯之间的界限是不确定的。

The best that British officials could offer the family was to essentially⁶ walk away –

英国官员能给这个家庭的最好的选择就是离开——

to put what they called “clear water” between the government and any negotiations⁷.

政府将不会参与任何谈判。

Their rather charitable interpretation⁸ was that since the kidnappers were demanding money they had to be criminals.

他们更仁慈的表达是，既然绑架者要求付钱，那他们肯定是罪犯。

As an only child, Ollie was the family’s point person in the negotiations.

奥利是家里唯一的孩子，他是谈判的重要人物。

He moved into his parents’ home, and over the next six months negotiations were carried out around the kitchen table.

他搬到了父母的房子里，接下来六个月的谈判都是在厨房的桌前完成的。

They were surprisingly orderly. After each phone call, the kidnappers would arrange a follow-up conversation.

令人惊讶的是，谈判非常有序。每次通话之后，绑架者会安排一次后续谈话。

Generally, they kept their appointments.

通常，他们会按时赴约。

A Control Risks consultant⁹ would brief him on what to say, and sit by his side.

控制风险顾问会向奥利简要介绍该说些什么，然后坐在他身边。

A representative from the Metropolitan¹⁰ police monitored the discussions, but did not participate or interfere¹¹.

伦敦警察厅的一名代表监督了讨论，但没有参与或干预。

The Tebbutts were a comfortable middle-class family, but did not have millions.

特巴特家是一个舒适的中产阶级家庭，但他们没有几百万。

Ollie found the kidnappers had a pretty good sense of the value of their hostage,

奥利发现绑匪很清楚这个人质的价值，

and over the next few months, under the guidance of the Control Risks negotiator, their demands steadily¹² dropped.

在接下来的几个月里，在控制风险谈判代表的指导下，他们的要求稳步下降。

They finally agreed to accept a ransom of around 600,000 pounds.

他们最终同意接受约60万英镑的赎金。

The only way Ollie was able to come up with that sum was to use the death benefits he received following his father’s murder.

奥利能拿出这笔钱的唯一办法是使用他父亲被谋杀后得到的抚恤金。

1 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

2 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

3 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

9 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

10 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

11 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

12 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。