【英语语言学习】飞机失事事故

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

It's been a year since a Malaysian jetliner was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing¹ all 298 people on board. Western governments believe that flight MH17 was hit by a Russian surface-to-air missile, but there is still no official determination of who was responsible. That's in part because pro-Russian separatist groups in eastern Ukraine have blocked investigators² from gathering³ evidence. Meanwhile, there has been a spike⁴ in fighting in the embattled region, though a tenuous⁵ cease-fire seems to be holding. We're joined now in our studios by Michael Bociurkiw. He is with the special monitoring mission to Ukraine with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, also known as the OSCE. Thanks very much for being with us.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW: Pleasure.

SIMON: What's the current status of the investigation⁶?

BOCIURKIW: Well, the current status - it's a Dutch-led investigation, as you know. And our role, of course, since day one, has been to facilitate access for them. Now the work, unfortunately and sadly, was suspended near the end of June because when it came to crossing over to Luhansk Oblast, which is under the control of the rebels, they weren't allowed in.

SIMON: So the quick answer is the investigation can't be completed because of interruption on the ground.

BOCIURKIW: For the time being. We are hopeful that we can continue to facilitate access but we have good days and we have bad days when it comes to helping⁷ to facilitate access.

SIMON: And a year ago, who had weapons and who were using them?

BOCIURKIW: A year ago, on July 17, you had an accumulation of heavy weaponry. At that time, we were reporting, for example, the existence of MANPADS, these mobile shoulder missile-firing systems. So there was, indeed, a buildup of weaponry. Remember that this conflict started with little green men coming into that part of eastern Ukraine.

SIMON: Little green men meaning Russian paramilitary.

BOCIURKIW: Well, you had guys without insignia, in uniform, carrying light weaponry.

SIMON: We should explain - a number of news organizations have identified them through conversations with some of the soldiers as Russian.

BOCIURKIW: And I can tell you that in the past month or two we have, with our own eyes, seen at least four individuals with a Russian Armed Forces insignia on them.

SIMON: What's life like in the region you're describing? We - more than 2 million people have had to leave their homes in the fighting.

BOCIURKIW: I wish, by this time, I had better news. Our colleagues in the U.N. system are now reporting that at least 2.3 million people have been uprooted⁸. Officially, there are 1.2 million internally displaced. And don't forget that a year ago, there were no displaced people and now Ukraine is in the top 10 countries in the world with large displaced populations. We can tell you also that the humanitarian⁹ situation is very dire¹⁰. Well over 6,000 - almost 7,000 - people have been killed and almost 17,000 have been injured. There's very little water, food, medical supplies available, so life is very, very difficult. But the problem for Ukraine, of course, is it's been well over a year now that the conflict has been active, so you can imagine the strain on the system and on society's fabric¹¹.

SIMON: Ukraine says that Russian humanitarian convoys¹² are carrying weapons across the border.

BOCIURKIW: We have no way to verify that but what we do observe - we have a sister border monitoring mission on the Russian side of the border and they do report when these convoys cross - what time, how many vehicles, whether they're inspected. But I can't recall one time where we've actually reported that we've seen arms or anything like that. But I do have to point out is that we're not able to enter these vehicles.

SIMON: Is this frustrating¹³ work, Mr. Bociurkiw?

BOCIURKIW: The biggest frustration¹⁴ for us right now is access. There have been many close calls - of shelling landing very near to our vehicles, we're facing long delays at checkpoints, heavy weaponry - and I must point out, it's from both sides - has not been properly stored - it's been moved, it's been put back into use. So it is turning into this sort of frozen conflict where you can't really see an immediate¹⁵ end.

SIMON: What's the point of a monitoring mission? I think a lot of people might wonder if...

BOCIURKIW: Sure.

SIMON: If heavy weaponry is crossing the borders anyway, if you can't get an international investigation properly accomplished¹⁶ because you are denied access. What's the point of having monitors on the ground?

BOCIURKIW: Think of it as the eyes and ears of international community on the ground and also this very, very important role of facilitation of access. For example, the experts that are dealing¹⁷ with the MH17 disaster, for repair crews, for humanitarian aid, our mission over the course of more than a year has been able to establish very good contacts with all sides, hence we - we're, you know, a trusted body that can go in and report. And without that information, it would be very difficult, I think, for the international community to figure out what is going on on the ground in Ukraine.

SIMON: Michael Bociurkiw is the spokesperson for the OSCE's special monitoring mission to Ukraine. Thanks very much for being with us.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

5 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

11 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

12 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

13 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

15 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。

16 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。

17 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。