托福阅读背景之“俄政客自称遇见外星人”

 A Russian MP has asked an eccentric regional leader to explain his behaviour after claiming on state television that he was visited at home by aliens in a UFO, media reported Thursday.

　　Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, head of the Buddhist¹ Kalmykia region of southern Russia and president of the World Chess Federation² (FIDE), announced without apparent irony³ on a high-profile chat show he had met the aliens in 1997.

　　In an equally bizarre twist, Andrei Lebedev, an MP for the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, has now written to President Dmitry Medvedev raising fears that secret information could have been disclosed in the close encounter.

　　"I ask you to say if the head of Kalmykia has made an official report to the Russian presidency⁴ about his contacts with representatives of an alien civilisation," he said, quoted by tabloid⁵ Komsomolskaya Pravda and other media.

　　"Is there an established procedure of informing about such contacts by high ranking people who have access to secret information like Ilyumzhinov?

　　"And did he in the course of his seemingly innocent conversation disclose secret information?"

　　Ilyumzhinov had said in his comments, broadcast in late April, that the aliens appeared in a transparent⁶ tube on the balcony of his apartment in Moscow.

　　"I was reading my book, watching television and had almost fallen asleep. Then I felt that someone was calling.

　　"I would not have believed it, if I had not had three witnesses -- my driver, my minister and my aide," he said.

　　This is not the first time the chess-mad leader has spoken of extraterrestrial encounters. He had earlier claimed to have been shown round a UFO in 2001

　　据媒体本周四报道，俄罗斯一名地区领导人日前在接受当地一个电视台的采访时语出惊人，宣称自己曾在家中遇见搭乘不明飞行物的外星人。一名杜马议员要求他对他的这一行为做出解释。

　　俄罗斯南部信奉佛教的卡尔梅克共和国领袖、国际象棋协会主席基尔桑·伊柳姆日诺夫日前在一档高端人物谈话节目中严肃宣称，他曾在1997年见过外星人。

　　同样不可思议的是，俄罗斯民族主义政党自由民主党成员、国家杜马议员安德烈?莱比德夫竟致信总统德米特里?梅德韦杰夫，称外星人可能在与伊柳姆日诺夫“亲密接触”时窃取了俄罗斯国家机密。

　　俄罗斯小报《共青团真理报》和其它媒体援引莱比德夫的话说：“我想知道这位卡尔梅克共和国领导人是否已向俄罗斯总统正式汇报了与外星人接触一事。”

　　“像伊柳姆日诺夫这样有机会接触到国家机密的高级官员，是否有一个既定的程序来汇报此类事件?”

　　“在他与外星人貌似很普通的交谈中是否泄露了国家机密?”

　　伊柳姆日诺夫在上月末的一档电视节目中称，他曾看到外星人搭乘一艘透明的太空船降落在他位于莫斯科公寓的阳台上。

　　“当时我正一边看书一边看电视，几乎快要睡着，突然觉得有人在叫我。”

　　他说：“要不是有司机、政府部长和助理三个目击证人，我自己都不敢相信。”

　　这位国际象棋界领导人已经不是第一次宣称自己遇见外星人。他曾称自己在2001年参观过一个不明飞行物。

1 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

2 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

3 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 tabloid   

adj.轰动性的，庸俗的；n.小报，文摘

参考例句：

• He launched into a verbal assault on tabloid journalism.他口头对小报新闻进行了抨击。
• He believes that the tabloid press has behaved disgracefully.他认为小报媒体的行为不太光彩。

6 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。