VOA慢速英语2013 阿富汗与美国的安全保障协议仍未理清

 

AS IT IS 2013-10-15 Afghan-US Security Agreement Still Not Clear 阿富汗与美国的安全保障协议仍未理清

Hello, I’m Faith Lapidus in Washington.

大家好,我是华盛顿的Faith Lapidus。

Today on As It Is, we hear about new efforts to protect rice crops from flooding.

今天的As It Is，我们将听到保护洪水中水稻所做的新努力。

Afghan-US Security Agreement Still Not Clear

阿富汗与美国的安全保障协议仍未理清

But first, we look at security concerns in Afghanistan. The country’s president has called a meeting to discuss a planned security agreement with the United States. We have more on that story, coming up.

但首先，我们来看看在阿富汗的安全问题。该国总统已经召集了一次会议，讨论与美国安全协议的计划。更多的详细信息，即将到到。

President Hamid Karzai says there is no hurry to sign the agreement. His comment has raised questions about the future of American troops in Afghanistan after the planned withdrawal¹ of NATO forces next year.

总统哈米德·卡尔扎伊说，没有必要急于签署协议。就明年北约部队计划撤出后，他对未来美国军队在阿富汗问题的提出了他的意见。

President Karzai has passed the difficult question of signing the security agreement with the United States to a council of elders, or loya Jirga. The president says the group plans to meet next month. He dismissed concerns that the meeting will delay a decision on the agreement.

总统卡尔扎与一个委员会的长老或者大国民议会谈讨与美国签署的安全协议的困难问题。总统说，该团体计划在下个月见面。他不认为，这次会议将推迟协议商定。

John Wood is with the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. He says there are two main areas of conflict between the Afghan leader and American officials.

在东南亚战略研究中心的约翰·伍德说：“阿富汗领导人和美国官员之间有两个主要领域的冲突。

“As I understand it, Mr. Karzai wants a very specific external security agreement or assurance, frankly² something that would probably rise to the level of a treaty agreement in the eyes of the United States.”

“据我了解，卡尔扎伊希望一个非常明确的外部安全协议或保证，坦白的说，在美国看来，这很有可能演变为一个条约协议”。

Such an agreement would push the United States to protect Afghanistan from foreign aggression³. John Wood says this is a direction the Obama Administration would not be likely to take. He notes the opinion is his own, and not necessarily that of his organization. Mr. Wood says President Karzai has his own concerns over American demands.

这种协议将推动美国保护阿富汗不被外国侵略。 约翰·伍德说，奥巴马政府不可能接受这种方案。 他指出这个观点是他自己的，而不一定是他的组织。 伍德先生说，卡尔扎伊总统在对美国的需求上有自己的关注点。

“The other sticking point, I believe, still revolves⁴ around the degree of autonomy that US Special Operations Forces might have, or the CIA may have, to continue to operate independently and with no oversight⁵ or prior approval of the Afghan government.”

“另外一个关键点，我认为仍然围绕自治权的问题，美国特种作战部队或中情局继续独立运作，没有阿富汗政府监督或并不需要其事先批准。”

Last week, the Afghan leader criticized the United States and NATO forces for carrying out air raids and other operations in his country. He said such actions violate Afghanistan’s territorial⁶ independence in the name of fighting terrorism. He said he would never permit that under the proposed Bilateral⁷ Security Agreement, or BSA.

上周，阿富汗领导人批评美国和北约部队在他的国家进行空袭和其他军事行动。他说这样以反恐的名义的行为违反了阿富汗的领土独立。根据双边安全协议或BSA的协议，他将永远不会允许他们这样做。

“If the United States and its NATO allies continue to demand that even after signing of the BSA they will have the freedom to attack our people, our villages, the Afghan people will never allow them that.”

“如果签订BSA协议后，美国及其北约盟国继续自由的攻击我们的人，我们的村庄，阿富汗人民将永远不会允许他们这样”。

Afghan experts warn that not having an effective agreement to support Afghan forces after international forces leave could empower the Taliban and other militants⁸. Hamidullah Farooqi once served as Afghanistan’s foreign minister.

阿富汗专家警告说，没有一个有效的协议以支持阿富汗武装在国际部队离开后能够控制塔利班和其他武装分子。 哈米杜拉，法鲁基曾担任阿富汗外长。

“The Taliban and the other armed forces against the Afghan government, they’re also seeing an opportunity for themselves that 2014, (the) international community is leaving, they might feel they are going to be able to capture again the political power.”

他说：“塔利班和其他武装势力反对阿富汗政府，2014国际社会将要离开阿富汗，他们也看到了自己的机会，他们可能会觉得他们将能够再次夺取政治权力。”

Mr. Farooqi believes open and successful presidential elections next April and a stronger Afghan government will stop gains by militants.

法鲁基先生认为，明年4月开放和成功的总统选举和更强大的阿富汗政府将阻止武装分子的收益。

Until the end of last month, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was a member of the Afghan team negotiating with American officials. He told VOA that the security talks are considering the needs of every Afghan constituent⁹ group. He says the agreement is shaping into a very balanced, if not necessarily a long-term one.

直到上个月底，阿富汗团队的成员阿什拉夫.加尼.艾哈迈德扎伊与美国官员进行谈判。他对美国之音说，安全会谈是考虑每一个阿富汗组成团体的需求。 他说，协议被塑造成一个非常平衡的，不一定是长期的。

“It is a fully¹⁰ worked out, detailed¹¹ set of understandings between two governments. Second, the duration is 10 years. Three, each government has a process for changing the agreement. So it’s not that this government is binding¹³ the future government categorically.”

“它是一个全面的工作，一套详细的两地政府之间的协议。第二点，持续时间是10年。第三点，每个政府有个改变协议的过程。所以它并不是对未来政府有绝对约束力的。”

But some observers and citizens of Kabul are worried. They say the Taliban is moving quickly into more villages across the country. And one former Afghan military official said the country’s army is losing more and more soldiers to desertion.

但一些观察家和喀布尔市民担心。他们说塔利班正在迅速进入全国各地的村庄。另一名前阿富汗军方官员说，该国的军队在逃亡过程中正在失去越来越多的士兵。

You are listening to As It Is, from VOA Learning English. I’m Faith Lapidus.

您现在收听的美国之音英语学习的As It Is。我是Faith Lapidus。

Flood-Proofing Rice

防汛水稻

Crop scientists from around the world met in the Philippines last week at the International Rice Research Institute. They exchanged ideas on how to keep flooded rice and other crops alive for long periods. June Simms has more in this report from Simone Orendain in Los Ba?os.

上周自世界各地的科学家聚集在菲律宾的国际水稻研究所。他们就如何让淹没的水稻或其它农作物活更长时间交换意见。来自Simone Orendain in Los Ba?os 的June Simms有更多关于这个报道的信息。

Scientists have already found a way for several kinds of rice to live after being completely covered in water for more than 10 days. About five years ago, farmers in the Philippines, Indonesia and several South Asian countries started growing rice that had been crossbred with a gene¹⁴ called “SUB1.” The gene stops the plant from growing while it is under water, to protect itself.

科学家已经发现了一种方法使一些大米被水完全淹没10天后能够继续生长。大约五年前，在菲律宾，印度尼西亚和一些南亚国家的农民开始种植有“SUB1”杂交基因的水稻。该基因能够使植物在水下时停止增长，从而以保护自己。

Abdelbagi Ismail is a scientist at the International Rice Research Institute. He says close to 25 million hectares of rice is lost to floods in Asia and Africa every year. There are about 150 million hectares of rice worldwide.

Abdelbagi Ismail是国际水稻研究所的一个科学家。他说，在亚洲和非洲每年接近25万公顷稻田因为洪水失去。全球范围内大米大约有150万公顷。

With one seventh of the total crop lost, Abdelbagi Ismail says researchers want to find a way to make flooded rice survive for longer periods.

随着全球农七分之一作物的损失，Abdelbagi Ismail说，研究人员希望找到一种方法，使水淹过的水稻存活更长的时间。

“Now SUB1 can protect up to two weeks, but sometimes we get floods up to 25 days. So we lose it even with SUB1. So we want to see if we can increase flooding tolerance¹⁵ by more than one week- additional to SUB1. So any information that comes from these studies could help us.”

SUB1可以保护大米长达两个星期，但有时洪水持续长达25天，即使有SUBI所以我们也会失去它。因此，我们希望看到，我们可以增加一个多星期额外SUB1耐湿性。这些研究的任何信息都可以帮助我们。“

The International Rice Research Institute is now directing its attention on three areas. The scientists want to help flooded rice sprouts¹⁶ continue to grow normally. They also want to look for other genes¹⁷ that do what SUB1 does. And they want to produce plants that can survive total and partial flooding in soil that never completely drains during the rainy season.

国际水稻研究所一直把注意力放在三个领域。科学家们希望能帮助淹没的秧苗继续正常生长。他们希望能找到像SUBI一样的其他基因。他们想要培植出，在雨季可以生长在不能排水的完全和部分淹没的土壤中。

Laurentius Voesenek is with Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He is working to identify qualities that help plants deal with flooding. His work is on ethylene, a gas released by plants once they are covered with water.

Laurentius Voesenek在荷兰的乌得勒支大学。 他正在努力查明一些特质帮助植物应对洪水。他着手于当植物被水覆盖时释放的气体，乙烯。

“Gases produced by the plant can only very slowly escape. So if production continues it builds up and that is a very reliable signal for the plant to know ‘I’m under water. I’m in trouble. I have to do something. Switch on genes which might protect.’”

“由于植物产生的气体只能非常缓慢地逃脱。因此，如果继续产生气体就可以建立一个非常可靠的信号让植物知道“我在水中。我有麻烦，我必须做点什么。切换可以保护的基因。”

Scientists are also sharing work on crops in standing¹² flooding. Mr. Ismail says this is important to learning about what will help farmers use the wet soil of flooded fields for other crops such as maize¹⁸, wheat and barley¹⁹. I’m June Simms.

科学家们也一直分享对洪水中作物的研究成果。Mr. Ismail说，学习怎样才能帮助农民利用湿水田土壤种植其他作物，如玉米，小麦和大麦也是非常重要的。 我是June Simms。

And that is As It Is. I’m Faith Lapidus in Washington. Thank you for listening.

这是As It Is。 我是华盛顿的Faith Lapidus。感谢你的收听。

1 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

2 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

3 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

4 revolves   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 )；细想

参考例句：

• The earth revolves both round the sun and on its own axis. 地球既公转又自转。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，轮子在轴上旋转。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

6 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

7 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

8 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。

9 constituent   

n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的

参考例句：

• Sugar is the main constituent of candy.食糖是糖果的主要成分。
• Fibre is a natural constituent of a healthy diet.纤维是健康饮食的天然组成部分。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

14 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

15 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

16 sprouts   

n.新芽，嫩枝( sprout的名词复数 )v.发芽( sprout的第三人称单数 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• The wheat sprouts grew perceptibly after the rain. 下了一场雨，麦苗立刻见长。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The sprouts have pushed up the earth. 嫩芽把土顶起来了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

18 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

19 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。