VOA慢速英语2014 美国及盟国能否摧毁伊斯兰国?

 

Will US, Allies Destroy Islamic State Group? 美国及盟国能否摧毁伊斯兰国?

From VOA Learning English, this is In The News.

美国之音慢速学英语节目，这里是时事新闻。

This week, Islamic State militants¹ released a video showing the execution of an American journalist. Steven Sotloff was captured in Syria in August of last year. He worked for Time and Foreign Policy magazines.

本周，伊斯兰国激进分子发布了一段视频，显示处决一名美国记者的画面。史蒂芬·索特洛夫(Steven Sotloff)于去年八月份在叙利亚被俘。他为《时代》和《外交政策》杂志工作。

His death and the earlier execution of another American journalist, James Foley, have angered many people in the United States. President Barack Obama says the “horrific” killing³ of Steven Sotloff will unite the country and strengthen its resolve in dealing⁴ with terrorists. The president spoke⁵ on Wednesday during a visit to Estonia. He said the United States plans to build a coalition⁶ to, in his words, “degrade and destroy” the Islamic State militants.

他的死亡和早些时候另外一美国记者詹姆斯·福莱(Steven Sotloff)被处决触怒了美国许多人。奥巴马总统表示，史蒂芬·索特洛夫(StevenSotloff)被残忍杀害促使全国团结起来，增强了打击恐怖分子的信心。周三，奥巴马总统访问爱沙尼亚期间发表讲话。他表示，美国计划组建联盟，“瓦解和摧毁”伊斯兰国激进分子。

“We will not be intimidated⁷. Their horrific acts only unite us as a country and stiffen⁸ our resolve to take the fight against these terrorists.” 

“我们不会被恐吓。他们的恐怖行为只会让我们整个国家团结起来，增强我们打击恐怖分子的决心。”

Steven Sotloff was from the state of Florida. The state’s governor, Rick Scott, halted a political campaign event to announce the reporter’s death and condemn⁹ those responsible.

史蒂芬·索特洛夫(Steven Sotloff)来自佛罗里达州。该州州长斯格特(Rick Scott)停止了一场政治竞选活动，宣布这位记者的死讯，并谴责了暴徒。

“The people who did this are evil. They are not merely wrong. They are not adversaries¹⁰. They are evil.” 

“实施这些暴行的人就是魔鬼。他们不仅仅是错了，不仅仅是敌人。他们是魔鬼。”

Members of the U.S. Congress have expressed concern about the threat from Islamic State militants. Some members are demanding intensive air attacks. Senator Ted² Cruz of Texas is likely to seek the presidential nomination¹¹ of the Republican Party in 2016. Senator Cruz spoke to a political gathering¹² a few days ago. He denounced the group known as the Islamic State, also called ISIS.

美国国会成员曾表示担忧伊斯兰国激进分子造成的威胁。一些成员要求实施密集的空袭。德克萨斯州参议员Ted Cruz可能寻求被共和党人提名为2016年总统候选人。参议员Ted Cruz几天前在一场政治聚会上发表讲话。他谴责了伊斯兰国激进组织，也叫做ISIS。

“Well, ISIS says they want to go back and reject modernity. Well, I think we should help them. We ought to bomb them back to the Stone Age.” 

“ISIS宣称他们想要回到过去，拒绝现代化。好的，我认为我们应该帮助他们。我们应该把他们炸回石器时代。”

But other lawmakers appear willing to give the Obama administration more time to develop a plan for dealing with the Islamic State. Washington Congressman¹³ Adam Smith is a member of Mr. Obama’s Democratic Party. He appeared on the CBS television program “Face the Nation.”

但是其他议员似乎愿意给奥巴马政府更多时间来制定打击伊斯兰国的计划。华盛顿议员Adam Smith是奥巴马民主党成员。他参加了CBS电视台的《面向全国》节目。

“It takes time to build a coalition. We can’t simply bomb first and ask questions later. We have to have the right targets and the right support in order to be effective in stopping ISIS.”

“要打造联盟需要时间。我们不能简单地先轰炸再提问。为了有效地制止ISIS，我们必须有正确的目标，正确的支持。”

There have been few public opinion surveys about the threat from the militants and what the United States should do about it. One recent poll taken before the murder of Steven Sotloff found Americans divided on the question of whether to intervene in Iraq.

关于伊斯兰国激进分子造成的威胁，以及美国应该如何应对已经进行了一些民意调查。史蒂芬·索特洛夫被杀害之前最新的一次民意调查发现美国人关于是否应该干预伊拉克事务意见不一。

Karlyn Bowman studies U.S. public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. She says many Americans are likely to see the Islamic State as a threat worthy¹⁴ of some form of military action.

Karlyn Bowman在华盛顿特区美国企业研究所研究美国民意。她表示，许多美国人可能认为伊斯兰国造成巨大的威胁，值得美国采取一些军事行动。

However, public support is not likely to extend to the use of U.S. ground troops, says John Mueller of Ohio State University.

然而，公共支持不会拓展至允许美国派遣军队。俄亥俄州立大学的John Mueller表示。

The American public will have many chances to express itself in the weeks to come. Congress returns to Washington next week. How the United States should react to the Islamic State is likely to be a major issue. Some lawmakers are already urging the president to seek congressional approval before launching a wider military campaign against the group.

未来几周，美国公众将有很多机会表达自己的看法。下周国会将重返华盛顿。美国如何应对伊斯兰国将成为重大议题。一些议员已经在敦促总统对该组织发动更广泛的军事行动时寻求国会批准。

1 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。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 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。

4 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。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

7 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 stiffen   

v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬

参考例句：

• The blood supply to the skin is reduced when muscles stiffen.当肌肉变得僵硬时，皮肤的供血量就减少了。
• I was breathing hard,and my legs were beginning to stiffen.这时我却气吁喘喘地开始感到脚有点僵硬。

9 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

10 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

11 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

12 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。

13 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

14 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。