VOA慢速英语2018 俄罗斯将举行近年来最大规模军事演习

Russia to Hold Biggest Military Exercises in Years

Russia is making plans to hold its biggest war games in nearly 40 years.

俄罗斯将举行近40年来最大规模的军事演习。

Russian Defense¹ Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the military exercises on Tuesday. He said they will take place next month and also involve the armies of China and Mongolia.

周二，俄罗斯国防部长谢尔盖·绍伊古（Sergei Shoigu）宣布了此次军事演习。他说，军事演习将于下月举行，中国和蒙古的军队也将参加。

The Reuters news agency says the exercises, called Vostok-2018, will take place in Russia’s central and eastern military districts. It will involve almost 300,000 troops, over 1,000 military aircraft, and two of Russia’s naval² fleets, Shoigu said in a statement.

据路透社报道，这次名为“沃斯托克-2018”的演习将在俄罗斯的中东部军区举行。绍伊古在一份声明中表示，军演阵容将涉及近30万军队，1000多架军用飞机以及两支海军舰队。

The war games are coming at a time of increased tensions between Russia and the West. Russian officials are concerned about what they say is an unjustified build-up of the NATO military alliance along their country’s western borders.

这次军演正值俄罗斯和西方国家的紧张局势不断加剧之际。俄罗斯官员对其所说的北约军事联盟在该国西部边境的“不合理集结”表示担忧。

NATO officials say the alliance strengthened its forces in Europe to stop possible Russian military action after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. They add that the Russian government supported a pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

北约官员表示，自2014年俄罗斯从乌克兰手中接管克里米亚后，为了防止俄罗斯进一步军事行动，该联盟加强了在欧洲的军事力量。他们补充说，俄罗斯政府支持乌克兰东部的亲俄叛军。

The war games will take place from September 11 to 15. They are likely to displease⁴ Japan, which is already worried about a Russian military build-up in East Asia.

军事演习将于9月11日至15日举行。此举可能会惹怒日本，日本一直对俄罗斯在东亚的军事集结十分担忧。

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to attend a meeting in the Russian city of Vladivostok over the same period. A Japanese Foreign Ministry⁵ official said on Tuesday that Japan is closely watching military cooperation between Russia and China.

与此同时，日本首相安倍晋三将参加在俄罗斯城市符拉迪沃斯托克举行的会议。周二，日本外务省官员表示，日本正密切关注中国与俄罗斯的军事合作。

The Russian defense minister said the war games would be the biggest since 1981. That was 10 years before the collapse⁶ of the Soviet⁷ Union.

俄罗斯国防部长称，此次军演将成为1981年以来规模最大的一次，也就是苏联解体的10年前。

A more forceful Russia

更强有力的俄罗斯

When asked if the cost of holding such a massive exercise was justified³, a Russian government spokesman said such war games were important.

当被问及举行如此大规模军演的代价是否合理时，俄罗斯政府发言人表示，此类军演很重要。

“The country’s ability to defend itself in the current international situation, which is often aggressive and unfriendly towards our country, means (the exercise) is justified,” the official said.

该官员表示：“在当前这种常常面临侵略和不友好的国际大背景下，俄罗斯自身的防御能力意味着（这次军演）是合理的。”

When asked if Chinese involvement meant China and Russia were moving towards an alliance, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it showed that the two countries were cooperating in all areas.

当被问到中国参与是否意味着中俄两国正走向联盟时，发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫（Dmitry Peskov）表示，这表明两国正在各个领域进行合作。

China and Russia have held military exercises together before, but never exercises this large.

中国和俄罗斯曾举行过联合军事演习，只是从未达到如此大的规模。

NATO spokesman Dylan White said that Russia had told the alliance about the planned exercises in May. He said NATO planned to watch it closely.

北约发言人迪伦·怀特（Dylan White）表示，俄罗斯于今年5月向北约告知了这次既定演习。他表示，北约将密切关注这次行动。

Russia has invited military attaches from NATO countries to observe the war games. White said that offer was under consideration.

俄罗斯邀请了北约军事人员观摩这次军事演习。怀特表示，北约会慎重考虑这项邀约。

“All nations have the right to exercise their armed forces,” he wrote in an email. He added that it is important that exercises be “transparent” and “predictable.”

他在一份电子邮件中回复称：“所有国家均有权进行军事演习。”他还补充说，重要的是演习要“透明”和“可预测”。

Russia is “increasing its defense budget and its military presence,” White said, adding that these large exercises show that Russia appears to be preparing for large conflicts.

怀特表示，俄罗斯正在加大国防预算并提升军事实力。他补充说，这种大型军事演习表明俄罗斯似乎正在为大规模冲突做准备。

Shoigu had earlier announced the start of immediate⁸ conflict readiness checks in the central and eastern military areas before the planned exercises.

早前，绍伊古宣布在这次演习开始之前，将直接检查中东部军区的冲突准备情况。

Words in This Story

fleet – n. a group of military ships that are controlled by one leader

district – n. an area or a part of something

attache’ – n. a person who works at an embassy as an expert on a particular subject

transparent– adj. able to be seen clearly

checks – n. to stop and see if everything or everyone is prepared to act

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

3 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

4 displease   

vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气

参考例句：

• Not wishing to displease her,he avoided answering the question.为了不惹她生气，他对这个问题避而不答。
• She couldn't afford to displease her boss.她得罪不起她的上司。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 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。