2006年VOA标准英语-Russians Shrug Off 15-Year Anniversary of Faile

By Bill Gasperini
Moscow
20 August 2006

This weekend Russia marks the 15th anniversary of the failed coup¹ attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev that ushered² in the end of the Soviet³ Union. The latest polls show the Russians are sharply divided on the coup.

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About 100 Communist party supporters gathered on Moscow's Red Square to denounce the event that led to the Soviet Union's collapse⁴ 15 years ago. Waving red flags, the mostly elderly protesters voiced their regret that the group of Communist hardliners failed in their attempt to oust⁵ Mikhail Gorbachev from power in 1991.

Another group of people with mostly opposing views held a rally near the spot where former-President Boris Yeltsin got up on a tank and denounced the coup attempt, raising the morale⁶ of tens of thousands of anti-Communist protesters outside the Russian White House.

Hardline Communists who organized the coup ordered tanks into the streets of Moscow and restricted the movement of then President Gorbachev. But the opposition⁷ staged massive protests, and, after three days, the coup collapsed⁸. Three people died in the protest.

One woman, who took part in the August 1991 protests, says it was the high point of her life. She says that by coming out into the streets to block the coup attempt, for the first time ordinary people did what they knew had to be done, and not what they were told to do by the Soviet authorities.

Others at the rally praised what they called the anniversary of our democratic revolution and the birth of a new, free Russia."

But most Russians appear indifferent to the pivotal events of that time. In a recent poll by the independent Levada Center, the Communist coup plotters won slightly more support than Boris Yeltsin and his supporters. However, more than half of those questioned said they favored neither side, viewing the coup as a power struggle between ruling elites⁹.

Recent media talk shows have also revealed many Russians do not give the early 1990s much thought, saying they are more caught up in what's happening today.

President Vladimir Putin himself has called the 1991 Soviet collapse the "biggest geopolitical catastrophe¹⁰" of the 20th century, although he insists that Russia has now emerged from that time as a strong power.

1 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

2 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 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。

5 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

6 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

10 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。