VOA常速英语2007年-S. Korean Freight Trains to Begin Daily Service

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
22 November 2007

South Korea says it is about to start sending freight trains loaded with cargo¹ on daily round trips into North Korea - the first regular North-South train traffic between the two Cold War enemies. VOA's Kurt Achin has more from Seoul.

South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung told reporters Thursday the North-South train traffic will be up and running within weeks.

Lee says cargo trains will soon make a short daily round trip to North Korea starting December 11. He praises the new train route as both significant and practical.

North-South Korean train routes were severed² after North Korea invaded the South in 1950 to start the three-year Korean War. The two sides remain technically³ at war, with only a 1953 armistice⁴ as the backbone⁵ for a tense peace along their heavily armed border.

Since the two sides held their first summit in 2000, however, North-South relations have warmed. After years of famine killed hundreds of thousands of North Koreans in the 1990's, many South Koreans came to see the North through a lens of sympathy rather than fear.

The result has been billions of dollars in South Korean aid, plus investment in economic projects aimed at rescuing the North's decayed economy.

A centerpiece of what South Korea calls its "peace and prosperity" policy toward the North is a South Korean-built and managed industrial zone in the North Korean city of Kaesong.

Unification Minister Lee says the main goal of the new train service is to supply Kaesong, which lies along the 20-kilometer-long route. He says it will now be very easy to keep Kaesong supplied with raw materials, and should help spark the zone's productivity.

Nearly 20,000 North Korean workers are employed by South Korean companies in the zone, mainly manufacturing low-technology consumer goods such as clothing. South Korean authorities say the zone allows the South to cut labor⁶ costs while exposing the Stalinist North to capitalist production methods.

South Korean authorities have not said whether the contents of the daily train shipments will be revealed publicly.

Seoul has come under frequent criticism for sending large amounts of aid to the North with very little monitoring or other strings⁷ attached. Conservative critics of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun say generous South Korean handouts⁸ facilitated Pyongyang's test of a nuclear weapon in October of last year.

South Korean officials say their country has a financial interest in developing train routes in the North. Eventually, they hope to connect their rail network to China, Russia, and Europe via the North. That could help slash⁹ transport costs for producers in the South's export-heavy economy.

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

4 armistice   

n.休战，停战协定

参考例句：

• The two nations signed an armistice.两国签署了停火协议。
• The Italian armistice is nothing but a clumsy trap.意大利的停战不过是一个笨拙的陷阱。

5 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

8 handouts   

救济品( handout的名词复数 )； 施舍物； 印刷品； 讲义

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts. 士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Even after losing his job, he was too proud to accept handouts. 甚至在失去工作后，他仍然很骄傲，不愿接受施舍。

9 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。