2007年VOA标准英语-Moscow Air Show Demonstrates Russian Commercial

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
24 August 2007
 
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday opened the Moscow International Aviation and Space Show, the eighth such event in the Russian capital since 1993.  At the opening ceremony, Mr. Putin emphasized the need to develop his country's high technology for commercial as well as military applications.   VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky has this report from the once-secret Zhukovsky air base near Moscow.

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Visitors to the air show at the once-secret airbase got close-up looks at civilian and military aircraft

Much of the six-day Moscow Air Show is devoted² to the sale of commercial aircraft.   They include Russian helicopters for rescue operations, a specialized³ plane for low-level flight over water and frozen tundra⁴, jet engines designed in Ukraine and produced by Russia, and American Gulf⁵ Stream jets, which are being heavily advertised for Russian businesspeople.

The air show's festive⁶ atmosphere and demonstration⁷ flights by old-time biplanes underscore the sheer pleasure of flying.

Russian military aviation is also on display, though much of the country's air force, including the TU-160 strategic bomber⁸, has been grounded since the Soviet⁹ collapse¹⁰ in 1991. 

On August 17th, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the resumption of his country's strategic aviation. "I have made a decision to renew the flights of strategic aviation on a permanent basis and today, at midnight, 14 strategic bombers¹¹ of Russia, together with support planes and refueling tankers¹², took off from seven airfields¹³ in various parts of Russia. It was the beginning of combat air patrol with 20 aircraft taking part," said the president.

Numerous military aircraft were on display

The announcement is one of several signs of recent Russian military muscle-flexing. They include military exercises with China and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a presidential visit to a radar¹⁴ installation near Saint Petersburg, and the Kremlin's suspension of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty.

Many Russians welcome such moves.  Alexander Zasorin, a helicopter maintenance engineer, offers this assessment¹⁵ of his country's military potential since the period of late-Soviet reforms known as perestroika. "After perestroika, when the Russian economy stagnated¹⁶, I would have said at the time our potential was weak.  But now it's being reborn."

American and other foreign observers at the Moscow Air Show give Russian military technology high marks.  They add, however, it is too early to assess the country's overall high tech potential.  Colonel Manuel Murato is the Spanish military attaché in Moscow. "Russia has been making a big effort during the last years, and according to my colleagues, it seems that this is something that will be improving in the following years,” he says. “It's too early to assess this potential, but I'm sure that in a few – maybe not in a few years, maybe a few months – we can say some words about it."

The first commercial deals reported at the Moscow Air Show involve the sale of Russian passenger planes to Cuba and Iran.  The two contracts are worth more than $350 million.

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

4 tundra   

n.苔原，冻土地带

参考例句：

• The arctic tundra is at the top of the world around the North Pole.北极冻原是指北极点周边的地区，是世界最高的地方。
• There is a large amount of methane gas under the Siberian tundra.西伯利亚的冻土地带之下有大量的甲烷气体。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

7 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

8 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

9 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。

10 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。

11 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

13 airfields   

n.（较小的无建筑的）飞机场( airfield的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For several days traffic fromthe Naples airfields was partially interrupted. 那不勒斯机场的对外交通部分地停顿了数天。 来自辞典例句
• We have achieved a great amount of destruction at airfields and air bases. 我们已把机场和空军基地大加破坏。 来自辞典例句

14 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

15 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

16 stagnated   

v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句
• His mind has stagnated since his retirement. 他退休后头脑迟钝了。 来自辞典例句