VOA标准英语2011--START Treaty Ushered in New Nuclear Era

START Treaty Ushered¹ in New Nuclear Era

1991 was the year that U.S.-Soviet² strategic relations took a historic turn. And in that same year, as the Soviet Union dissolved, a special program to collect and lock up the former Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal³ was created.

Roughly 20 years ago, in December 1991, the Soviet Union came to an end. And in that year, the so-called "Cold War" between Moscow and Washington that began at the end of World War Two underwent a historic transformation⁴ with the START treaty.

For the first time in history, the two superpowers agreed that year to significantly reduce nuclear weapons that could reach each other's soil, as well as the missiles, aircraft and other means of delivering them.

RAND Corporation analyst⁵ Olga Oliker explains what happened in 1991 that changed decades of rivalry⁶ into a new sense of joint⁷ nuclear responsibility.

"The process of negotiations⁸ was an indication that people were realizing how important this [treaty] was," said Oliker. "And it was something that, both in the Soviet Union and the United States, people wanted. Everyone had realized that the arms race had gotten out of control."

To some observers, it was, instead, a reaction to the increasing burden of Soviet deficiencies. Former U.S. national security adviser⁹ Zbigniew Brzezinski.

"They had no alternative," said Brzezinski. "They increasingly realized that in a situation in which the United States and the Soviet Union were to compete in arming themselves, the advantage economically and technologically¹⁰ was increasingly with the United States."

START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was signed on July 31, 1991. Under its terms, both nations agreed to each have no more than 6,000 deployed¹¹ nuclear warheads and only 1,600 delivery vehicles.

The Soviets¹² went from limiting arms to actually reducing nuclear stockpiles because the process maintained appearances that were vital to Moscow on the world stage. U.S. arms negotiator David Smith.

"Remember these are the things - these treaties, SALT, then START - kept them perceptually in the political game as equals of the United States," said Smith. "And that was more important than the number count."

1991 also produced another historic superpower development, the "Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program." The United States committed substantial funds and personnel to assist its nuclear rival in a manner unthinkable in previous decades.

"What the arrangement involved was, essentially¹³, was an orderly accounting¹⁴ of the [Soviet nuclear] weapons, safeguarding of the weapons, and the removal of them from the reach by elements that could be equally damaging and dangerous to the former Soviet Union or to the West," added Brzezinski.

In a November 2011 address, Nunn-Lugar co-creator Senator Richard Lugar lists the program's results.

"Nunn-Lugar has deactivated¹⁵ 7,601 nuclear warheads in the former Soviet Union - strategic warheads based on missiles - more than the arsenals¹⁶ of France, Britain and China combined. The program has destroyed 2,366 nuclear capable missiles, on which those warheads were placed," noted¹⁷ Lugar.

Nunn-Lugar is credited with helping¹⁸ three former Soviet republics - Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan - become nuclear free in the 1990s.

1 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》

2 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。

3 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

4 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。

11 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

12 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

13 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

14 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

15 deactivated   

v.解除动员( deactivate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；复员；使不活动

参考例句：

• \"The brain can be deactivated. It can be yours to command.\" “大脑计算机可以被停止。如果你下达命令的话。” 来自互联网
• He successfully deactivated a nuclear reactor in a laboratory before meltdown. 他成功停用一个核反应堆在实验室之前崩溃。 来自互联网

16 arsenals   

n.兵工厂，军火库( arsenal的名词复数 )；任何事物的集成

参考例句：

• We possess-each of us-nuclear arsenals capable of annihilating humanity. 我们两国都拥有能够毁灭全人类的核武库。 来自辞典例句
• Arsenals are factories that produce weapons. 军工厂是生产武器的工厂。 来自互联网

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。