VOA常速英语2014--Washington Week: US Renewing Focus on Syria 聚焦华盛顿:美国重新关注叙利亚

 

Washington Week: US Renewing Focus on Syria 聚焦华盛顿:美国重新关注叙利亚

U.S. President Barack Obama is sharpening Washington’s focus on Syria after the breakdown¹ of U.N.-mediated talks aimed at ending the country’s bloody² civil war.

美国总统奥巴马正在把华盛顿注意力更加集中在叙利亚问题上，此前由联合国调停的旨在结束叙利亚血腥内战的会谈已经中断。

Diplomatic roadblocks are forcing the United States to reassess its approach to Syria. Obama honed in on some of the burning issues.

 外交途径上的障碍迫使美国重新评估其处理叙利亚问题的方法。

“There are going to be some immediate³ steps we have to take to help the humanitarian⁴ situation there. There will be some immediate steps we can take to apply more pressure to the Assad regime, and we are going to be taking a look with all the parties concerned to try to move forward on a diplomatic solution,” said Obama.

 奥巴马总统说：“将会有一些我们必须采取的直接步骤，帮助那里的人道主义状况。会有一些我们可以采取的直接步骤，对阿萨德政权施加更多压力。我们将与所有的有关各方协商，努力推进一项外交解决方案。 “

The U.S. president spoke⁵ after U.N. mediator⁶ Lakhdar Brahimi said days of negotiations⁷ between the Syrian government and a rebel coalition⁸ deadlocked⁹ over a transitional authority to rule Syria in a post-Assad era.

美国总统奥巴马发表上述讲话之前，联合国调停人卜拉希米说，叙利亚政府和反政府联盟之间的多日谈判，在关于治理后阿萨德时代的叙利亚的过渡权力机构问题上陷入了僵局。

“I think it is better that every side goes back and reflects and takes responsibility.  Do they want this [peace] process to take place or not?” - asked Brahimi.

卜拉希米说：“我认为，最好各方都回去，反思一下，并且承担责任……他们是要这个（和平）进程存在呢，还是不要？”

Government and rebel representatives traded accusations¹⁰ over the impasse¹¹.  Meanwhile, bloodletting in Syria continues.

政府和反政府代表就这个僵局互相指责。同时，流血冲突继续在叙利亚发生。

U.S. lawmakers are taking note of the carnage. Senator John McCain is demanding a stronger U.S. response.

美国国会议员正在关注这场屠杀。约翰·麦凯恩参议员要求美国作出一个更强有力反应。

“Where is the President Obama who has said he refuses to accept that brutal¹² tyrants¹³ can slaughter¹⁴ their people with impunity¹⁵, while the most powerful nation in the history of the world looks on and stands by?  Where is our outrage¹⁶, where is our shame?” – asked McCain.

 美国国会共和党参议员约翰·麦凯恩说：“奥巴马总统在哪里呢？他曾说过，他拒绝接受残酷的暴君能够屠杀他们的人民而不受惩罚的情况，而现在有史以来世界上最强大的国家正在袖手旁观。 ”

The Republican senator has long advocated establishing a no-fly zone over Syria and arming rebel groups not linked to al-Qaida.

 麦凯恩长期以来一直主张在叙利亚上空建立一个禁飞区，并且给跟基地组织没有关联的叙利亚反政府组织提供武器。

“It is true that our options to help end the conflict in Syria were never good, and they are certainly worse and fewer now.  But no one should believe we are without options even now,” said McCain.

约翰·麦凯恩参议员说：“确实，我们帮助结束叙利亚冲突的选项从来都不好，现在的选项肯定更差而且更少了。但是，即使现在，没有人应该认为我们没有选项了。 ”

White House spokesman Jay Carney responded to the senator's comments.

白宫发言人杰伊.卡尼对这位参议员的评论作出了回应。

“I am not sure what exactly he is advocating; if he is advocating a U.S. invasion of Syria? I do not know. Is he advocating a bombing campaign?” – asked Carney.

卡尼说： “我不知道他究竟在主张什么，他是不是在主张美国入侵叙利亚？我不知道。”

The administration has ruled out deployment¹⁷ of U.S. troops on the ground in Syria.

 奥巴马政府已经排除向叙利亚派地面部队。

 

Carney said diplomacy¹⁸ remains¹⁹ the best hope for peace in Syria, stressing that the Obama administration will hold the Assad government responsible for what he termed “the brutality²⁰ it has inflicted²¹ on the Syrian people.”

卡尼说，外交努力仍然是叙利亚和平的最佳希望，但奥巴马政府将对他所说的“攻击伤害叙利亚人民的暴行”向阿萨德政府追究责任。

1 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

2 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

3 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。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

7 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。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

10 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

11 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

12 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

13 tyrants   

专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a succession of tyrants. 这个国家接连遭受暴君的统治。
• The people suffered under foreign tyrants. 人民在异族暴君的统治下受苦受难。

14 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

15 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

16 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

17 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

18 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

19 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

20 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

21 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。