VOA标准英语2015--聚焦华盛顿:关注乌克兰危机

 

Washington Week: Focus on Ukraine Crisis 聚焦华盛顿:关注乌克兰危机

WASHINGTON—

The coming week will see continued focus on the crisis in Ukraine, beginning with President Barack Obama hosting German Chancellor¹ Angela Merkel at the White House later Monday. It remains² to be seen whether a renewed international push for peace in Ukraine will bear fruit, and whether the United States will send lethal³ military assistance to Kyiv.

As Ukrainian forces battle pro-Russian rebels, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany spoke⁴ by telephone to discuss a Franco-German plan to revive a shattered peace effort. The leaders are expected to meet in Minsk, Belarus Wednesday in hopes of restoring last year’s cease-fire that never fully⁵ took hold and broke down entirely⁶ in recent weeks.

At a security conference in Munich, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States and its allies are united in backing Ukraine.

“We will stand together in support of Ukraine and in defense⁷ of the common understanding that international borders must not, cannot, be changed by force in Europe or anywhere else,” said Kerry.

Other officials stressed the need for dialogue. Germany’s foreign minister said, “permanent security in Europe can only come with Russia, not against Russia,” while France’s foreign minister said, “nobody wants to get trapped in a raging war that is in no one’s interest.”

Kerry denied any split between the United States and its major allies on Ukraine.

“I keep hearing people trying to create one (a division)," he said. "We are united, we are working closely together. We all agree the challenge will not end through military force. We are united in diplomacy⁸. But the longer it takes, the more the off-ramps (solutions) are avoided, the more we will be forced to raise the costs on Russia and its proxies⁹.”

The time has come to back up such words with concrete actions, according to Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, who says Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to dominate Ukraine.”

“Some say that Ukraine cannot defeat Russia militarily," said McCain. "That is the wrong question. The right question is, if we help Ukrainians increase the military cost to the Russian forces that have invaded their country - how long can Putin sustain a war that he tells his people is not happening? That is why we must provide defensive¹⁰ arms to Ukraine.”

So far, the Obama administration has neither committed to nor ruled out lethal military assistance to Ukraine, an option that to date has public backing only in Washington and Kyiv.

1 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

2 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。

3 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

4 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。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 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。

9 proxies   

n.代表权( proxy的名词复数 )；（测算用的）代替物；（对代理人的）委托书；（英国国教教区献给主教等的）巡游费

参考例句：

• SOCKS and proxies are unavailable. Try connecting to XX again? socks和代理不可用。尝试重新连接到XX吗？ 来自互联网
• All proxies are still down. Continue with direct connections? 所有的代理仍然有故障。继续直接连接吗？ 来自互联网

10 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。