VOA常速英语2018--美国再次制裁俄罗斯

The poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a Russian nerve agent happened five months ago. But Russia is feeling the consequences now. Moscow is not pleased but has responded cautiously to the new round of US sanctions.

谢尔盖 斯克里帕尔(Sergei Skripal)及其女儿尤利娅遭受俄罗斯神经毒剂谋害一事发生于5个月前，但俄罗斯是现在才感受到事情的后果。虽然俄罗斯不乐意，对于美国的新一轮制裁，俄罗斯的回应还是十分谨慎的。

It is still too early to talk about countermeasures until we have concrete and official information. Generally speaking, we consider the alignment¹ of new restrictions² which we consider illegal with the Salisbury case absolutely unacceptable. The announcement shook Russia’s economy with the ruble dipping to a two-year low and shares of Aeroflot and other Russian companies fell.

现在谈论应对策略还为时过早，毕竟我们还没有获得具体的官方消息。总体来说，我们认为将一连串不合法的新制裁牵扯到索尔兹伯里的案子上是不可接受的。这次制裁消息的宣布使俄罗斯经济动荡，卢比下滑到两年来的最低水平，俄罗斯国际航空公司等俄罗斯公司股价纷纷下跌。

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said President Donald Trump³ and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have clearly laid out US policy toward Russia. We’d like to have a better relationship with the Russian government, recognizing that we have a lot of areas of mutual⁴ concern. It is a major country. We are all major country as well and so when you have that, you are forced to have to have conversations with other governments. And sanctions is a way that we can try to encourage better behavior on the part of government.

国务院发言人希瑟 努尔特(Heather Nauert)表示，特朗普总统及国务卿彭配偶已明确表达过美国对俄政策。我们希望能与俄罗斯政府达成更好的关系，因为我们认识到有很多领域都是双方共同关切的。俄罗斯是大国，可谁又不是大国呢。既然已经有了大国的标签，就必须要与其他政府对话。制裁只是我们激发俄罗斯政府的一种方式。

Some analysts⁵ agree that sanctions can impact a government’s behavior. I think more importantly, it sends a real deterrent⁶ signal that if Russia or any country pursues the use of chemical or biological weapons against foreign nationals, or even its own citizens, former citizens in this case, then there will be a price to pay for that.

一些分析师认为，制裁一个政府，可以影响它的行为。我认为更重要的是，制裁发送了一个威慑性的真实信号，即俄罗斯或者任何国家一旦寻求对境外人士乃至本国公民或曾是本国公民的人使用生化武器的话，就要付出代价。

But Simakovsky says the US is sending mixed signals to Moscow with tough sanctions following what some viewed as an overly conciliatory stance by Trump toward Putin at last month’s summit.

但Simakovsky表示，美国发出的信号有多种，除了对俄罗斯政府施加严酷制裁之外，在此之前，特朗普还曾在上个月与普京会晤期间表达了和解信号过重的立场。

1 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。