VOA常速英语2020--美国宣称俄方同意叙利亚难民回国是有所图谋

Next, an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government. For nearly ten years, Syria has been abusing its people in the worst ways possible. The regime, led by Bashar al Assad, has attacked peaceful protestors with tanks and guns. It dropped barrel bombs filled with gasoline and high explosives on its population and suffocated¹ entire neighborhoods and villages with poison gas. Syrian citizens were maimed and tortured and killed by starvation and chemicals and fire. In Syria, civilians² were not mere³ casualties of war, they were—and still are—targets. As a result, out of a pre-war population of 23 million people, around 500,000 have been killed, 6.5 million are internally displaced while some 5.6 million are refugees in neighboring countries. But now Assad, the architect of these atrocities⁴, is calling for the refugees to return to Syria. Echoing this demand is his supporter and enabler, Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a recent refugee conference co-hosted in Damascus by Syria and Russia, Assad and Putin insisted that civil war is over and that many areas of the largely shattered country are now at peace. At the same time, Russia insisted that reconstruction⁵ of the war-destroyed country must precede the return of Syrian refugees, claiming that refugees will only be able to go back home if the West is willing to pay to rebuild Syria. This is a blatant⁶ attempt by Russia to cash in by helping⁷ its companies snag lucrative⁸ reconstruction contracts.

以下是一篇反映美国政府政策立场的社论。近十年来，叙利亚一直在以最恶劣的方式欺压叙利亚人民。巴沙尔·阿萨德领导的政权用坦克和枪支袭击了和平抗议者。阿萨德政权向民众投掷装满汽油和烈性炸药的桶装炸弹，并用毒气让整个社区和村庄陷入窒息。叙利亚公民还遭受饥饿、化学品和战火的严重摧残、折磨和杀戮。在叙利亚，平民不仅仅是战争的牺牲品，他们从过去到现在一直是攻击目标。结果，叙利亚战前的2300万人口已经有大约50万人丧生，650万人在国内流离失所，约560万难民逃到了邻国。但现在，这些暴行的策划者阿萨德却呼吁难民返回叙利亚。与这一要求相呼应的是阿萨德的支持者和推动者，俄罗斯总统普京。阿萨德和普京最近在叙利亚与俄罗斯在大马士革共同主办的难民会议上坚持认为，内战结束了，叙利亚这个基本被摧毁的国家现在很多地区都实现了和平。与此同时，俄罗斯坚持在叙利亚难民返回之前，必须先重建这个被战争摧毁的国家，声称只有西方国家愿意出资重建叙利亚，难民才能回家。俄罗斯这是公然企图帮助自己的公司获取有利可图的重建合同，并以此获利。

The refugees do not trust Assad’s promises. Western countries are also not buying it and insist that reconstruction funds will be made available only when all political prisoners are released, the safety of all Syrians is guaranteed, and Syria’s political process is deemed to be legitimate⁹. “The Assad regime, with Russian backing, is seeking to use millions of vulnerable refugees as political pawns¹⁰ in an attempt to falsely claim that the Syrian conflict is over,” said State Department Deputy Spokesman Cale Brown in a written statement. “The Assad regime is responsible for the deaths of over 500,000 of its own citizens, the bombing of numerous hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian¹¹ support to millions of Syrian citizens. These are not the actions of a government that can be trusted to determine when refugees might safely return, nor should Assad hold power over directing international reconstruction funds,” he said. “The United States remains¹² committed to the Syrian people and to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, which is the only path to a political solution to the Syrian conflict.” That was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government.

叙利亚难民不相信阿萨德的保证。西方国家也不买账，而且表示只有在所有政治犯被释放，所有叙利亚人的安全得到保障以及叙利亚政治进程被认为是合法的情况下才能提供重建基金。“阿萨德政权在俄罗斯的支持下，正试图利用数百万弱势难民作为政治棋子，企图谎称叙利亚冲突已经结束，”，美国国务院副发言人凯尔·布朗在一份书面声明中表示。“阿萨德政权应对50万多名本国公民死亡、轰炸多家医院以及拒绝向数百万叙利亚公民提供人道主义援助负责。这些都不是一个可以被信任的政府确定难民何时能够安全返回所采取的行动，阿萨德也不应该有能力指导国际重建基金的使用。”。“美国继续致力于维护叙利亚人民和联合国安理会2253号决议案，后者是政治解决叙利亚冲突的唯一途径。”这是一篇反映美国政府政策立场的社论。

1 suffocated   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Many dogs have suffocated in hot cars. 许多狗在热烘烘的汽车里给闷死了。
• I nearly suffocated when the pipe of my breathing apparatus came adrift. 呼吸器上的管子脱落时，我差点给憋死。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

4 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

6 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

7 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。

8 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

9 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

10 pawns   

n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保

参考例句：

• The hostages are being used as political pawns. 人质正被用作政治卒子。
• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 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。