VOA标准英语2014--调查人员终于赶到MH17失事地点

 

Investigators¹ Finally Reach MH17 Crash Site 调查人员终于赶到MH17失事地点

LONDON —

A team around 100 international investigators and police was able to visit Friday the crash site of Malaysian Airlines flight 17 in eastern Ukraine. The inspectors² had been forced to turn back several times this week due to heavy fighting between Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebel forces.

More than two weeks after MH17 plunged³ from the skies over eastern Ukraine, a full team of investigators finally reached it.

Parts of the plane are strewn across 50 square kilometers. It’s believed that about 80 bodies are yet to be found.

Australian Federal Police Commander Brian McDonald emphasized that his forces are in Ukraine only to recover bodies.

“This is about the recovery of human remains⁴ and trying to give some closure for those poor victims that lost people through this really tragic⁵ event. But it is a crime scene, we'll treat it like a crime scene,” said McDonald.

Surrounding conflict

The sound of distant gunfire and mortars⁶ drifted across the crash site. It’s still not clear who is in control of the territory.

Several Ukrainian soldiers were killed late Thursday in an ambush⁷ on their convoy⁸ in Shakhtarsk, just 20 kilometers from the wreckage⁹ of MH17.

Ukraine's National Security Spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the army plans to encircle the rebels.

He said that the rebels are trying to defend Shakhtarsk from the Ukrainian army. They are doing that because Shakhtarsk is a strategic point that would allow Ukrainian forces to cut off Luhansk from Donetsk, the two main rebel strongholds.

Ukraine and its Western allies blame the pro-Moscow separatists for shooting down the plane with a Russian-made missile. The separatists are also accused of tampering¹⁰ with the wreckage. Russia and the rebels deny involvement.

Tighter sanctions

The United States and Europe this week ratcheted up sanctions against the Russian banking¹¹, oil and defense¹² industries.

Russia banned the import of all fruit and vegetables from Poland on Friday, for what it says are violations¹³ of health regulations.

Warsaw is convinced the move is retaliation¹⁴ for its criticism of Moscow.

Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz, Poland’s Interior Minister, said, “If you fight with values, you will always have to pay for it. We pay in apples, it is good that we are not paying in blood.”

The investigators said they are working as fast as possible on the crash site, but they said will judge the safety of their mission one day at a time.

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

4 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。

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

7 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

8 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

9 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

10 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

11 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

12 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。

13 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

14 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》