VOA慢速英语--普京批评美国公布俄罗斯权力榜
时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:2018年VOA慢速英语(一)月
Putin Criticizes US for Publishing List of Influential 1 Russians
Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the United States for releasing a list of over 200 people with close ties to the Russian government.
Putin described the release as a hostile and “stupid” move led by opponents of U.S. President Donald Trump 2.
The U.S. Treasury 3 Department published the list on Monday as required under a law approved by Congress. Lawmakers who voted for the measure wanted to punish Russia for interfering 4 in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Some Russians worried that the publication of the list would lead to additional U.S. actions or restrictions 5 from the global financial system. But the publication does not include any new sanctions.
In a written statement, a State Department official said just the threat of sanctions had already affected 6 Russian companies. She said that U.S. officials estimate other countries have cancelled plans to buy several billion dollars’ worth of products from Russia’s defense 7 industry.
Putin said his government is not going to take any immediate 8 action to answer the U.S. list. And, he said, he did not expect the publication to have an effect.
But the Russian leader also said he was surprised by the number and range of the government officials and business people who were listed.
He said, “Ordinary Russian citizens, employees and entire industries are behind each of those people and companies. So all 146 million people have essentially 9 been put on this list. What is the point of this? I don’t understand.”
Putin also joked that he was offended he was not included. However, every other top Russian government official was, along with the chief executives of all major-state owned companies.
The list shows that the U.S. sees the entire Russian government as enemies, a spokesperson for Putin told reporters on Tuesday.
The chairman of the Russian foreign affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, criticized the U.S. for harming relations between the countries. He said that “the consequences will be toxic 10 and undermine prospects 12 for cooperation for years ahead.”
Kosachev said the list shows U.S. lawmakers’ “political paranoia 13.”
But Russian opposition 14 leader Alexei Navalny praised the list.
Navalny is known for investigating what he calls close ties between government officials and some of the billionaires on the list. The opposition leader wrote on social media that he was “glad that these (people) have been officially recognized on the international level as crooks 15 and thieves.”
Last August, President Trump reluctantly agreed to sign a bill aimed to take measures against groups doing “significant” business with people linked to Russia’s defense and intelligence agencies.
Trump said at the time that the bill improperly 16 limited the president’s power. He said the measures also hurt American companies and the interests of America's allies in Europe.
Some U.S. lawmakers said they were disappointed President Trump had chosen not to punish anyone. Among them is Steny Hoyer, a top Democratic lawmaker in the House of Representatives.
Hoyer said he did not believe the Trump government had "put forth 17 a plan for how it plans to deter 18 further Russian aggression 19."
I’m Jonathan Evans.
Words in This Story
global – adj. of or involving the whole world
sanction – n. a punishment or actions that results from failure to obey a rule or order
range – n. a group of individuals
toxic – adj. possessing poisonous material; harmful
undermine – v. to weaken or secretly harm
prospect 11 – n. the possibility that something will happen
paranoia – n. a serious mental disorder 20; an unreasonable 21 fear that people are trying to harm you
reluctantly – adj. showing an unwillingness 22
deter – v. to prevent from acting
- He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
- He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。
- 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。
- The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
- This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。
- 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
- She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
- His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
- 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。
- 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。
- Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
- She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。
- The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
- There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。
- This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
- The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
- There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
- They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。
- Her passion for cleanliness borders on paranoia.她的洁癖近乎偏执。
- The push for reform is also motivated by political paranoia.竞选的改革运动也受到政治偏执狂症的推动。
- The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
- The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
- The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛!
- He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。
- The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
- He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
- Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
- Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。
- So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结,就不必惧怕外来侵略。
- Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。
- When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后,他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
- It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。
- I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
- They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。
- Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题,这不利于她所处的形势。
- His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱,他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。