时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2015年(三月)


英语课

Ukrainian Forces Prepare to Defend Mariupol 乌克兰军队准备捍卫马里乌波尔


MARIUPOL, UKRAINE—


Despite the ongoing 1 cease-fire in Ukraine, soldiers in the city of Mariupol fear that pro-Russian separatists may be getting ready to attack.


The separatists must take or encircle the city if they wish to gain land access to Crimea, which was annexed 2 by Russia early last year. But Ukrainian forces, many of them volunteers, say they are determined 3 to defend it.


On the hills overlooking the sea of Azov, soldiers of the Ukrainian army are digging in.


These trenches 4, bunkers and fighting positions are part of a network of defenses around Mariupol, a city that many fear is the next target in eastern Ukraine’s pro-Russian rebellion. Despite a cease-fire that began on February 15th, soldiers here are expecting the worst.


“I do not believe in the cease-fire, because no one is obeying the rules of the Minsk negotiations," said Troyeshina, a volunteer fighter with Donbass Battalion 5. "The level of shelling has gone down, but the fighting continues.  That is why I think an attack is coming. If it continues like this, it is going to happen.”


Strategic area


Without either capturing or encircling this city, pro-Russian forces will not have a land bridge to recently annexed Crimea, the strategically vital peninsula that gives the Russian Navy access to the Mediterranean 6.


The rebels have already claimed Mariupol as their own, but Ukrainian forces said they will not leave without a fight.


"The rebels are all saying that Mariupol is an important strategic place, politically important, too," said Sobol, a commander with the 37th Tank Battalion. "But considering our forces and troops, it will be difficult, very difficult for them. Everyone is ready.”


Any possible fight for Mariupol would indeed be terrible. Civilians 8 have already abandoned the areas east of the the city, and Fyodor, a civilian 7, said despite the cease-fire a shell had recently landed in his garden.


“A shell from the sea or from Shyrokyne landed here, and there was an explosion. Three or four more exploded over there," said Fyodor. "There were more, but they landed in the sea."


Mariupol’s airport is now a makeshift military base, and serves as a rest area for volunteer fighters coming in off the front line. Many are filthy 9 and exhausted 10 after days in the freezing trenches.


France has said Russia will face further sanctions if Mariupol is attacked, but few here believe that is a credible 11 deterrent 12. With so much still to gain for both sides in this conflict, the cease-fire seems little more that an opportunity to regroup before the weather improves.



1 ongoing
adj.进行中的,前进的
  • The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
  • The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。
2 annexed
[法] 附加的,附属的
  • Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
  • The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。
3 determined
adj.坚定的;有决心的
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
4 trenches
深沟,地沟( trench的名词复数 ); 战壕
  • life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
  • The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕,并在田野上呈扇形散开。
5 battalion
n.营;部队;大队(的人)
  • The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
  • At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后,队伍解散了。
6 Mediterranean
adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的
  • The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
  • Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。
7 civilian
adj.平民的,民用的,民众的
  • There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
  • He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
8 civilians
平民,百姓( civilian的名词复数 ); 老百姓
  • 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。
9 filthy
adj.卑劣的;恶劣的,肮脏的
  • The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
  • You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发,然后再去买张新的。
10 exhausted
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
11 credible
adj.可信任的,可靠的
  • The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
  • Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法?
12 deterrent
n.阻碍物,制止物;adj.威慑的,遏制的
  • 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。
学英语单词
-pagus
Adelphane
amidala
amphiuma
amplitudinous
Apodacea
Baja Midnight
bantries
begonia lucerna hort.
Beloomut
beneficiary of a transferable credit
benzoxazoles
Beohari
bitangent quadrics
blowable
Bol'shoye, Ozero
brew a plot
calls over
chaos structure
collat
communication control character
continuous pickling
core of vortex
courtesy phones
dedenda
density indicator
depth control unit
discharge funnel for sludge
distribution diagram
dry nurse
duplex wind tunnel
East Las Vegas
ends of top
enter on business
ethnic group
fairy-talelike
ferro-silico-nickel
fibre spectrum
fish berry
flutter simulation
forecooler
formal announcement
fuel allowance
fuzzbox
gap coeffient
governmentally
grass stagger
hair cruces
half-cooling time
heel side
home-shopping
hotgas
in ... element
inact
latex cells
long-term management
luteinizing-hormone releasing hormone
mahmudul
marriage registration office
Middlemarsh
moisture resistance
non-wettable
oqair (al uqayr)
Oued Fodda, Barrage de l'
Oxford accent
oxymel urgineae
paddled conveyor chain
pasture ground
Pernambuco, Estado de
pietrus
positive assurance
power booster fuel
propensed
pseudoblastoderm
Rashida
reference your telegram
regression design
rhabdovirus
rhododendron kanehirai
rip tide
schoolrooms
share of the market
Sinofranchetia
strata album profnndum
tee off current
terminal strong component
textile labor standards
thermocoupled pyrometer
tiphicolous
tubera radii
uncas
urban servitude
uredo dioscoreicola
usage life
Valeriana fedtschenkoi
variable range hopping
vegetable mucilage
Verkhnekolymsk
vestibule (l. vestibulum)
waverlys
yeast-like colony
zweifel