搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。
(单词翻译)
North Korea has test fired a suspected long-range missile
Experts say the North is applying pressure on Washington over a deepening freeze in nuclear negotiations2. The White House condemned3 North Korea for its latest test of a long-range ballistic missile.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The White House says it strongly condemns4 North Korea for its latest test of a long-range ballistic missile. The ICBM test, also confirmed by Japan and South Korea, is North Korea's first since 2017. NPR's Anthony Kuhn joins us from Seoul to talk about the implications of all this. Good morning, Anthony.
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE5: Hi, Rachel.
MARTIN: First off, what other details do we know about how this happened and what kind of missile it was?
KUHN: South Korea's military says this missile was fired from an airfield6 on the outskirts7 of Pyongyang. It landed in the sea, closer to Japan than in recent tests, and that triggered condemnation8 from Tokyo. South Korea says the missile traveled eastward9 for 670 miles, but it reached a maximum altitude of 3,850 miles, and that is believed to be farther and higher than the last ICBM, which they tested in 2017. So there is concern here that this could be North Korea's biggest, newest and most powerful ICBM to date. North Korea itself hasn't said what it fired, and we could hear about that from their state media on Friday. Now, some sort of ICBM test was expected, and the U.S. and South Korea have been watching for it.
MARTIN: South Korea's leader is saying that this crossed a red line. Those are his words. Explain what that means here.
KUHN: Well, in fact, North Korea is believed to have already conducted two ICBM tests this year, which they said were satellite tests, but U.S. and South Korea say were actually cover. And the reason they fired them at these steep angles and claimed they were satellites is because they didn't want to trigger a strong response, perhaps, such as more international sanctions or slamming the door shut on negotiations. This time, they may or may not have wanted to cross that line and break this moratorium10 which has been in place since 2017. But whatever the case, they did get a different response this time. South Korea says they've crossed a red line, and South Korea has fired several kinds of missiles, including surface-to-surface missiles in response, which they haven't done previously11, and they've triggered very strong condemnations from foreign capitals, including Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.
MARTIN: I mean, you said earlier that North Korea has been developing this bigger, stronger ICBM that would put the whole of the U.S. in its range, but can you speak more broadly about North Korea's larger missile development program?
KUHN: Yeah, well, they're basically one year into a five-year plan to upgrade their nuclear arsenal12, and that includes developing ICBMs that are capable of reaching the U.S. with multiple warheads. Expert opinion is sort of divided on how far they are from that goal, but what is clear is that nuclear negotiations with the U.S. have been stalled since 2019, and it could be years before North Korea completes work on its weapons and lays its cards on the table and says, here is what we got, and, you know, what can we get for this in the way of security guarantees and sanctions relief?
MARTIN: Of course, all of this is happening - this particular test - during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The world is focused there. Is the timing13 just a coincidence? Is there anything intentional14 about it?
KUHN: Experts say North Korea shows a pattern of trying to kill two birds with one stone - that is, testing weapons both to master a technology and to send a political message at the same time. The messages here could include that North Korea will not be ignored regardless of what else is going on in the world, or that North Korea will not go out like Ukraine, Libya or other countries that were denuclearized and then either attacked or overthrown15.
MARTIN: NPR's Anthony Kuhn, reporting from Seoul. Thank you.
KUHN: Thank you, Rachel.
1 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 negotiations | |
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 condemns | |
v.(通常因道义上的原因而)谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 );宣判;宣布…不能使用;迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 airfield | |
n.飞机场 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 outskirts | |
n.郊外,郊区 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 condemnation | |
n.谴责; 定罪 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 eastward | |
adv.向东;adj.向东的;n.东方,东部 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 moratorium | |
n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期),延期偿付 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 arsenal | |
n.兵工厂,军械库 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 timing | |
n.时间安排,时间选择 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 intentional | |
adj.故意的,有意(识)的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 overthrown | |
adj. 打翻的,推倒的,倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。