俄军用运输机赴叙利亚途中坠毁 92人遇难

 　　A Russian military aircraft crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday, and none of the 92 people on board were expected to have survived, according to the Russian defence ministry¹.

　　俄罗斯国防部表示，俄罗斯一架军用飞机周日在飞往叙利亚途中坠入黑海，机上搭载的92人已经全部遇难。

　　Among those on board the Tupolev-154 were members of the well-known Alexandrov Choir², who were to perform at Hmeymim air base. From that base, in Latakia province, Russia has flown most of the air strikes that ultimately helped turn the Syrian civil war in favour of president Bashar al-Assad.

　　搭乘这架图波列夫—154（Tupolev-154，简称图-154）飞机的乘客包括著名的亚历山德罗夫红旗歌舞团合唱团(Alexandrov Choir)的成员，他们此行是为了前往赫迈米姆(Hmeymim)的空军基地表演。从这个位于叙利亚拉塔基亚省(Latakia)的基地起飞的俄军战机，执行了绝大部分空袭任务，最终推动叙利亚内战向着有利于巴沙尔.阿萨德(Bashar al-Assad)总统的方向发展。

　　The aircraft, which had come from Moscow, departed from Sochi at 5.30am local time after a refuelling stop and disappeared from the radar³ within minutes. By mid-morning the defence ministry said a search mission had spotted⁴ the wreckage⁵ and some bodies off the Black Sea coast.

　　这架飞机从莫斯科起飞，在索契停留加油后于当地时间清晨5时30分再次起飞，几分钟后从雷达上消失。当天上午，俄罗斯国防部称，搜索小组在黑海岸边发现了飞机残骸和一些遇难者的遗体。

　　Coming only days after Russia’s ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead in the Turkish capital of Ankara by a gunman who invoked⁶ the Syrian city of Aleppo, the crash could again draw attention to Moscow’s military campaign in Syria — not a big topic for public opinion in the country so far.

　　仅仅几天前，俄罗斯大使安德烈.卡洛夫(Andrei Karlov)在俄罗斯首都安卡拉遭到一名呼喊了与阿勒颇(Aleppo)相关口号的袭击者枪击身亡，此次坠机事件可能再次把人们的注意力吸引到俄罗斯在叙利亚的军事行动上——迄今这并非俄罗斯公众舆论的重要话题。

　　According to a passenger list published by the defence ministry, the aircraft carried 64 members of the choir, nine journalists, eight soldiers, two other government officials, one aid worker and a crew of eight.

　　据俄罗斯国防部公布的乘客名单显示，这架飞机上共搭载了64名合唱队成员、9名记者、8名军人、另外2名政府官员、1名援助工作者和8名机组成员。

　　On the list was Elizaveta Glinka, a prominent aid worker widely known as “Dr Liza”, who was to bring medicines to the university hospital in Latakia. “We hoped for a miracle until the end. She herself was a miracle, a heavenly messenger of virtue,” Mikhail Fedotov, head of the presidential human rights council, said in an obituary⁷.

　　名单上包括被广泛称为“丽莎医生”(Dr Liza)的著名援助工作者伊丽莎白.格林卡(Elizaveta Glinka)，她此行的目的是给拉塔基亚省的大学医院送药。“我们曾希望最后会有奇迹出现。她本人就是奇迹，是来自天上的美德使者，”总统人权理事会的负责人米哈伊尔.费多托夫(Mikhail Fedotov)在讣告中表示。

　　Russian media quoted anonymous⁸ sources as saying investigators⁹ were focusing on a technical malfunction¹⁰ as a potential cause of the crash. But the Kremlin said it was too early to speculate about the cause.

　　俄罗斯媒体援引匿名消息来源称，调查人员目前对坠机可能原因的调查重点放在机械故障上。但是克里姆林宫表示，现在推断事故原因为时过早。

　　The Tupolev 154, designed in the 1960s, was the standard aircraft model in civil aviation during the later Soviet¹¹ years and the period after the collapse¹² of the USSR. While Russian state carrier Aeroflot has since replaced most Tupolevs with new imported Boeing or Airbus aircraft, the Russian military continues to use many ageing Tupolevs.

　　图-154机型于上世纪60年代设计，是苏联末期和解体后一段时间内民航使用的标准机型。尽管自那之后国有的俄罗斯国际航空公司(Aeroflot)已经以新引进的波音(Boeing)或空客(Airbus)飞机替换了绝大部分图波列夫飞机，但是俄罗斯军方继续使用很多老旧的图波列夫飞机。

　　The age of the aircraft could not immediately be confirmed. The defence ministry said it was flown by an experienced pilot. The Tupolev was last repaired in 2014 and had undergone a maintenance check this year.

　　这架飞机的机龄无法得到立即证实。俄罗斯国防部称，该机的驾驶员经验丰富。这架图波列夫上一次维修是在2014年，今年也进行了维修检查。

　　The Investigative Committee, the federal government body that probes large and severe criminal cases, opened a criminal investigation¹³ into the crash — a routine measure.

　　俄罗斯调查大型和严重刑事案件的联邦政府机构——侦查委员会(Investigative Committee)对此次坠机事件启动了刑事调查，这是一种例行措施。

　　President Vladimir Putin sent condolences to the families of the victims and ordered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to personally oversee¹⁴ a government investigation into the crash.

　　俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔.普京(Vladimir Putin)向遇难者家属表达了哀悼，并且命令总理德米特里.梅德韦杰夫(Dmitry Medvedev)亲自挂帅政府调查。

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

3 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

4 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

5 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。

6 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 obituary   

n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的

参考例句：

• The obituary records the whole life of the deceased.讣文记述了这位死者的生平。
• Five days after the letter came,he found Andersen s obituary in the morning paper.收到那封信五天后，他在早报上发现了安德森的讣告。

8 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

9 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》

10 malfunction   

vi.发生功能故障，发生故障，显示机能失常

参考例句：

• There must have been a computer malfunction.一定是出了电脑故障。
• Results have been delayed owing to a malfunction in the computer.由于电脑发生故障，计算结果推迟了。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。