美国国家公共电台 NPR--Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who helped end the Cold War, has died

Former Soviet¹ leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who helped end the Cold War, has died

Transcript²

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who played a pivotal role in the end of the Cold War, has died at the age of 91 in Moscow.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The man who oversaw³ the end of the Cold War and then the end of the Soviet Union has died. NPR's Charles Maynes remembers Mikhail Gorbachev.

CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE⁴: When Mikhail Gorbachev was named general secretary of the USSR in 1985, he inherited the leadership of a superpower badly in need of repair. And Gorbachev, the youngest member of the Politburo at just 54 years old, had ideas for how to fix it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: "Political reforms were necessary," he insisted, just as he maintained the Soviet Union and communist ideals were worth saving. Gorbachev introduced the concept of glasnost, an opening up of Soviet society, that brought with it new freedoms and perestroika, a policy to make the Soviet economy more dynamic. He also engaged with the USSR's rival, the United States, sealing a series of landmark⁵ nuclear arms control agreements with President Ronald Reagan, who enjoyed showing off a Russian phrase he'd picked up from Gorbachev along the way.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RONALD REAGAN: Mr. General Secretary, though my pronunciation may give you difficulty, the maxim⁶ is doveryai no proveryai - trust but verify.

(LAUGHTER)

GORBACHEV: (Through interpreter) You repeat that at every meeting.

(LAUGHTER)

MAYNES: Gorbachev's efforts to defuse the Cold War made him and his wife and longtime confidant Raisa into global stars. But at home, the picture was more complicated. Gorbachev struggled to ride the wave of democratic changes underway, often pleasing neither reformers, who wanted more faster, nor conservatives, many of whom resented his withdrawal⁷ of Soviet forces from Eastern Europe as a wave of democratic revolution swept the region.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: A bright, sunny day in Moscow, a sad day for the people who were supporting reform.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: They have replaced Mikhail Gorbachev as president with Gennady Yanayev, the conservative vice⁸ president.

MAYNES: He survived a failed coup⁹ by communist hardliners in 1991, only to see his rival, Boris Yeltsin, seize the reform mantle¹⁰ and then dismantle¹¹ the Soviet Union a few months later. In the three decades since the end of the Cold War, much of Gorbachev's legacy¹² of a freer, more open Russia was also wiped away. Today's Russian leader, President Vladimir Putin, calls the collapse¹³ of the Soviet Union, the very one Gorbachev presided over, the greatest catastrophe¹⁴ of the 20th century. Charles Maynes, NPR News.

1 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。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

6 maxim   

n.格言，箴言

参考例句：

• Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
• "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。

7 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

9 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

10 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

11 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

12 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

13 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。

14 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。