美国国家公共电台 NPR Tillerson Confirms North Korea Missile An ICBM, Calls For Global Action

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

North Korea now claims it can send a nuclear missile anywhere in the world.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Speaking Korean).

KELLY: That's the way North Koreans heard the news from an anchor on state TV. This is the latest of many times that the country tested a ballistic missile. This one flew nearly 40 minutes before landing in Japanese waters. And that timing¹ is important because it's one clue suggesting the range of the missile. A big question is whether North Korea has a missile that could strike the U.S. Another big question is whether North Korea can fit a nuclear weapon on board. NPR correspondent Elise Hu is on the line now from Seoul. Hey, Elise.

ELISE HU, BYLINE²: Good morning.

KELLY: Good morning. Start with those big questions, if you would. How significant a milestone³ is this?

HU: Well, it's really quite significant from a technological⁴ and a political standpoint. North Korea has been working towards this goal of a missile that could potentially reach the United States for long before Kim Jong Un came to power. What we know is it flew about 600 miles in distance, but it reached an altitude of about 1,500 miles.

That means it flew higher than the International Space Station and above many satellites in orbit, then turned around and came down, falling into the waters near Japan into Japan's exclusive economic zone. And if you flatten⁵ that trajectory⁶ and fly that missile forward instead of up, that is what would put all of Alaska at risk.

KELLY: Well, we watch now to see how the U.S. might respond. President Trump⁷ has weighed in on the situation on Twitter, not surprisingly. What'd he say?

HU: He said that he was hoping that maybe China would move on this threat or move on the nuclear possibility of North Korea. And it's unclear what move on means here. China's foreign ministry⁸ has already condemned⁹ the test. And we're going to see the usual rounds of condemnations and talk of taking strong measures. But President Trump hasn't offered any specifics beyond this heavy move against North Korea that he talked about...

KELLY: Well, I know from...

HU: ...In his tweet.

KELLY: I know from years of covering the North Korea situation from here in Washington that they're - it's often described as the land of bad policy options. If there were a good option, it would have been taken by now. Is there a sign, do you think, that the international community at some point is just going to have to accept North Korea as a nuclear power?

HU: Well, as you know, Mary Louise, we're going to hear a lot of debate about this in the coming days. An ICBM would put Japan, South Korea, the United States in a much tougher negotiating position. And a lot of analysts¹⁰ have been saying North Korea has really reached a point where it's no longer realistic to go for that long-standing U.S. goal of denuclearizing North Korea, that instead the conversation should be about getting North Korea to a freeze to stop it from advancing its capabilities¹¹.

I spoke¹² with Melissa Hanham, a researcher with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. She says given this difficult spot, it's time for efforts to really engage North Korea diplomatically.

MELISSA HANHAM: We need to have really serious conversations amongst ourselves and with allies about what we're willing to trade because so far there has been no price that was worth paying to stop their program.

HU: And time is tight. This is a tough, tough problem for the international community.

KELLY: OK. That's NPR's Elise Hu updating us on this latest test - missile test by North Korea. Elise, thank you.

HU: You bet.

1 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

2 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。

3 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

4 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

5 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

6 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• 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。

8 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。

9 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：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。