【英语语言学习】一个阿富汗军阀的儿子

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

 

Of the various scenarios¹ that could unfold for Afghanistan after 2014, one group that isn't talking war, the sons of the men who became known as warlords.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Kabul and met 27-year-old Adib Fahim. His father was a man who rose to power with a gun, a Mujahideen, who battled the Soviet² Army through the 1980s.

 

ADIB FAHIM: My memories of when I was younger are full of horrors of the war - when I was four or five of jets flying around above the sky in the village where we were living, and hearing the sounds of bombs getting dropped. Most of the time, our family was led by my mother, and like all the women of Afghanistan who are really the true heroes of the Afghan war.

 

MONTAGNE: Your father, would he have been away a lot that time, fighting the Soviets³?

 

FAHIM: Right. Right. We did not really get to see him a lot.

 

MONTAGNE: Adib's, Marshal Mohammed Fahim, has a name both famous and infamous⁴ in Afghanistan. He was a leader of the Northern Alliance - the former Mujahideen - mostly from the north, who helped drive out the Taliban government.

 

After 2001, Fahim moved into high political positions under President Hamid Karzai and is now a vice⁵ president. Over the years, he's escaped death during several assassination⁶ attempts.

 

The father of Matin Bek was not so lucky. A tribal⁷ leader and member of parliament, Abdul Motalib Bek was killed by a suicide bomber⁸ on December 25th, 2011.

 

Behind the high walls of a quiet garden in Kabul, Matin Bek spoke⁹ of how his father in his 20s was fighting the Soviets. Matin's earliest memories from the 1990's were of powerful men - some with their own militias¹⁰ - gathering¹¹ at his home, and how even as child he understood something bad could happen.

 

MATIN BEK: I had never remember a day, whenever we was to go somewhere with my - for some political event, or somewhere of my father was invited; we would never travel in one car. He would never take me with him to that event. If we would go, we would go in different car. So it meant from the beginning, they have a life which is anytime they can be killed, so we shouldn't be killed all altogether. In a way, we were prepared for that. It was a shock, but it's a harsh reality of a country which is in the war.

 

MONTAGNE: Why would your father have been the target of an assassination? Who wanted him dead?

 

BEK: He was not killed because he was a member of parliament. He was killed, he could mobilize more people if something would gone wrong or after 2014.

 

MONTAGNE: When you say mobilize more people, would that include more armed people?

 

BEK: Well, yeah.

 

MONTAGNE: But, says Matin Bek, since his father was assassinated¹², things have changed. He believes it's no longer thinkable that men like his father might take up arms again. Bek says his generation sees the long-term partnership¹³ agreement with the U.S. as a sign Afghanistan won't be left behind. And the Afghan army, he says, is mostly viewed as a source of protection. Still, Afghans will remember when they were last abandoned; it was the early '90s. The Soviet army had withdrawn¹⁴, Russia stopped funding Afghanistan's own army, which collapsed¹⁵ along with the central government. That power vacuum led to a civil war with the heavily armed mujahideen fighting over Kabul, leaving the city destroyed, tens of thousands dead and accusations¹⁶ of terrible atrocities¹⁷. Among the names that emerged from the chaos¹⁸ from that dark time is Rashid Dostam(ph). He is the father of 23-year-old Bator Dostam(ph). Like these other sons, Bator Dostam defends his father.

 

BATOR DOSTAM: (Through Translator) First of all, it's in the past and I don't believe some of these allegations are true. But, there was some of the, you know, it was this power struggle and my father was accused of a lot of things. And for me, you know, whenever he looks at me, he says you are the future. He looks at me, he says I believe you can do something in the future.

 

MONTAGNE: Now, just barely out of university, Bator Dostam is being groomed¹⁹ for a life in politics. His father has the connections, the money and, not lost on Afghans, a TV station to keep his son in the public eye. Adib Fahim(ph) has already been an advisor²⁰ to two ministries²¹ after getting a Master's degree in public policy from New York University. Matin Bek is among the most influential²² people in his generation. With his master's degree in political science, he's a deputy minister who oversees²³ the appointments of the country's many local leaders from mayors to the governors of provincial²⁴ districts. The only appointed leaders Bek doesn't help name are the governors of provinces still personally chosen by President Karzai. For Matin Bek, this is a mission.

 

MATIN BEK: Where I work, most of the people are young. We want to bring a change and we are trying to bring a change. For example, for the first time, district governors are passing a test, you know. We are recruiting district governor on merit basis.

 

MONTAGNE: And before, what district governors were (unintelligible).

 

BEK: Were politically appointed. And personally, we were appointing them through merit. We believe that. The root of insurgencies in the village, if we can deliver services through a good district governor, if we can mobilize people, if the local government is accountable, responsive to the people and transparent²⁵, we will have a stable society all together. So, we are trying for that. And, of course, we will not be perfect. You know, 100 percent it will not work. I will be happy if 60, 70 percent works. I'm not an idealist. I take all the reality into account. And I think that works and that's working.

 

MONTAGNE: These young men think in terms of political systems, civil society and the lessons of history. I put it to Adib Fahim. Could he foresee himself picking up a gun?

 

FAHIM: Well, those who are dead, like my father, those who face such death situation, they did not do it out of their desire. That was imposed on them. And as an Afghan, as a patriot²⁶, I think if I have to raise the gun to defend the country, to defend common human values, I will do that.

 

MONTAGNE: Do you think there's any realistic likelihood of that?

 

FAHIM: Oh, well, I cannot foresee the future. However, today, the terms have changed and the younger people, like myself, who are hopeful of becoming players in the future of the country, we do not have to be playing in the same way that the previous generation did.

 

MONTAGNE: The sons of the warlords past on Afghanistan's future on MORNING EDITION from NPR News.

1 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 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。

3 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

4 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

5 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。

6 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

7 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

8 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

9 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。

10 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

13 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

14 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

15 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

16 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

17 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

19 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

21 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

22 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

23 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

24 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

25 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

26 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。