VOA慢速英语2018 法国仍在排除第一次世界大战残留的炸弹

For France, 100 Years of World War I Cleanup Still to Come

In a few weeks, the world will mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. But experts in France say it could be another 100 years before France is cleansed¹ from the weapons left behind.

几个星期后，全球将迎来第一次世界大战结束100周年。但是法国专家表示，法国可能还需要100年才能完全清除当时留下的武器。

In fields across eastern France, bomb experts continue searching for ammunition² and other equipment left from the conflict. Some remain unexploded and dangerous.

在法国东部的各个地区，炸弹专家还在搜寻那次冲突留下的弹药和其它设备，其中一些仍未爆炸并且有危险。

The Meuse river runs through Vilosnes-Haraumont, a town near the city of Verdun. The German army placed thousands of shells in the river after the battle of Mort Homme in 1916.

默兹河穿过了凡尔登市的维洛斯内阿罗蒙镇。1916年的莫尔翁战役之后，德军在河中安放了数千枚炸弹。

Last week, two divers³ jumped into the cold waters to tie ropes around many artillery⁴ shells buried in the river. Then a large machine carefully lifted the old bombs out of the water and placed them on the grass. In one day, workers removed more than five tons of unexploded shells from the Meuse.

上周，两名潜水员跳入了冰冷的水中，将绳子绑在河中埋着的许多炸弹上，然后一台大型机器小心翼翼地将这些炸弹从水中拉出来，并放到草地上。在一天之内，工作人员从默兹河中移走了超过5吨未爆炸的炸弹。

A demining center in Metz, France, says it collects between 45 and 50 tons of bombs a year. The center says there are at least 250 to 300 tons still buried in the nearby rivers and hills of eastern France.

法国梅斯的一家排雷中心称其每年清除45吨到50吨炸弹。该中心表示，法国东部的河流山丘附近至少还埋着250吨到300吨的炸弹。

Guy Momper is the bomb clearance⁵ expert leading the removal effort. “We need to tidy up the land,” he said. When a shell is found, he said, “we go out and collect it.”

盖伊·蒙佩尔（Guy Momper）是领导这次炸弹清理工作的拆弹专家。他说：“我们需要清理干净这些土地。”当发现炸弹时，“我们就去清除它们。”

Accidents

事故

World War I was mostly fought on French and Belgian land. More than 10 million soldiers, including 1.4 million French, died in the war. The soldiers dug trenches⁶; long, narrow spaces in the ground from which they would fight. The war changed the land of France, Germany and Belgium.

第一次世界大战主要是在法国和比利时的国土上进行的。超过1000万士兵在战争中丧生，其中包括140万法国人。士兵们挖了战壕，它们在这样狭长的地面空间里作战。这场战争改变了法国、德国和比利时的国土。

It ended on Nov. 11, 1918. But, its effects can still be seen. Old trenches are still in the fields and the ground still has many holes from exploded bombs.

这场战争于1918年11月11日结束。但是，它的影响仍然可以看到。过去的战壕仍然在田地里，地面上还有很多弹坑。

The bombs pulled from the Meuse river have little risk of exploding, but Momper and his team want to be sure there are no accidents. The team places the shells beside the road next to the river, to await their safe removal.

从默兹河中拉出来的炸弹几乎没有爆炸的危险，但是蒙佩尔和他的团队希望确保不发生事故。该团队将炮弹放在河边的路旁，等待它们的安全拆除。

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

tidy – v. to make (something) tidy : to make (something) clean and organized

1 cleansed   

弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The nurse cleansed the wound before stitching it. 护士先把伤口弄干净后才把它缝合。
• The notorious Hell Row was burned down in a fire, and much dirt was cleansed away. 臭名远场的阎王路已在一场大火中化为乌有，许多焦土灰烬被清除一空。

2 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

3 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

4 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

5 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

6 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。