2006年VOA标准英语-Mourners Mark 20th Anniversary of Chernoby

By Lisa McAdams
Moscow
26 April 2006
 

Ukrainians participate in a ceremony to commemorate¹ those who died after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, at the memorial to Chernobyl firefighters in the city of Slavutich, Tuesday, April 25, 2006  
  
Mourners in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are marking the 20th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl, with day-long ceremonies and vigils honoring the millions of people affected² by the disaster.  The pre-dawn explosion, sparked by a failed experiment, hurled³ radiation across vast parts of the three former Soviet⁴ republics, as well as large parts of Europe. 

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Bells tolled⁶ and sirens blared at the now-closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine at the exact time two explosions rocked reactor⁷ number four, spewing a huge radioactive cloud into the air, 20 years ago.

In the capital, Kiev, mourners joined a solemn gathering⁸ of dignitaries to place red candles and carnations⁹ beside stone burial slabs¹⁰ engraved¹¹ with pictures of the dead. Orthodox priests led the mourners in prayers, punctuated¹² by tears.

In neighboring Russia, President Vladimir Putin honored so-called liquidators, men who were sent in virtually unprotected to deal with the disaster's clean-up at great risk to their lives. 

In a Kremlin ceremony broadcast on Russian television, President Putin said the men's selflessness helped to save many lives.

The exact death toll⁵ resulting from the world's worst nuclear disaster may never be known.  Within days of the accident, at least 50 died from radiation exposure, but thousands have since developed life-threatening diseases caused by radiation exposure.  Estimates say that from 9,000 to 90,000 may eventually suffer health problems or die prematurely¹³ because of the accident.  Hundreds of thousands of others were forced to leave their homes behind forever.
 

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko  
  
Opening an international conference in Kiev earlier this week, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko appealed to the world's wealthiest nations to again contribute to the cost of cleaning up the disaster.  Mr. Yushchenko says Kiev anticipates the cost will reach $170 billion by 2015.

The president says one of the biggest expected outlays¹⁴ is for the second sarcophagus, or protective shell over the plant.  Experts say the shell is urgently needed to prevent a possible second catastrophe¹⁵ at Chernobyl.

Belarus, which was directly downwind of the radiation fall-out, suffered some of the worst effects.  There, President Alexander Lukashenko is expected to spend the day touring villages and farms, in a bid to press his policy of rehabilitating¹⁶ affected areas.  The policy is viewed as controversial by some, who believe the land remains¹⁷ far too polluted for human settlement. 

Opposition¹⁸ groups in Belarus are expected to hold what has become an annual demonstration¹⁹ in the capital to protest what it says was the government's mishandling of Chernobyl's aftermath.

This year's demonstration takes on heightened significance as it could signal whether the political opposition can advance the momentum²⁰ it gained during last month's unprecedented²¹ weeklong protests against Mr. Lukashenko's government.

1 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 tolled   

鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Bells were tolled all over the country at the King's death. 全国为国王之死而鸣钟。
• The church bell tolled the hour. 教堂的钟声报时。

7 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

8 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。

9 carnations   

n.麝香石竹，康乃馨( carnation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You should also include some carnations to emphasize your underlying meaning.\" 另外要配上石竹花来加重这涵意的力量。” 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• Five men per ha. were required for rose production, 6 or 7 men for carnations. 种植玫瑰每公顷需5个男劳力，香石竹需6、7个男劳力。 来自辞典例句

10 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

11 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 punctuated   

v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物

参考例句：

• Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause. 她的讲演不时被阵阵掌声打断。
• The audience punctuated his speech by outbursts of applause. 听众不时以阵阵掌声打断他的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

14 outlays   

v.支出，费用( outlay的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They report substantial slashes in this year's defense outlays. 他们报道今年度国防经费的大量削减。 来自辞典例句
• For MU, there were no upfront risks or cash outlays. 对摩托罗拉大学而言，没有风险或现金费用。 来自互联网

15 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。

16 rehabilitating   

改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的现在分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• She was more concerned about protecting the public than rehabilitating the criminal. 她比较关心保护百姓，而不大关心改造罪犯。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

19 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

20 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

21 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。