voa标准英语2008年-Ukraine - A Nation Split by Language and Histor

Ukraine is a country divided by language and history. Western Ukraine, which speaks Ukrainian, was under benevolent¹ Austro-Hungarian rule until World War I. Russified Eastern Ukraine was under Russian imperial domination for centuries. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky recently visited coal mining regions in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east and Ukrainian-speaking west, and reports that miners are united on economic issues, but differ on the emphasis they place on divisive cultural issues.
　

Mykhailo Kazybrid and his wife Hanna Fedorivna

Mykhailo Kazybrid is the head of the independent coal miners union at Mine Shaft² Number Eight in the Western Ukrainian town of Sosnivka. Having worked in mines for more than 30 years, he is concerned some could be closed, devastating³ the local economy and people's lives.

Kozybrid and his wife of 44 years, Hanna Fedorivna, agree that eastern and western Ukrainian miners are united by difficult working conditions and equally low pay.

"If we talk about the economy, it is the same in Lviv Oblast and the Lviv Coal Basin along with the economy in the Luhansk and Donetsk Basins. They are all one and the same," he says.

One-thousand kilometers east, in the industrial city of Makiivka near Donetsk, 30-year mine veteran Nikolai Vorobyov now works mostly above ground in an electric shop.
　

Nikolai and Liubov Vorobyov

Vorobyov is an ethnic⁴ Russian, but has only distant relatives in Russia. He is married to a Ukrainian, Liubov. Both believe that solutions to Ukraine's economic problems are better addressed by Kyiv, the capital of independent Ukraine, not Moscow - the seat of the former Soviet⁵ empire.

He says that is the way it should be and he says some people suggest greater authority should be given to regional authorities. He says local rule is desirable, would be much easier and would help to spot problems - each family, as they say, settles their own problems.

Graffiti in Makiivka says Ukraine's eastern Donbas mining region is Russian, though public opinion surveys indicate only a small local minority holds such views. In Donetsk, some streets still carry the names of bloody⁶ Soviet-era functionaries⁷ and a monument to former secret police chief Felix Dzerzhinsky still stands.
　

Stepan Bandera Monument in Lviv

In western Ukraine, streets are being renamed in honor of Ukrainians who fought against foreign occupation, and Lviv has erected⁸ a monument to nationalist leader Stepan Bandera, who is portrayed⁹ in the east as a Nazi¹⁰ collaborator¹¹, though he spent most of the war in a German concentration camp and his forces fought both Nazis¹² and Soviets¹³.

Hanna Kazybrid moved to Chervonohrad with her husband 44 years ago from the far eastern Ukrainian city of Artemivsk. She says her compatriots back home do not understand the sentiments western Ukrainians have for their native language and struggle for independence.

She says she has argued with her sister about the issue and told her, 'You are Ukrainian!' She said, 'I cannot speak Ukrainian.' But how is that, Kazybrid asks, she is of Ukrainian stock.

Liubov Vorobyova explains that eastern Ukrainians are simply accustomed to Russian, and that language should not divide people from one another.

She says it all depends on the country having a good steward¹⁴. She says instead of inventing linguistic¹⁵ barriers, it is better that he deal with the economy; to develop industry more so that people can work on production.
　

Miners enter shaft in Western Ukraine

Ukrainians nationwide complain equally about unemployment, lousy roads, water cutoffs, cold apartments and overall dilapidation¹⁶, saying such things weigh upon their human dignity.

Some parts of eastern Ukraine were under Russian domination for more than 350 years and many local residents say a sound Ukrainian economy will resolve all cultural issues.

Ukrainians in the west, however, spent only about 50 years under Moscow's influence. For them, the Ukrainian language and history are precious spiritual values damaged by the very forces that undermined not only the economy, but the liberty of their nation.

1 benevolent   

adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的

参考例句：

• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
• He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly.他是一个仁慈的老人，连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。

2 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 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。

6 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

7 functionaries   

n.公职人员，官员( functionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Indian transmitters were court functionaries, not missionaries. 印度文化的传递者都是朝廷的官员而不是传教士。 来自辞典例句
• All government institutions functionaries must implement state laws, decrees and policies. 所有政府机关极其工作人员都必须认真执行国家的法律，法规和政策。 来自互联网

8 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

9 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

11 collaborator   

n.合作者，协作者

参考例句：

• I need a collaborator to help me. 我需要个人跟我合作，帮我的忙。
• His collaborator, Hooke, was of a different opinion. 他的合作者霍克持有不同的看法。

12 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 steward   

n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员

参考例句：

• He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
• He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员，到过世界各地。

15 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

16 dilapidation   

n.倒塌；毁坏

参考例句：

• Yet all this was apart from any extraordinary dilapidation.特别破落的样子倒也找不出。
• The farmhouse had fallen into a state of dilapidation.农舍落到了破败的境地。