VOA标准英语2010-From Russia With Love for US Marines

About an hour's drive from Washington, in the state of Virginia, is the U.S. Marine¹ Corps² Base Quantico.  It's the only place in the United States where American Marine officers are trained for battle. One of these Marine officers is a lieutenant³ who came to Quantico by way of Russia.

26-year-old Lilly Alexei immigrated⁴ to the United States, along with her parents, when she was 13.  The family settled in California, near a large military base, and that has a lot to do with where Alexei is now.  Fascinated by the training exercises conducted at the base, she promised herself she would enlist⁵ in the Marines when she was old enough.  When the time came, her parents objected.  They only relented when Alexei said that she would instead become a police officer in a dangerous neighborhood.  She has no regrets about her choice.

"This is what I always wanted to do.  And I am glad that I have chosen this profession.  I think this will be my career. I will stay at it for 20 years.  I am very happy about that," she said.

Alexei is one of the several hundred lieutenants⁶, from many different backgrounds and nationalities, training now at Quantico.  This is the only place in the country where officers of the U.S. Marine Corps are trained for war. 

Colonel George W. Smith, commanding officer of Quantico's Basic Training School, says fitness and skills are only part of what it takes to be a Marine officer.  Having a strong character is just as important, perhaps most important.  "That character piece is the foundation.  As we like to say, when you are put in very challenging environments, like the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, or recently in western Iraq.  Will your moral compass always point true north," he said.

As part of their training, Marines at Quantico are placed in situations that closely resemble real war, particularly the military theater in Afghanistan. 

These concrete structures are a simulation of an Afghan town.  Insurgents⁷ have pushed out the civilian⁸ population and are hiding in the buildings.  The Marines' mission is to root them out. 

This battle is not real war, of course.  The Marines are shooting blanks.  Their guns are equipped with a special device that emits laser beams each time a Marine pulls a trigger.  The vests and helmets they are wearing have special sensors⁹, which detect the direction of laser "rounds."  When a Marine gets hit by a laser beam, his weapon gets de-activated.  He is considered "dead."    

"It angers me more than anything.  We are not able to participate, we are not able to do anything to help the mission or anything like that," said the marine.

Another feature of the simulation includes a checkpoint about 200 meters from the battlefield.  Here, Marines learn how to search vehicles and people for possible explosives.   The "role payers" in this exercise are actual Afghan refugees.   In the war in Afghanistan, U.S. troops are not only fighting insurgents - they are expected to win over the hearts and minds of the local population.  Bobby Booker, another Marine in the training program, says that cultural sensitivity is essential. 

"As far as cultural sensitivities, we brought him back to the vehicle, not to disrespect him or his family.  So that we don't have two Marines essentially¹⁰ standing¹¹ over his wife while he was off.  So, we brought him back closer to his vehicle, so that he could see his wife.  So we did not offend him or his family at all," he said.

The mission is accomplished¹² when all insurgents are captured or killed.  At the end of the operation, commanding officers debrief¹³ Marines.  They analyze¹⁴ strategy and tactics, and talk about mistakes.  The purpose of these exercises is to save lives in the future, when Marines are sent out on real missions.  And Lilly Alexei is looking forward to that.

"I want to be in all the places where the military will send me.  And of course I want to go to Afghanistan, now it's where all the action is," she said.

For Lieutenant Lilly Alexei, the military exercises today may be vital practice for real battles in the future.
 

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

4 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

5 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

6 lieutenants   

n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员

参考例句：

• In the army, lieutenants are subordinate to captains. 在陆军中，中尉是上尉的下级。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lieutenants now cap at 1.5 from 1. Recon at 1. 中尉现在由1人口增加的1.5人口。侦查小组成员为1人口。 来自互联网

7 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

9 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

13 debrief   

v.向…询问情况，听取汇报

参考例句：

• The men have been debriefed by British and Saudi officials.英国和沙特阿拉伯的官员听取了他们的情况汇报。
• He went to Rio after the CIA had debriefed him.他向中央情报局汇报完任务执行情况后就去了里约热内卢。

14 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。