英文媒体如何报道“阿富汗动荡变局”

一、美国政府的“措手不及”

阿富汗民兵组织“塔利班”仅用一个星期左右的时间, 就接连占领二十余座省会城市, 继而拿下首都喀布尔。无论是塔利班取得军事进展的速度, 还是阿富汗政府军崩溃瓦解的速度, 都远远超出了美方原本的“乐观预期”, 我从时政新闻《国会山报》上挑选了这么一处摘录, 包含不少值得积累的知识点: 

The quick Taliban victories and failure of the ANDSF have caught many western analysts off guard. Only days ago, U.S. intelligence analysts estimated it would take 90 days for Kabul to fall to the Taliban, which is cynically laughable in hindsight. Then again, U.S. military and intelligence analysts have been painting highly optimistic pictures of the Afghanistan military for years despite glaring evidence to the contrary. (民兵组织塔利班的速胜与阿富汗国家安全部队的速败都让西方分析人士措手不及。就在几天前, 美国情报部门还预估, 塔利班需要九十天的时间才能拿下首都喀布尔; 事后看来, 美方的错估实在离谱的可笑。其实美国军方和情报部门多年来都夸大了阿富汗政府军的战斗力, 尽管有明显的证据表明情况恰恰相反) —— The Hill

习惯用语“catch somebody off guard”, 指的就是“使 (某人) 措手不及, 趁 (某人) 不警惕时 (做某事)”, 不难理解, 其中catch换成take也可。相关用法示例再比如: 

• The sudden snow storm caught us all off guard. 突如其来的暴风雪使我们措手不及。

• The soldiers moved in quickly, hoping to take the enemy troops off guard. 战士们迅速突入, 希望打得敌人措手不及。

同学们应该熟悉单词foresight (= fore- + sight), 表示“先见之明, 远见卓识”, 其中 fore- 作“before”理解; 对应的单词即hindsight (= hind + sight), 其中 hind 词源与behind紧密相关, 作“back”理解, 整个单词指的就是“后知之明”。我们可以用“foresight is better than hindsight”这个短语来串联记忆这两个对应的单词, 相关用法示例比如: 

• If I were you, I would pay the extra $50 for full insurance coverage while you're traveling. You never know what might happen, and foresight is better than hindsight. 我劝你多花五十美元买一份旅游的全额保险, 谁都不知道可能会发生什么, 事先准备总比事后诸葛要好。

习惯用语“with/in hindsight”指的就是“事后看来”, 相关用法示例再比如:

• With (the benefit/wisdom of) hindsight, I should have taken the job. 事后一看, 我真应该接受那份工作。

• In hindsight, it would have been better to wait. 事后看来, 等一等会更好。

常见词paint除可表示“绘画”, 也可表示“描述” (to describe someone or something in a particular way), 继而有相关短语“paint a (some kind of) picture of (something)”, 其中可以添加terrible、depressing、grim、rosy、gloomy等描述性词汇, 相关用法示例比如“The board meeting painted a pretty grim picture of the company's future.” (董事会对公司的未来前景不甚乐观), 再比如摘录中“painting highly optimistic pictures of the Afghanistan military”指的就是美方“夸大”了阿富汗政府军的实力。

单词glaring本义表示“刺眼的, 耀眼的, 眩目的”, 比如“the glaring light of high noon” (正午刺眼的光), 继而再可拓展衍生表示“十分显眼的, 易见的, 明显的”, 并且多带有负面意味 (very bad and very noticeable), 比如“glaring errors” (扎眼的错误)、“a glaring injustice” (明显的不公正)、“a glaring example of political corruption” (政治腐败的典型示例)。

摘录中选用“glaring evidence”来表述“(体现阿富汗政府军战斗力低下的、负面的) 明显证据”, 相较于常见的“clear evidence”要准确、加分一些, 可以参考积累。相关外刊示例再比如: 

• The Glaring Evidence That Free Speech Is Threatened on Campus (校园言论自由受到威胁的明显证据) —— The Atlantic

• Like followers of Donald Trump in America, Mr Modi's admirers seem impervious to glaring evidence of poor decision-making. (就像唐纳德·特朗普的美国追随者一样, 莫迪的崇拜者似乎对糟糕决策的明显证据无动于衷) —— The Economist

二、塔利班的“节节胜利”与“锐不可当”

如果想要描述塔利班取得军事进展的“迅速”、“节节胜利”、“锐不可当”, 简单一些的选择比如《纽约时报》上有这么一处摘录: 

The Taliban seized control of city after city with remarkable speed once most U.S. forces had withdrawn, brushed aside the demoralized and disorganized Afghan security forces, and swept into Kabul on Sunday. (塔利班在大部分美军撤离后以惊人的速度占领了一个又一个城市, 横扫士气低落、组织混乱的阿富汗安全部队, 并在周日迅速占领了首都喀布尔) —— The New York Times

brush表示“刷子”, 继而可作动词表示“用刷子刷”, 一种“轻触, 轻拂, 轻擦, 轻碰”的动作, 比如“Charlotte brushed against him (= touched him quickly and lightly with her arm or body) as she left the room.” (夏洛特离开房间时轻轻碰了他一下); 摘录中“brushed aside”的选用, 凸显塔利班应对政府军的“轻而易举”, 后者面对前者的进攻“成批投降”, 就像灰尘一样被“轻轻掸到了一旁”。类似的, 我还有挑选这么一句摘录: 

• This month, after outlasting a superpower, the Taliban walked to control on a road paved with mass surrenders. (此处“the Taliban walked to control on a road paved with mass surrenders”指的就是“塔利班在政府军成批的投降中夺取政权”, 写得生动; 也可以留意outlast的选用, 其中last作“持久, 持续”理解, 该单词用以表示“比…活得长, 比…持续时间长”, 摘录中“outlasting a superpower”指的就是“(塔利班) 耗走了美国”, 相较于写成“defeating a superpower”要更准确一些) —— The New York Times

sweep本义表示“打扫, 清扫, 扫除”, 比如“sweep the floor” (扫地), 多可衍生理解为“(快速有力地、迅猛地) 移动, 横扫”这类含义, 比如“Everyone looked up as she swept into the room.” (她冲进房间的时候, 每个人都抬头看她), 所以摘录中“swept into Kabul”指的就是“塔利班迅速攻占首都喀布尔”。

其实, 摘录中“brushed aside the demoralized and disorganized Afghan security forces”写成“swept aside the demoralized and disorganized Afghan security forces”也是可以的, “轻刷到一旁”也好, “横扫到一边”也好, 都能体现塔利班面对政府军所取得的“迅速胜利”。除了特殊需要 (比如强调等), 英文写作一般要避免重复用词 (尤其在同一句中), 所以原文作者此处的选词变换值得同学们参考积累。

我还从美联社报道中, 挑选了这么两处摘录: 

The insurgents stormed across the country, capturing all major cities in a matter of days, as Afghan security forces trained and equipped by the U.S. and its allies melted away. (随着美国及其盟友训练和装备的阿富汗安全部队土崩瓦解, 塔利班反叛武装席卷阿富汗, 在几天内占领了所有主要城市) —— Associated Press News

The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 ousted the insurgents from power, but they never left. After they blitzed across the country in recent days, the Western-backed government that has run the country for 20 years collapsed. (2001年, 以美国为首的联军入侵阿富汗, 推翻了塔利班政权, 但未能将其彻底消灭。近日塔利班武装闪电般横扫全国, 西方支持的、统治这个国家二十年的亲美政府垮台了) —— Associated Press News

storm表示“暴风雨, 风暴”, 继而可以拓展使用, 表示“暴风雨般的突袭、攻占”, 比如“The fortress was stormed by hundreds of soldiers.” (数百名士兵强行攻占了堡垒), 其中关联不难理解, 可以联系汉语中的“枪林弹雨”。

blitz来自blitzkrieg的简写, 后者为德语, 表示“闪电战” (快速突然的军事进攻), 来自Blitz (lightning) + Krieg (war)。那么blitz (v.) 就可以用来表示“闪电进攻”, 强调快速与猛烈。

由此可见, 摘录中“stormed across the country”和“blitzed across the country”其实相通, 都可以积累下来, 作为“swept (across) the country”的替换表达。

其实, 与blitz对应的“lightning”也频频见于本次事件相关报道中, 比如《纽约时报》和美联社上有这么两处摘录: 

The negotiated surrenders were just one element of a broader Taliban strategy that captured heavily defended provincial capitals with lightning speed, and saw the insurgents walk into the capital, Kabul, on Sunday with barely a shot fired. (塔利班闪电般的迅速占领了戒备森严的省会城市, 周日武装分子几乎不开一枪就进入了首都喀布尔) —— The New York Times

习惯用语“with lightning speed”字面为“闪电般快”, 实际上用以表示“非常块, 快得难以置信” (very fast; incredibly quickly or speedily), 和前文摘录中的“with remarkable speed”同义, 可以参考积累。

As the final deadline drew close, the Taliban began a lightning offensive, overrunning city after city. (随着美军撤离最后期限的临近, 塔利班发动了闪电攻势, 占领了一个又一个城市) —— Associated Press News

此处“lightning offensive”指的就是“闪电般的进攻”, 相通的搭配再比如“blistering offensive”, 来看半岛电视台英语频道报道中, 有这么两处摘录: 

Washington had moved its embassy in Kabul to the Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) after a blistering Taliban offensive swept the country and reached Kabul on Sunday. (塔利班迅猛的攻势席卷阿富汗并于周日占领首都喀布尔, 美国当局将驻阿大使馆迁至哈米德·卡尔扎伊国际机场) —— Al Jazeera English

Taliban fighters battling Afghanistan’s US-backed government captured a ninth provincial capital in less than a week amid a blistering offensive launched as foreign forces withdraw. (随着外国军队撤离, 塔利班在向阿富汗政府发动迅猛进攻, 不到一周的时间就占领了第九个阿富汗省会城市) —— Al Jazeera English

blister本义表示“(皮肤通常因摩擦或烫伤而起的) 水疱”, 比如“New shoes always give me blisters.” (新鞋总会把我的脚磨出疱), 继而再有对应的动词用法表示“(使…) 起水疱”, 由此衍生的blistering (adj.) 常用来拓展表示“极热的” (extremely hot)、“极快的” (extremely fast) 或者“非常猛烈的” (extremely forceful), 再来看几个例子: 

• We went out in the blistering heat. 我们冒着酷暑外出了。

• The runners set off at a blistering pace. 运动员起跑速度极快。

• blistering remarks/sarcasm 猛烈的抨击/讽刺

本模块的最后, 我们来谈一谈阿富汗省会城市“接连陷落”的英文表达, 简单一些的选择比如“city after city fell to the Taliban”, 再比如《纽约时报》中有这么一处摘录: 

Each subsequent Taliban victory freed up more fighters to assault larger government provincial capitals, moving quickly and lethally along highways they now owned. Those capitals toppled in rapid succession as soldiers surrendered, deserted or simply took off their uniforms and disappeared. (塔利班的队伍规模随着一次又一次的胜利逐渐壮大, 继而凭借对交通的控制迅速攻占更大的省会城市。随着政府军士兵的投降和逃逸, 这些省会相继陷落于塔利班手中) —— The New York Times

topple表示“(某物) 倒下, 倒塌”, 可以参考常见词fall, 比如“The tree toppled and fell.” (树倒了下来); “in succession”表示“接连地, 连续地” (happening one after another), 摘录中“in rapid succession”更凸显紧凑的意味。

摘录中“toppled in rapid succession”或者“fell in rapid succession”都表示“(阿富汗城市) 接连地快速陷落”, 相关外刊示例再比如: 

The Afghan cities fall in rapid succession, like men caught in enfilade fire. First Zaranj, Kunduz a few days later, then Kandahar and Lashkar Gah. Next is Mazar-i-Sharif. And finally, the Taliban begin their move to swiftly and decisively take Kabul. (阿富汗的城市如秋风扫落叶一般接连陷落。先是扎兰季, 数日之后拿下昆杜兹, 然后是坎大哈和拉什卡尔加, 接下来是马扎里沙里夫。最后, 塔利班着手迅速而果断地占领首都喀布尔) —— The New York Times

enfilade可理解为“纵向射击, 扫射”, 摘录中“like men caught in enfilade fire”指的就是阿富汗大城市在塔利班的攻势下, 像一排士兵遭受机枪扫射而逐个倒下一般“接连陷落”, 一个残酷且生动的比喻。

更常见一些的比喻方式, 可以写成“city after city fell like dominoes to the advancing Taliban forces”, 比如美国国家公共电台新闻报道中, 有这么一处摘录: 

Afghanistan's U.S.-trained forces appeared to readily collapse in the face of a concerted push by Taliban forces. Names and places that became familiar to Americans during their country's long involvement there — including Kunduz and Kandahar — fell like dominoes in recent days as the Taliban swept toward the capital. (面对塔利班武装力量协同推进的军事压力, 美国训练出来的阿富汗政府军似乎特别容易闻风而降、溃不成军。美国人在漫长的阿富汗战争中耳熟能详的地名, 比如昆都士和坎大哈, 都在近日塔利班进军首都的过程中像多米诺骨牌一样接连陷落了) —— National Public Radio

domino表示“多米诺骨牌”, 常以复数形dominoes表示“多米诺骨牌游戏” (a game using dominoes), 即一排竖立的多米诺骨牌, 如果第一枚被击倒, 则其余骨牌依次倒下。

原文始发于微信公众号（BABBLER）：英文媒体如何报道“阿富汗动荡变局”