普京与安倍共浴丨外刊精读 (3)

友情提醒：本文难度较大，通读全文前，请至少具备大学英语四级及以上水平，谢谢。

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Japan and Russia

Two men in a tub

NEMURO

Shinzo Abe has invited Vladimir Putin to a steamy summit, but the odds of a breakthrough in their countries' 70-year-old territorial dispute are long.

HIROSHI TOKUNO still remembers the stomp of army boots on the wooden floor of his classroom. When 600 Soviet troops arrived on the Japanese island of Shikotan on September 1st, 1945, he recalls, “We thought we’d be killed.” As the fear receded, he befriended the invaders and learned to speak Russian. Three years later, they herded him and his family onto a boat across choppy seas to mainland Japan.

Mr Tokuno, now 82, is one of about 17,000 Japanese expelled from what Japan calls its Northern Territories, four islands at the bottom of the Kurile chain (Chishima in Japanese), between Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido and the snowy wastes of Kamchatka (see map). In the 19th century Russia recognised Japanese sovereignty over the four islands, and in 1875 it ceded all the Kuriles to Japan. But a few days before Japan’s surrender to the Allies in 1945, the Soviet Union, which had not been fighting Japan, abruptly declared war. Soviet troops swiftly occupied the entire chain, setting off a 70-year dispute. Japan demands the four southernmost islands back. The Soviet Union offered to hand over the two smallest of them, Habomai and Shikotan, if Japan gave up its claim to the others. But Japan refused to do so. The impasse endures to this day.

On December 15th Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, will make his first official visit to Japan in a decade. Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister and grandson of a wartime minister and post-war prime minister, has made no secret of his personal interest in resolving the issue. He has invited Mr Putin to bathe with him in hot springs in his home town of Nagato, in southern Japan—an occasion for man-to-man negotiations. The time is right for a solution, says Muneo Suzuki, an unofficial adviser to the prime minister on Russian affairs.

In Nemuro, the rusting Hokkaido port where many of the evacuees have been stranded since the 1940s, there is guarded hope for a breakthrough. It is unthinkable that Mr Putin would come empty-handed, says Shunsuke Hasegawa, the town’s mayor. The Russian president is a “strongman” who will face down opposition to a deal at home, he insists.

Mr Hasegawa laments that just 6,641 former residents of the islands are still alive, all elderly. Moreover, the waters around the islands used to provide fishing grounds for boats from Nemuro. It has lost half its population since the war. “It’s our last chance to solve this problem,” he says.

More is at stake than fishing rights. The row has prevented a formal end to hostilities between Russia and Japan. The continued standoff, Japanese diplomats fret, pushes Russia closer to China.

Among the possible enticements for Russia is the revival of a mothballed proposal to build a $5.3bn gas pipeline between Russia’s Sakhalin Island and Tokyo. Japan is also dangling billions in soft loans for the development of Russia’s impoverished Far East, as well as a boost to private investment. Russia, meanwhile, is wary of becoming a junior partner to China in Asia. “We can’t put all our eggs in one basket,” says Alexander Panov, a former Russian ambassador to Japan.

But the obstacles to a deal are forbidding. A recent poll found that 78% of Russians are opposed to ceding all four islands; 71% object to handing over Shikotan and Habomai. “In Russia, if any president, even Putin, gives away two of our islands to Japan, he’ll bring down his ratings catastrophically,” Dmitry Kiselev, Russia’s propagandist-in-chief, said last month. “The Japanese like to talk about saving face, but they forget that Russians have faces too,” says Anatoli Koshkin of the Oriental University in Moscow. The islands guard the passage from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Pacific, “a life or death issue” for the Russian navy, says Shigeru Ishiba, a former Japanese defence minister.

Small wonder, then, that Mr Putin said flatly in September: “We do not trade territories.” Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, said on a visit to Tokyo in November: “Russia’s sovereignty over the Kuriles is indisputable and is not up for revision.” Further reinforcing the message, the Russian armed forces announced the placement of missile-defence systems on Etorofu and Kunashiri last month.

“The Abe government has allowed expectations to get out of hand, even hinting at a snap election based on the success of the summit,” says James Brown of Temple University Japan. The fading prospects of a territorial deal may help explain Mr Abe’s surprise announcement on December 5th that he will visit Pearl Harbour, the site of the Japanese attack that dragged America into the second world war in 1941. The prime minister is looking for an event to boost his popularity and distract from the summit with Mr Putin, to preserve his hopes of a snap election in January, claims Nikkei, a Japanese newspaper.

But Russia is unlikely to dash Japanese hopes altogether. “The Russian side does not want this to end,” Mr Brown says; instead, it will find ways to foster Japanese investment without ceding sovereignty, he predicts. One possible step forward at the summit might be a relaxation of visa rules and the creation of a special economic zone, allowing Japanese businesses easier access to the Kuriles. After all, Mr Putin himself has said it should be possible to find a solution whereby neither party “would feel like a loser”.

Mr Tokuno’s hopes of returning home have been raised and dashed many times over the years. From the tip of the Shiretoko peninsula, a few miles from Nemuro, he can see Habomai, just offshore. A decade ago he was allowed to visit Shikotan for a pilgrimage to the graves of his ancestors. He could still remember the Russian he learned as a boy. His home was gone but he bears no bitterness. It was war, Mr Tokuno says; the best way to honour the suffering is to make sure it never happens again. A peace treaty would be a start.

精读

【标题】

文章标题为Two men in a tub（《浴池里的二人》），大标题上还有一个小标题是Japan and Russia（日本和俄罗斯）。看到这里，我们大致可以推断出两点：一、此文是关于日俄两国外交的；二、安倍和普京一起洗澡。注：tub (美) = bathtub（澡盆，浴缸）。文章题目之上的配图很有意思，图片里一个小岛近海处有两只小船，暗指俄罗斯和日本两国的岛屿之争。

【导语】

NEMURO Shinzo Abe has invited Vladimir Putin to asteamysummit, butthe oddsof a breakthrough in their countries'70-year-old territorial disputearelong 生词： Nemuro [地名] 根室（北海道最东端的主要城市和渔港）（下文会详述）

Shinzo Abe [人名] 安倍晋三（日本首相）

Vladimir Putin [人名] 弗拉基米尔·普京（俄罗斯总统）

a steamy summit [名] 一次水汽弥漫的首脑会晤

-steamy（adj. 水汽弥漫的）是steam（n.水蒸气；水汽）的变体，与标题中的"tub"相呼应。普京访日，安培安排两人一同洗澡，届时自然是一番气雾缭绕的景象，所以用a steamy summit形象至极；

-summit作名词时，既可以表示”（物体的）最高点，顶峰“，也可以引申为”（成就）的顶峰，极点“。该词用在政治领域则表示”政府首脑会议，峰会“，如2016年9月4日-5日在我国杭州举办的二十国集团峰会的英文就是：2016 G20 Hangzhou Summit。

the odds [复] n. 机会, 可能性。

读者需要注意的是the odds与long的搭配，见《牛津搭配语词典（第二版）》odds词条：

odds可以与good/high/low/long/short等形容词搭配，但long odds的真正含义是什么呢？

上图为《麦克米伦高阶英语词典（第二版）》的释义，long odds表示“机会渺茫；可能性极小”的含义。那么，原文意思即“……但是要想在两国长达70年之久的领土争端问题上取得突破，其可能性极小。” 读到这里，有读者可能会问：“这70年之久的领土争端到底是什么？”我们一起带着问题在下文中找答案。

【第一段】

HIROSHI TOKUNO still remembers the stomp of army boots on the wooden floor of his classroom. When 600 Soviet troops arrived on the Japanese island of Shikotan on September 1st, 1945, he recalls, “We thought we’d be killed.” As the fear receded, he befriended the invaders and learned to speak Russian. Three years later, they herded him and his family onto a boat across choppy seas to mainland Japan. 大意：故事的主人公——德野弘（Hiroshi Tokuno）幼年（1945年9月1日）上课时所在的色丹岛（Shikotan）被苏军侵略，后学会与苏联人交朋友、学俄语，三年后被驱逐，远渡重洋至日本大陆。 问答：问：“为什么《经济学人》的这篇报道要以某个当事人的故事开篇？” 答：通过具体人物的故事，可让新闻可信度和吸引力大幅增加。《白说》（白岩松著）这本书里有对新闻报道特点的相关描述：

国外的新闻报道在过去二三十年间，导语写作已经发生了翻天覆地的变化，早已不再强调完整的“五个W”，而是越来越强调这四件事：主人公、故事、戏剧化、悬念……国外的新闻报道几乎已成共识：通过具体人物，表达宏大事件。没有主人公就没有事件，就会让新闻可信度，尤其是吸引力降低。所以，你首先要明白，新闻写作传播，就是一个写故事和讲故事的过程。

事实上，第一段的内容确实留下了一些悬念，如为什么苏军会入侵主人公所在的岛屿？他们为何会被驱逐到日本大陆？他们现居何处？甚至，部分情节会在文章末段得以重现，真正做到了首尾呼应。

生词：

stomp [stɒmp] n.重踩，重踏（后与on连用，表示“踩在……上”） Shikotan n.色丹岛，是日本北海道东北部岛屿之一，是北方四岛中较小的岛。 recede[rɪ'siːd] v. （特点、感觉）逐渐减少 befriend [bɪˈfrend] v. 和……交朋友 herd v.使集在一起；把……赶在一起 choppy [ˈtʃɒpɪ] adj. 波浪起伏的

【第二段】

Mr Tokuno, now 82, is one of about 17,000 Japanese expelled from what Japan calls its Northern Territories, four islands at the bottom of the Kurile chain (Chishimain Japanese), between Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido and the snowy wastes of Kamchatka (see map). In the 19th century Russia recognised Japanese sovereignty over the four islands, and in 1875 it ceded all the Kuriles to Japan. But a few days before Japan’s surrender to the Allies in 1945, the Soviet Union, which had not been fighting Japan, abruptly declared war. Soviet troops swiftly occupied the entire chain, setting off a 70-year dispute. Japan demands the four southernmost islands back. The Soviet Union offered to hand over the two smallest of them, Habomai and Shikotan, if Japan gave up its claim to the others. But Japan refused to do so. The impasse endures to this day. 大意：继续围绕主人公德野弘的身世际遇展开，说清道明了导语中未解释的"70-year-old territorial dispute"和北方四岛的前世今生。 -主人公身世与北方领土地理位置（英译汉）： 德野弘（Hiroshi Tokuno）：现82岁，是从（日称）北方四岛被驱逐的约1.7万名日本人中的一员。 北方领土（Northern Territories）：日本叫法，也称作北方四岛，是位于千岛群岛底部的四座岛屿，介于日本最北部岛屿——北海道和（俄罗斯）勘察加半岛的冰原之间（见下图）。

（来源：tupian.baike.com）

北方四岛，俄罗斯称南千岛群岛（俄语：Курильскиеострова；英语：The Kuril Islands），北方四岛距离日本的北海道很近，是位于太平洋西北部的千岛群岛向南延伸部分，日本和俄罗斯长期争议其主权归属，在俄罗斯的实际控制之下。由国后岛、择捉岛、齿舞群岛、色丹岛等四个岛屿组成，总面积5038.33km²。由于它在地理上属于千岛群岛，俄罗斯称之为南千岛群岛，而日本则称之为“北方领土”或“北方四岛”。岛上的原住民为虾夷人。北方四岛中，择捉岛面积最大，约3200平方公里；其次是国后岛，面积约1500平方公里；第三大的色丹岛（施科坦岛）面积约250平方公里；齿舞群岛是个小群岛，同时也是最小的岛，面积约100平方公里。（来源：互动百科）

-北方四岛的前世今生（英译汉）：

19世纪：俄罗斯承认日本对四岛主权；

1875年：俄罗斯割让所有千岛群岛给日本；

1945年，日本向盟军投降前几天，未曾对日战争的苏联突然宣战。苏军迅速占领整个千岛群岛，引发了长达70年之久的领土争端。日本要求索回四个最南部岛屿，而苏联提议交出两个最小岛屿——齿舞群岛（Habomai）和色丹岛（Shikotan），条件是日方放弃对另外两岛的所有权。但是日本拒不为之。该僵局持续至今。

生词： expel[ɪk'spel] v. 驱逐出境

Hokkaido [地名] 北海道，日本除了本州以外最大的岛

wastes [复] n. （尤指无人居住的）大片荒地；荒原

Kamchatka [地名] 勘察加半岛，俄罗斯第二大半岛

cede[siːd] v. 割让，让给

the Kuriles [地名] 千岛群岛

the Allies [复] n. （第二次世界大战中的）同盟国

the Soviet Union [国名] （前）苏联

impasse['æmpɑːs]['ɪmpæs]n.僵局；绝境

短语：

set off v. 引发，触发，激起

【第三段】

On December 15th Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, will make his first official visit to Japan in a decade. Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister and grandson of a wartime minister and post-war prime minister, has made no secret of his personal interest in resolving the issue. He has invited Mr Putin to bathe with him in hot springs in his home town of Nagato, in southern Japan—an occasion for man-to-man negotiations. The time is right for a solution, says Muneo Suzuki, an unofficial adviser to the prime minister on Russian affairs.

大意：

2016年2月15日俄罗斯总统普京将在10年间首次正式访问日本，日本首相安倍晋三毫不隐瞒其对解决争议领土问题的个人兴趣，并将邀请普京到家乡长门市（位于日本南部）的温泉，与其共浴，适时进行男人间的谈判。

背景：

文中谈到了普京12月15日访日这一时政新闻，也提到了安倍晋三的政治背景（现任日本首相、二战时内阁大臣和战后首相的外孙）。注：原文中"grandson"应翻译为：“外孙”而不是“孙子”的原因就在于安培晋三外祖父岸信介的政治背景：

岸信介（KishiNobusuke，1896年11月13日－1987年8月7日），日本山口县人，日本政治家，第56、57届内阁总理大臣。在太平洋战争开战时担任工商大臣，是战后远东国际军事法庭认定的二战甲级战犯嫌犯，但是未予起诉，后有“昭和妖怪”之称，旧姓佐藤，他的胞弟佐藤荣作、外孙安倍晋三亦担任日本内阁总理大臣。他是操纵伪满洲国的五人帮之一，是战后首开敌视新中国先河的人物，也是引导安倍晋三走上“右倾”道路的人，人称满洲之妖。2014年8月12日，日本首相安倍晋三回到故乡山口县，为其扫墓；2015年9月22日，安倍晋三前往静冈县小山町为外祖父岸信介扫墓。

1955年民主党并入自由民主党。翌年，在石桥湛山内阁中任外务大臣。因石桥有病，他于1957年2月接任首相。（来源：互动百科）

辨析：resolve vs. solve

First of all, resolve has several meanings. There is one meaning that is clearly closest to solve, which I will assume is the one you want to differentiate. So: When you resolve something (a problem, an issue, a question), you deal with it conclusively. You have finished it, it is done, there is nothing left to concern yourself about. This is not to say, however, that your handling of the matter was ideal, nor even necessarily satisfactory; there are many possible ways that the thing could have been dealt with, you picked one and saw it through. When you solve something, you find (and presumably implement) a solution to it. This means that you have dealt with it successfully, finding what was quite possibly the only way (or at most one of a few ways) to succeed. For example: The issue has been resolved, although none of us is happy with the final outcome. The question has been solved; the correct answer is posted for all to see.

来源： http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/14323/whats-the-difference-between-resolve-and-solve 上述文字是问答网站StackExchange对该问题的最高票回答： resolve: 最终解决了问题，但是解决的办法可能有许多种，但最终只采用了一种不算理想，甚至并不一定令人满意的办法，人们对解决的结果也不甚满意。 solve: 采取可能唯一的一种方法或最多几种方法中的一种成功地解决了问题。

短语：

make no secret of sth 对…不保守秘密；公开某事；不隐瞒

【第四段】

In Nemuro, the rusting Hokkaido port where many of the evacuees have been stranded since the 1940s, there is guarded hope for a breakthrough. It is unthinkable that Mr Putin would come empty-handed, says Shunsuke Hasegawa, the town’s mayor. The Russian president is a “strongman” who will face down opposition to a deal at home, he insists.

大意：

在根室这个20世纪40年代后便滞留了大量被疏散者的城市，人们对争议领土能否取得突破抱有谨慎的希望。该市市长驰川舜佑（Shunsuke Hasegawa）想象不到俄罗斯总统会访日毫无成果，他断言“硬汉”普京会顶住本国反对日俄达成协议的意见。

生词：

Nemuro [地名] 根室。导语中曾提到过，本段具体指出根室是“一个荒废的北海道港市，这里从20世纪40年代后便滞留了大量被疏散者”。

empty-handed adj. 两手空空的；一无所获的

根室市为日本北海道根室支厅的市，位于北海道最东端，也是根室支厅所在地。位于北海道的最东边，为东西向狭长型，南北长度仅10km，辖区包括面对太平洋延伸而出的纳沙布岬、根室半岛全区和半岛根部的周围及附近岛屿鹈居岛（ユルリ岛）、小鹈居岛（モユルリ岛）。目前日本和俄罗斯之间有领土争议的北方四岛中的齿舞群岛，在日本的行政区划中也是属于根室市的辖区。（来源：互动百科）

短语：

face down （威风凛凛地）挫败，战胜

句型：

There is guarded hope for 对……抱有谨慎的希望。（guarded adj.谨慎的; 小心提防的; 有保留的）

It is unthinkable that 真想不到……（竟……）

【第五段】

Mr Hasegawa laments that just 6,641 former residents of the islands are still alive, all elderly. Moreover, the waters around the islands used to provide fishing grounds for boats from Nemuro. It has lost half its population since the war. “It’s our last chance to solve this problem,” he says.

大意：

市长哀叹现只有数千岛民在世且均年事已高，而曾为根室提供渔场的四岛附近海域自战后丧失一半人口，因此本次普京访日将是解决领土争端的最后机会。

生词：

lament [lə'ment] v.对…感到悲痛；痛惜

*辨析：solve vs. resolve（见第四段）

【第六段】

More is at stake than fishing rights. The row has prevented a formal end to hostilities between Russia and Japan. The continued standoff, Japanese diplomats fret, pushes Russia closer to China.

大意：

不仅仅是没有了捕鱼的权利，领土争端使得俄日两国的战争无法正式结束，导致中俄反而越走越近。

短语：

at stake处于危险境地；处于成败关头

生词：

row [raʊ] n. 严重分歧

hostilities [复] n. 战争行动

standoff (亦作stand-off) n. 僵持；对峙

fret[fret] v. 烦躁；苦恼；焦急

【第七段】

Among the possible enticements for Russia is the revival of a mothballed proposal to build a $5.3bn gas pipeline between Russia’s Sakhalin Island and Tokyo. Japan is also dangling billions in soft loans for the development of Russia’s impoverished Far East, as well as a boost to private investment. Russia, meanwhile, is wary of becoming a junior partner to China in Asia. “We can’t put all our eggs in one basket,” says Alexander Panov, a former Russian ambassador to Japan.

大意：

日俄关系拉近对俄罗斯的利好是有望重启在俄罗斯萨哈林岛与东京之间建造价值53亿美元石油管道的提议，日本也在用数十亿的软贷款引诱俄罗斯开发俄罗斯远东地区和促进私人投资。与此同时，俄罗斯由于担心在亚洲成为中国的次要合作伙伴，也可能与日本开展合作。

生词：

enticement [ɪn'taɪsmənt] n.诱惑（动词：entice）

revival [rɪ'vaɪv(ə)l] n. 复苏；复兴；再流行（动词：revive）

mothball['mɒθ.bɔːl] v. 取消，推迟（计划、工程）；n. 樟脑丸

Sakhalin Island [地名] 库页岛，俄罗斯称为“萨哈林岛”，是俄罗斯联邦最大的岛屿，属萨哈林州管辖。

dangle['dæŋɡ(ə)l] v.〈喻〉用（诱惑物）来诱惑（或激励）某人

soft loan n.软贷款（多指对发展中国家提供的条件非常优惠的贷款）

impoverished[ɪm'pɒvərɪʃt] adj. 赤贫的；不名一文的（动词：impoverish）

Far East[地名] 远东，远东地区（指所有东亚国家，包括中国、日本、朝鲜、韩国以及其他东南亚国家）。注：文章中指俄罗斯远东地区：位于俄罗斯东部，为西伯利亚贝加尔湖东部与太平洋之间；其中所属之岛屿有库页岛、千岛群岛、弗兰格尔岛等群岛。

句型：

be wary of 提防，小心，留神……

put all your eggs in one basket所有的鸡蛋放到一个篮子里；<喻>寄希望于一件事情上。

注：文章中前俄罗斯驻日大使的话透露出，俄罗斯不想单方面发展与中国的关系，迫切想寻求其他贸易合作伙伴，这也是普京访日的一大原因。

语法：

Japan is also dangling billions in soft loans for the development of Russia’s impoverished Far East, as well as a boost to private investment.

参考译文：日本也在用数十亿的软贷款引诱俄罗斯开发俄罗斯远东地区和促进私人投资。

本句关键在于搞清楚逗号（,）和as well as的用法。

本句句型结构为：简单句（主+谓+宾），其中：

-主语：Japan

-谓语：dangle（原句为现在进行时，动词变为动名词形式：dangling）

-宾语：billions（钱数）

-介宾：in soft loans（in表示空间概念，作“在……里”讲，后接宾语soft loans，即“软贷款里有数十亿”。）

-介宾：for the development of Russia’s impoverished Far East; fora boost to private investment

注：介词for表示目的和用途，作“为了”讲。显然，这个介宾意思是：“（软贷款里有数十亿）是为了发展贫穷的俄罗斯远东地区、促进私人投资”。

-逗号：将不同并列短语分开，避免误解，不可删！！！

-介词：as well as = in addition to，“以及……”，表前后的并列关系，即for the development of Russia’s impoverished Far East（A）+ ,as well as +a boost to private investment（B）。

很明显，A和B既是并列，那么就共同充当了for的宾语，因此就成了：forthe development of... 和for a boost to...。

【第八段】

But the obstacles to a deal are forbidding. A recent poll found that 78% of Russians are opposed to ceding all four islands; 71% object to handing over Shikotan and Habomai. “In Russia, if any president, even Putin, gives away two of our islands to Japan, he’ll bring down his ratings catastrophically,” Dmitry Kiselev, Russia’s propagandist-in-chief, said last month. “The Japanese like to talk about saving face, but they forget that Russians have faces too,” says Anatoli Koshkin of the Oriental University in Moscow. The islands guard the passage from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Pacific, “a life or death issue” for the Russian navy, says Shigeru Ishiba, a former Japanese defence minister.

大意：

日俄达成协议所面临的阻碍仍令人望而生畏。民调显示，绝大多数俄罗斯人反对割让争议领土，若执意为之，普京支持率将严重下跌。北方四岛地理位置至关重要，关乎俄罗斯海军存亡，因此在该问题上不容妥协。

前几段讨论了争议领土的历史、地理位置，本段从军事角度出发阐释了俄罗斯为何紧握北方四岛不放。

The islands guard the passage from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Pacific, "a life or death issue" for the Russian navy.

参考译文：那些岛屿把守着从鄂霍次克海到达太平洋的通道，是关乎俄罗斯海军“生死存亡的问题”。

生词：

forbidding adj.冷峻的；令人生畏的

catastrophically[ˌkætəˈstrɔfikli]adv. 灾难性地（形容词：catastrophic；名词：catastrophe）

propagandist-in-chief n. 首席宣传员

propagandist [ˌprɒpə'gændɪst] n. （正式，常用作贬义）宣传者；鼓吹者

注：该词体现出本文作者所代表的主流西方媒体对俄罗斯深深的敌意。

短语：

be opposed to (doing) sth 反对……（同）object to (doing) sth

hand over让与；交给……

give away 赠送；捐赠

bring down 使下降

a life or death (或life-or-death) issue 一个生死攸关的问题

save face 保全面子；顾面子

注：本段中face所对应的中文就是“面子”，原文中还有一句：

The Japanese like to talk about saving face, but they forget that Russians have faces, too.

参考译文：日本人喜欢谈论保全面子，但他们却忘记了我们俄罗斯人也要脸。

【第九段】

Small wonder, then, that Mr Putin said flatly in September: “We do not trade territories.” Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, said on a visit to Tokyo in November: “Russia’s sovereignty over the Kuriles is indisputable and is not up for revision.” Further reinforcing the message, the Russian armed forces announced the placement of missile-defence systems on Etorofu and Kunashiri last month.

大意：

俄总统普京和俄罗斯上议院发言人均明确宣示对南千岛群岛（日本称”北方四岛“）主权，俄军在上月甚至宣布将在择捉和国后二岛部署反导弹系统。至此，日本收回北方四岛的希望基本告吹。

句型：

(It’s) little/no/small wonder (that) ……不足为奇；难怪……

(be) up for (sth) 正在做某事；准备做某事

Ex: China's sovereignty over theDiaoyu Island is indisputable and is not up for revision.（中国对钓鱼岛拥有着无可争辩、不容更改的主权。）

生词：

flatly adv.断然地, 毫不迟疑地; 绝对地（同absolutely）

indisputable [ˌɪndɪsˈpjuːtəbl] adj.无可争辩的, 无可置疑的; 不可否认的

【第10段】

“The Abe government has allowed expectations to get out of hand, even hinting at a snap election based on the success of the summit,” says James Brown of Temple University Japan. The fading prospects of a territorial deal may help explain Mr Abe’s surprise announcement on December 5th that he will visit Pearl Harbour, the site of the Japanese attack that dragged America into the second world war in 1941. The prime minister is looking for an event to boost his popularity and distract from the summit with Mr Putin, to preserve his hopes of a snap election in January, claims Nikkei, a Japanese newspaper.

大意：

安倍政府对解决领土争端问题已不抱希望，反而着眼于借12月5日参观珍珠港一事来分散俄日首脑会议对选民的吸引力，从而争取民心，为2017年1月提前举行的大选保留胜算。

点评：

本段着眼于安倍政府对日俄恐难达成领土协议后采取的“小动作和“大动作”：

-“小动作”：安倍突然宣布将于12月5日参观珍珠港一事

-“大动作”：为2017年1月提前举行大选做准备

生词：

snap election提前选举。snap在这里是形容词，相当于sudden（突然的）。

surprise announcement 意外声明。surprise在这里充当修饰语，作定语形容词——“出人意料的；令人惊奇的”。

Pearl Harbour[地名] 珍珠港（在夏威夷欧湖岛南海岸，二战美国太平洋舰队基地）。原文中是这样描述珍珠港的：“the site of the Japanese attack that dragged America into the second world war in 1941"，即“日本偷袭发生地，此次偷袭于1941年将美国卷入二战”。

Nikkei [报] 日本经济新闻（Nihon Keizai Shimbun），简称Nikkei，是日本全国性，具有相当影响力的大报纸之一。2015年7月23日，日本经济新闻以13亿美元收购英国金融时报。

短语：

get out of hand 失控；难以控制

hint at 暗示着；表明

(be) based on 以……为基础

distract from 使分心

【第11段】

But Russia is unlikely to dash Japanese hopes altogether. “The Russian side does not want this to end,” Mr Brown says; instead, it will find ways to foster Japanese investment without ceding sovereignty, he predicts. One possible step forward at the summit might be a relaxation of visa rules and the creation of a special economic zone, allowing Japanese businesses easier access to the Kuriles. After all, Mr Putin himself has said it should be possible to find a solution whereby neither party “would feel like a loser”.

大意：

俄罗斯并不会让日本的希望彻底落空。俄方会在不转让领土主权的前提下，想方设法促进日本在千岛群岛投资，如放款签证条例、设立经济特区等，从而保全双方面子。

生词：

dash v.使（某人的希望或期望）破灭, 受挫（注：dash作名词，有“破折号”的意思。）

altogether adv. 彻底地；完全地（相当于totally或completely）

foster v. 鼓励；促进

whereby[weə(r)'baɪ] (= by which) adv. 靠那个；借以

relaxation[U, C, usually sing.]（对规章制度的）放宽，放松

注：值得注意的是原文中这个词前有不定冠词a，正如该释义所示，作”放宽“讲时通常为单数（sing.）。另外，relaxation作”放松；消遣“讲时不可数，但作”休闲活动；娱乐活动“讲时可数。

句型：

allow sb/sth easier access to 使……更容易进入到……

注：allow后可接双宾语（间接宾语+直接宾语），但是却不能用to或for引出间接宾语，如：

- 正确：allowing Japanese businesses easier access to the Kuriles（结构：allow+间接宾语+直接宾语）

- 错误：allowing easier access to/for Japanese businesses（结构：allow+直接宾语+to/for+间接宾语）

【第12段】

Mr Tokuno’s hopes of returning home have been raised and dashed many times over the years. From the tip of the Shiretoko peninsula, a few miles from Nemuro, he can see Habomai, just offshore. A decade ago he was allowed to visit Shikotan for a pilgrimage to the graves of his ancestors. He could still remember the Russian he learned as a boy. His home was gone but he bears no bitterness. It was war, Mr Tokuno says; the best way to honour the suffering is to make sure it never happens again. A peace treaty would be a start.

大意：

这些年来，主人公德野弘回乡的希望多次燃起又破灭。由于那场战争，家乡虽再也回不去了，但老人心中无痛，他深知铭记战争创伤的最好办法就是日俄首先达成和平协定，彻底远离战争。

点评：

首尾呼应，借故事主人公之口道出解决领土争端背后的真谛，得出如此有深度有温度的反战结论，立意高远，不落政治议论文的俗套，实乃点睛之笔。

首尾呼应的情节有：

本段中提到，主人公在距离根室几英里的知床半岛顶端可望到色舞群岛的近海区域，而且10年前还允许他回到家乡色丹岛拜谒祖坟。这些内容让我不禁联想到台湾诗人余光中先生的《乡愁》。该诗借邮票、船票、坟墓、海峡这些实物，把抽象的乡愁描述成具体可感的东西，意象选取上与本文有相似之处。

句型：

1. (One's) hopes of... have been raised and dashed many times (over the years).

（这些年来）某人……的希望多次燃起又破灭。

写作点津：本句型可用于表达某（些）人由于主观或客观的某些因素，其理想或愿景却迟迟未能兑现，凸显个人或群体多舛的命运。

2. (Sb/Sth) was gone but sb bears no bitterness.

斯人/物已逝，某人并不感到悲痛（毕竟悲痛奈何）。

写作点津：本句型可用于表达失去某人或某物后，当事人仍能保持乐观豁达的生活态度。

最后，就让我们一起通过《乡愁》来感受人类那种共同而永恒的思乡情怀。

小时候 乡愁是一枚小小的邮票 我在这头 母亲在那头 长大后 乡愁是一张窄窄的船票 我在这头 新娘在那头 后来啊 乡愁是一方矮矮的坟墓 我在外头 母亲在里头 而现在 乡愁是一湾浅浅的海峡 我在这头 大陆在那头

谢谢阅读。