【看新聞學英語】維基解密 軍人遭騙在天安門開槍

【新唐人2011年10月22日訊】 【看新聞學英語】

Soldiers Tricked into Firing on Tiananmen: WikiLeaks

維基解密：軍人遭騙在天安門開槍

By Daniel Chen, David Lee

【新聞關鍵字】

1. Harrowing [h'ɛroɪŋ] adj. 痛心的; 悲慘的

2. Circulate [s'ɚkjəl,et] v. 流傳

3. Massacre /m'æsəkɚ/ n. 大屠殺

4. Account [əˋkaʊnt] n. 記述; 報導

5. Relay [rɪˋle] v. 傳達

6. Word [wɝd] n. 命令; 指示

7. Rank [ræŋk] n. 軍階

8. Presumably [prɪˋzuməblɪ] adv. 據推測

9. Turn up ph. 出現

10. Confine [kənˋfaɪn] v. 禁閉

11. Speculate [ˋspɛkjə͵let] v. 推測

12. Subject to ph. 可能…

13. Embroidery [ɪmˋbrɔɪdərɪ] n. 潤飾

We get a glimpse of the harrowing stories that circulated after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 from a cable recently released by WikiLeaks.

最近維基解密發佈的一則電報，讓我們瞥見1989年天安門事件後流傳的令人痛心的故事。

The US Consulate cable, dated March 1990, gives an account of a PLA soldier who claims he was tricked into firing on civilian protestors in the square.

美國領事館電訊，在1990年3月的一則報告中指出，一名解放軍人聲稱他是遭到欺騙，才對廣場上的平民示威者開槍。

The cable relays a story from an unnamed source. It describes what a soldier told his mother after the massacre:

電訊傳達了一位不願具名者透露的故事。它描述在天安門大屠殺事發後，一位軍人告訴他母親的話：

"He and his colleagues were all shooting in the air until word was passed through the ranks that one hundred of their number had disappeared—presumably killed by students. A quick check confirmed that over one hundred were missing. The soldier and his colleagues then became so upset that when ordered to shoot into the crowd, they opened fire with machine guns into the human wall before them."

「他和他的同袍本來都是對著天空開槍，直到他們被逐級傳令告知有100名軍人失蹤，據推測是被學生殺害。一項快速的檢查確認超過100人失踪。士兵和同袍們因此變的很沮喪，當對群眾開槍的命令下達時，他們便用機關槍，對著他們面前的人牆開火。」

Yet the cable states that the 100 soldiers turned up again afterwards. This PLA unit was then confined to camp after the massacre, but the soldier referred to in the story did eventually get leave a year later.

然而，電報說這100名軍人後來再次出現了。這個解放軍單位在大屠殺後被禁閉在集中營，但故事中提到的軍人，的確最後在一年後離開。

The cable goes on to tell how the soldier spent 20 days in a Christian church, begging for forgiveness.

電報持續報導了這名軍人如何在一座基督教堂待上20天，乞求寬恕。

While the embassy cable speculates that the story may have been subject to a certain amount of, “embroidery,” they say it does demonstrate the kinds of stories that circulated after the massacre.

雖然使館電報推測，這個故事可能已有一定的“潤飾”，但他們說，它也呈現出大屠殺後流傳的各種故事。

Amnesty International estimates about 1,000 people were killed in the Tiananmen Square massacre, yet some estimates go up to 10-thousand. Beijing’s mayor at the time claimed that only 200 civilians were killed.

大赦國際估計，約 1,000人在天安門廣場大屠殺中喪生。但有些推估超過10,000人。北京市長當時則宣稱只有200名市民被殺害。

本則影音新聞出處：新唐人電視台英語新聞

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/news_china/2011-09-30/soldiers-tricked-into-firing-on-tiananmen-wikileaks.html

本專欄由前衛英語李德良老師主編 www.davidlee.url.tw

【佳句精選】

When ordered to shoot into the crowd, they opened fire with machine guns into the human wall before them.

當對群眾開槍的命令下達時，他們便用機關槍對著他們面前的人牆開火。

【每日一句】

The story describes what a soldier told his mother after the massacre:

這個故事描述在天安門大屠殺事發後，一位軍人告訴他母親的話。