下面是我自己做的修改，真是有收获~

U.S. Sees Much to Fear in a Hostile Russia

充满敌意的俄罗斯让美国恐惧  （ 脾气乖张的俄罗斯让美国担惊受怕）

By PETER BAKER   彼得.芭克

Published: August 21, 2008

The president of Syria spent two days this week in Russia with a shopping list of sophisticated weapons he wanted to buy. The visit may prove a worrisome preview of things to come.

叙利亚总统在这个星期里在俄罗斯用了两天时间购买了他罗列出的一系列高级精密武器。这次他对俄罗斯的访问可能是对将要来临的一些麻烦事的前奏。
If Russia’s invasion of Georgia ushers in a sustained period of renewed animosity with the West, Washington fears that a newly emboldened but estranged Moscow could use its influence, money, energy resources, United Nations Security Council veto and, yes, its arms industry to undermine American interests around the world.

如果说俄罗斯对格鲁吉亚的入侵宣告着俄罗斯对西方世界的一贯并且不断增加的敌意，那么华盛顿害怕最近气势上涨但是与美国变得疏远的莫斯科会利用它的影响力、金钱、能源资源、联合国安全理事会否决权、还有它的军工产业去破坏美国在全球各地的利益。

Although Russia has long supplied arms to Syria, it has held back until now on providing the next generation of surface-to-surface missiles. But the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, made clear that he was hoping to capitalize on rising tensions between Moscow and the West when he rushed to the resort city of Sochi to meet with his Russian counterpart, Dmitri A. Medvedev.

尽管俄罗斯长久以来给叙利亚提供武器，但直到目前它还一直保有最新一代的地对地导弹。但是当叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德在匆忙去旅游胜地索契去会见俄罗斯总统德米特.里梅德韦杰夫时，他清楚地表示出他希望利用莫斯科和西方之间不断升级的紧张趋势来为叙利亚谋事。
The list of ways a more hostile Russia could cause problems for the United States extends far beyond Syria and the mountains of Georgia. In addition to escalated arms sales to other anti-American states like Iran and Venezuela, policy makers and specialists in Washington envision a freeze on counterterrorism and nuclear nonproliferation cooperation, manipulation of oil and natural gas supplies, pressure against United States military bases in Central Asia and the collapse of efforts to extend cold war-era arms control treaties.

俄罗斯的一系列敌对态度会给美国带来的远比给叙利亚和格鲁吉亚带来的问题更多。俄罗斯除了对反美国家如伊朗和委内瑞拉不断地进行升级的武器销售外，华盛顿的政策制定者和专家甚至可以预见到，俄罗斯还会对反恐和核武器不扩散合作进行中断，并可能操纵石油和天然气供应，以及给美国在中亚的军事基地进行施加压力等，以致于使美国在冷战后对武器控制条约扩展的努力白费。

“It’s Iran, it’s the U.N., it’s all the counterterrorism and counternarcotics programs, Syria, Venezuela, Hamas — there are any number of issues over which they can be less cooperative than they’ve been,” said Angela E. Stent, who served as the top Russia officer at the United States government’s National Intelligence Council until 2006 and now directs Russian studies at Georgetown University. “And of course, energy.”

2006年以前在美国国家信息俄罗斯高级顾问委员会供职，现在在乔治敦大学主持俄罗斯研究的安吉拉.斯敦特说到：“伊朗、联合国、所有的反恐主义和反毒品项目、叙利亚、委内瑞拉、哈马斯---在很多事情上俄罗斯都不会象以前那么合作了”，“当然，包括能源。”
Michael McFaul, a Stanford University professor and the chief Russia adviser for Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said Russia appeared intent on trying to “disrupt the international order” and had the capacity to succeed. “The potential is big because at the end of the day, they are the hegemon in that region and we are not and that’s a fact,” Professor McFaul said.

斯坦福大学的教授迈克尔·麦克福尔，现担任美国民主党竞选提名的巴拉克•奥巴马的俄罗斯总顾问，他认为俄罗斯看来一心想破坏国际秩序而且它也有这个能力去实现它，他说道：“这个可能性很大，因为说到底，俄罗斯是那个地区的霸主而不是我们，这是不可辩解的事实。”

Russia may yet hold back from some of the more disruptive options depending on how both sides play these next few weeks and months. Many in Washington hope Russia will restrain itself out of its own self-interest; Moscow, for instance, does not want Iran to have nuclear weapons, nor does it want the Taliban to regain power in Afghanistan. Dmitri Rogozin, a hard-liner who serves as Russia’s ambassador to NATO, told the newspaper Izvestia this week that Moscow still wanted to support the alliance in Afghanistan. “NATO’s defeat in Afghanistan would not be good for us,” he said.
俄罗斯也许会根据两方情势在紧接着的几个星期或几个月里相对收敛一些。在华盛顿，有很多人希望俄罗斯处于自身利益考虑而约束自己；举个例子说，莫斯科不想让伊朗拥有核武器，也不想让塔利班在阿富汗重新掌权。俄罗斯驻北大西洋公约组织的强硬派大使多米里‧罗多辛在这个星期告诉俄罗斯报纸俄罗斯仍然想支持在阿富汗的联盟。他说道：“北约在阿富汗的挫败将对我们不利。”
Moscow may also be checked by the desire of its economic elite to remain on the path to integration with the rest of the world. The main Russian stock index fell sharply in recent days, costing investors $10 billion — many with close ties to the circle of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin.
莫斯科的野心也被它的经济领袖们所牵制，他们希望俄罗斯经济能继续与世界其他经济体相互结合。俄罗斯大盘股指在最近几天有大幅下滑，使投资者丧失100亿美金，其中很多下滑股都与俄罗斯总理普京有着密切的联系。

Still, although the confrontation over Georgia had been building for years, the outbreak of violence demonstrated just how abruptly the international scene can change. Now Russia is the top focus in Washington and some veteran diplomats fret about the situation spiraling out of control.

尽管跟格鲁吉亚的对抗已经存在很多年，这次暴力冲突却不同以往地向人们证实了国际风云变换之快。现在俄罗斯开始成了华盛顿高度戒备的地方，很多有经验的外交家们也为担心形势失控而烦躁忧虑。
“Outrage is not a policy,” said Strobe Talbott, who was deputy secretary of state under President Clinton and is now the president of the Brookings Institution. “Worry is not a policy. Indignation is not a policy. Even though outrage, worry and indignation are all appropriate in this situation, they shouldn’t be mistaken for policy and they shouldn’t be mistaken for strategy.”
克林顿时期的助理国务卿，现任布鲁金斯学会的会长斯特罗布·塔尔博特说：“义愤填膺不是解决问题的办法”，“担心不是策略，愤慨也不是明智之举。尽管暴怒、担心和义愤填膺在当前形势下是可以理解的，但他们不应被错误地当成政策，也不应该被错误地做为战略。”

For Washington, there are limited options for applying pressure. Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, wants to throw Russia out of the Group of 8 major powers. Such a move would effectively admit the failure of 17 years of bipartisan policy aimed at incorporating Russia into the international order.

对于华盛顿来说能够施加压力的选择性非常有限。获得党内提名的约翰.麦凯恩甚至想把俄罗斯从八国集团权力中剔除出去。这种做法事实上就是承认17年来华盛顿两党共同努力旨在把俄罗斯纳入国际秩序的失败。

Yet Washington’s menu of options pales by comparison to Moscow’s. Masha Lipman, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said “there’s a lot more” that the United States needed from Russia than the other way around, citing efforts to secure old Soviet nuclear arms, support the war effort in Afghanistan and force Iran and North Korea to give up nuclear programs. “Hence Russia has all the leverage,” she said.
然而比起俄罗斯的千变万化，华盛顿可做的选择寥寥无几。正如卡内基莫斯科中心的评论家玛莎•里普曼所说的，美国在“很多方面”需要俄罗斯，而不是相反，并且提到一些事例，如美国要得到过去苏联用过的核武器，要支持在阿富汗的战争，要强迫伊朗和朝鲜放弃核项目等。“从这个意义上讲，俄罗斯有很大的影响力。”

In forecasting Russia’s potential for causing headaches, most specialists look first to Ukraine, which wants to join NATO. The nightmare scenario circulating in recent days is an attempt by Moscow to claim the strategic Crimean peninsula to secure access to the Black Sea. Ukrainian lawmakers are investigating reports that Russia has been granting passports en masse to ethnic Russians living in Crimea, a tactic Moscow used in the Georgian breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to justify intervention to protect its citizens.
在预见俄罗斯可能制造的麻烦中，许多专家首先想到了希望加入北约的乌克兰。最近缠绕华盛顿的噩梦就是莫斯科企图占有具有战略意义的克里木半岛，从而得到进入黑海的通道。乌克兰立法者正在调查关于莫斯科赠予住在克里木的全体俄罗斯人护照的报告，俄罗斯曾在格鲁吉亚脱离的南奥塞梯亚和阿布哈吉亚施用过这个计谋，藉以达到它用保护自己国家人民的借口来对当地事务实施干预的目的。
Arms sales, as Mr. Assad’s visit underscored, represent another way Russia could create problems. Israeli and Western governments have already been alarmed about reports that the first elements of the Russian-built S-300 antiaircraft missile system are now being delivered to Iran, which could use them to shoot down any American or Israeli planes that seek to bomb nuclear facilities should that ever be attempted.
武器销售如同叙利亚总统阿萨德的访问所昭示的那样，代表了俄罗斯制造麻烦的另外一种方式。以色列和西方很多政府都被有关报道所震惊，报道中说到俄罗斯制造的最初的 S-300 防空导弹系统正在输往伊朗，如果伊朗制造核设备一旦被发现，他们就可以被用来射击前去伊朗寻找并爆破核设备的美国或以色列飞机。

While Mr. Rogozin expressed support for assisting NATO in the war in Afghanistan, other officials have warned darkly about cutting off ties with NATO. The two sides have already effectively suspended any military cooperation programs. But Russia could also revoke its decision in April to allow NATO to send nonlethal supplies overland through its territory en route to Afghanistan.

俄罗斯驻北约的强硬派大使多米里‧罗多辛先生在表达支持北约对在阿富汗的战争进行援助时，其他官员暗地里警告着要割断与北约的合作。两方面的意见使得任何军事合作计划都搁浅下来。但是俄罗斯也可能取消它在四月份允许北约经过它的领土给阿富汗输送非杀伤性武器。
Russia could also turn up pressure on Kyrgyzstan to evict American forces that support operations in Afghanistan and could block any large-scale return to Uzbekistan, which expelled the Americans in 2005. “The argument would be, ‘Why help NATO?’ ” said Celeste A. Wallander, a Russia scholar at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service.

俄罗斯还可以给吉尔吉斯斯坦施加压力去驱逐支持阿富汗战事的美国军队，也可以阻拦任何大规模的美国军队回到乌兹别克，在那儿，2005年时美国人就曾经被驱除出去。俄罗斯学者,乔治敦大学对外服务系的塞里斯特.沃兰德说道：争论的焦点应该是“为什么要帮助北约?”

Even beyond the dispute over Iran, Russia could obstruct the United States at the United Nations Security Council on a variety of other issues. Just last month, Russia vetoed sanctions against Zimbabwe’s government, a move seen as a slap at Washington.

除了在伊朗问题上的纷争外，在联合国安全理事会的决议上，俄罗斯也可以在一系列问题上阻拦美国的决议。就在上个月,俄罗斯就否决了美国试图对对津巴布韦政府的制裁,这个举动被人们看做是俄罗斯给了华盛顿一记耳光。
“If Russia’s feeling churlish, they can pretty much bring to a grinding halt any kind of coercive actions, like economic sanctions or anything else,” said Peter D. Feaver, a former strategic adviser at the National Security Council.

国家安全委员会原战略顾问彼得.费弗说：“如果俄罗斯变得粗暴无礼，他们很可能使任何强制性行动停顿下来，比如一些经济制裁或者其它任何事情。”
Russia could also accelerate its withdrawal from arms control structures. It already has suspended the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty to protest American missile defense plans and threatened to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty. Renewed tension could fray a recently signed civilian nuclear cooperation agreement and doom negotiations to extend soon-to-expire strategic arms control verification programs.
俄罗斯也可能会加速它退出武器控制组织的步伐。它已在欧洲条约中已经暂时停止了遵守常规武器交易的规定，以抗议美国的导弹防御计划，并威胁说俄罗斯要退出中程核武器条约。新的紧张局势可能给最近签署的民用核能合作协议带来摩擦，也给延长很快就要到期的战略武器控制核查程序的协商带来不好的兆头。

“Ironically, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there’s always been the concern about Russia becoming a spoiler,” said Ms. Stent, of Georgetown, “and now we could see the realization of that.”

乔治敦大学的斯敦特女士说：“具有讽刺意味的是，自从前苏联解体以后，美国总有一种对于俄罗斯可能变成捣乱者的担心，”“现在看来，我们已经可以看到这种担心已成了现实。”

A version of this article appeared in print on August 22, 2008, on page A1 of the New York edition.这篇文章印在2008年8月22日的纽约时报的A1版上。

<sup>Tonight I'm happy and cheerful
Coz I know there is someone there missing me
Though I don't know why and how
I do know that he and I are kind of spiritual

The thought that someone in this world is missing me tonight
Makes me feel so touched and satisfied
Though I don't know him a lot
I do know that he and I are kind of connected

The air is moist with rain poured fresh
My heart is pounding musically with good feeling abound
Though I don't mean to fall in love
I do enjoy this spontaneous spiritual consent

Human being needs this kind of affection
To heal the wound
To activate the rusted mind
To instill wisdom
I'm lucky to have you near, have you close
To share my mind, to share my joys, and my fears
I feel fulfilled to be diligent once again
To express my thought in my loved English
It's all because of you
Your telling me you are going to miss me tonight</sup>

My dear kids
Earthquake took away your lives
Without any signs
Look like a conspiracy

No time to be amazed
No time to respond
No time to ask for help
No time to cry

My dear children
I am earger to touch your skin
I am desperate to allay your fear
I am dying to exchange my life with yours

My dear kids
I will do my utmost to please God
to ask favor from Him to protect you from anguish and
I grieve at your death and my heart is torn apart

My dear children
I will gaze at you at night
You won't feel lonely and sad
Please feel at ease and I am with you
There where you live is going to be a paradise

I was awakened at 7 o'clock by my mobile phone,  who should be that who called me? I wondered and reluctantly I got up to reach the phone, on the other end of the phone, it was a familiar lady who just visited me a week ago.

A sweet weekend sleep was ruined anyhow and  my husband was apparently annoyed too by this early call. I approached the window and lifted the curtain, it was still raining, the street was sparkled with the rainwater, some early birds already have started to seek their fortunes and enjoyment on the road, just like the lady. Thinking unable to go to sleep anymore, we sat up and leaned against the bed talking,  some of which concerning with this lady.

I encountered this lady 10 years ago, at that time she was just a new face in the city we live in, her husband was a layoff worker, her daughter was studying in primary school, they earned a living by selling some small items beside the street, with items laid on the ground, upon which a piece of cloth was covered.

I left my mobile phone number to her by saying that she could reach me if she would have met some difficulties. One day she came to my unit abruptly, out of my expectation, one of my colleague told me that I was expected by a lady, I was utterly amazed at that, for I knew nobody except my colleagues after my fresh graduation. It was her, seeing my coming, she burst into tears and poured her grievance to me, upon her confiding, I was told that her items were deprived by city inspectors, I consoled her and gave her some money about 100 yuan which was just distributed as a subsidy and subsequently in the following days I took her to several agencies for help.

After that, she got some substantial help indeed and she started to do her small business by selling some commodities near her house, then we seldom contacted with each other till one day she called me again and we had an appointment at my room, I was told that she had started to do some insurance business for an insurer, she solicited my help by introducing some clients, I could not do anything beyond my capabilities and we didn't meet again until this year, she told me that she had started a business by joining a direct marketing company, she proudly announced that she could earn 80000 yuan annually now and she is embracing a much more promising future. Her earnest intent to recruit me to be her subordinate was palpable, at the same time, she wanted to express her gratitude of my previous help when she was in hot water. I did not fail her, though I excused myself of her kind offer, by introducing my younger sister to her, she was pleased anyhow.

I have witnessed her experience from being the poor to be the small rich, she was transformed by her wisdom, perseverance, hardworking and strong will. Anyone who has a strong desire to be successful is blessed by the ambition, she said that and she proved that.

Rain, Understanding and Personal Growth

Upon I arrived at the gate of my unit, it started to rain, lightly, in sight a little bit front of me, it was my colleague walking, with an umbrella holding overhead. I called her name, she turned around and gave me a big smile , her usual agreeable gesture to greet me. I raised my wonder of this fickle weather, she replied me that the weather forecast was right, I validated her words when I came to office and checked the weather forecast myself.

It appears not weather being fickle, it's my mind being muddled in mind of the weather and other things, these few days I struggled each hour, each minute, even in dreams I still suffered, this contrasted sharply with my husband, who has been vibrant since his recent promotion, being cheerful and gratified, which reminds me that how irrelevant one individual's happiness to another, for each person has his own expectations and therefore his own parameter to decide the content and the extent of happiness. I can't hide myself anywhere except confront my plight, yet I still try to aviod the confrontation, thus it gets deteriorated and my mood is exacerbated and I find myself go nowhere.

The established trust was shockingly nibbled by the drunken words , regarded as a bosom friend, his narrowness after the perpetrator of wine was betrayed, both hurt. The procrastinated task was unfulfilled and I am still not ready to bring it to the end. The housework I heroically claimed to be my responsibility nearly overwhelms me, plus, my daughter's three subjects are added as my tasks to help her improve.

 It is raining hard, yet my mind appears to recover from the wound, this noontime, my daugher joyfully shared her delight that she was assigned to be a little "zu zhang " in Chinese, prior to that, she has been "zu zhang" in English, and yesterday her math mark was 100. I was suddenly relieved at those good news. At reflection, I look outside of the window, thinking rain in the spring is compared to oil, are not understanding and forgiveness the rain to human pride, confidence and descipline to personal growth. 

While I was chatting with a neighbour outside the building , he showed up unexpectedly, a little bit earlier than before he came home in the afternoon, suddenly a sensation of compassion gained on me when I took a glance of him, seeing his slim, short stature, and a little bit languid look. Few occasions for me to realize that he is also a common person, like many, saddled with obligations and expectations, for I took for granted that he was capable to accomplish anything, including housework , and being good tempered, as he has done all the time. 

Yet these days I felt pity for him and began to concern about him, his health, his everything. He's been excellent and versatile, good-hearted, well-disposed, which contributed to his recent promotion, by two steps directly. It surprised him, as well as many, for a stunning post envied by many came to him easily. But he suffered from the wine, meeting, and waste of time, and I , start to worry about his body and health.

I know it's time for me to show my concern to him, it's time for me to work hard to support him, it's time for me to be good to honor him. I know I love him no less than anytime I loved him before,my dear husband.

When I was in the middle school, I was amazed at one boy who was not very clever but he always scored high in the exams, why was it like that?

The list the like is long, this question jolted me once again this morning when I was jogging, series of questions popped up as if I can conjure up inspirations, they are like : why some people can endure hardship, loneliness and even boredom than others under the same circumstance? why some people can resist temptations and lead a polished and noble life? why some people can be consistent in their pursuit without wavering? why some people have perseverance to hold on to their hopes?

The answer is more or less the same, those people can control themselves, they not only have strong will, but also develop good habits, they reinforce their positive attitude often, they reflect and meditate their life often, they are not rigid people though they stick to their tasks like glue sticks to the targeted objects, they can flex their mind's muscles enough when they feel needed, they not only survive but also thrive, they not only talk but also act.