(单词翻译:单击)
中英文本
The war in Syria has become a global battlefield
叙利亚已经成为全球战场
By Rebecca Collard from Beirut
文/(贝鲁特）丽贝卡·克拉德
AS 2018 BEGAN, IT LOOKED LIKE THE war in Syria might be drawing toward an ending that few in the international community wanted.
2018年开年之后，叙利亚战争似乎在朝着几乎整个国际社会都不想看到的结局发展。
Yes, ISIS was on the way to defeat as a conventional fighting force—
没错，伊斯兰国这股传统势力将被击败 -
but the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, controlled more than half of the country.
但叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德政权，其背后有俄罗斯和伊朗撑腰，控制了该国一半以上的土地。
Barely seven weeks later, an end to the conflict is nowhere in sight.
仅仅七周后，冲突的结局似乎就已经变得遥不可期了。
Instead, the war in Syria is growing like a tumor—worsening in some areas and infecting surrounding states.
叙利亚的战争反而在不断恶化，就像肿瘤一样——在某些地区尤为严重，甚至还感染了周边国家。
What began as a civil uprising seven years ago
七年前的一场民间起义
now looks more like an international conflict where patron states are replacing their proxies.
如今已经演变成了国际冲突，赞助国也正在取代代理人的位置。
Since Feb. 3, the aircraft of four different countries have been downed over Syria.
自2月3日以来，已经有四个国家的飞机在叙利亚被击落。
A Russian jet was hit by Syrian opposition fighters.
一架俄罗斯飞机被叙利亚反对派击中。
Turkey says Kurdish fighters shot down one of its helicopters.
土耳其说库尔德战机击落了一架土耳其直升机。
一架以色列F-16在叙利亚进行了一系列袭击之后被叙利亚政权击落。
And Israel says it shot down an Iranian drone entering Israeli space from Syria.
以色列则表示，他们击落了一架从叙利亚飞入以色列的伊朗无人机。
On top of this, U.S. forces clashed with Russian mercenary forces who had attacked Kurdish forces backed by the U.S.
此外，美军和袭击其支持的库尔德军队的俄罗斯雇佣兵也发生了冲突。
This dizzying array of overlapping and competing conflicts and alliances has become unmoored from the war that began in 2011.
这场令人眼花缭乱的交错冲突和联盟已经和2011年开始的那场战争没多大关系了。
“Most of the conflicts that you see now have nothing to do with Syria per se,”
“你现在看到的大部分冲突都与叙利亚本身无关，”
says Joost Hiltermann, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the International Crisis Group.
国际危机组织中东和北非项目主任约斯特· 希尔特曼说。
“They just happen to be fought there.”
“他们只不过是碰巧在那里打起来的。”
重点讲解
1. draw toward 引向
Human nature, you know, draws us toward sugar and fat and things like that.
天性会将我们引向糖、脂肪之类的东西。
2. on the way to 正在……前往……的路上
We're well on the way to completing a project on this.
我们马上就能完成这个项目了。
3. backed by 有……支持的
The government says the Tuareg fighters are backed by Al-Qaeda militants.
政府表示，图阿雷格战士是受基地组织激进分子支持的。
4. on top of this 除此之外
And on top ofthis, it has some really bad neighbors this time.
除此之外，这次土耳其的邻国还特别不好对付。
