Annan Faces His“Most Difficult”Moment

　　【参考译文】安南面临他“最困难的”时刻

　　UNITED NATIONS, March 29—As Kofi Annan sees it, the time for low profiles is past.

　　【参考译文】联合国，3月29日–正如科菲-安南所认识到的，不能再保持低姿态了。

　　【注释】low profile,“低姿态”：The government is trying to keep a low profile on this issue.政府力图在这个问题上保持低姿态。也可以说low-key,“低调的，不招摇的”：The prime minister made a low-key speech, hoping to calm the situation.首相作了一次低调的演说，希望使形势缓和下来。此外，还有诸如subdued, softened等。

　　A war has erupted without sanction from the United Nations, and as its secretary general, he has to speak up about the conflict, look ahead to the future of Iraq, and keep the Nobel Prize-winning institution from reverting to its cold-war self: a bypassed, impossibly intricate bureaucracy, an off-off-Broadway stage featuring small-time diplomatic dramas.

　　【参考译文】在没有得到联合国授权的情况下战争打响了，作为联合国的秘书长，他不得不就冲突阐明观点，为伊拉克的未来做筹划，还要力图阻止这个曾获得诺贝尔奖的国际机构重新回到冷战期间的状态：一个被绕道而过的、异常繁琐的官僚机构，一个时常上演琐碎外交戏剧的“外百老汇戏剧界之外”的舞台。

　　【注释】look ahead,“为将来设想”：We are trying to look ahead and see what our options are.我们努力着眼于未来，看我们有什么选择。revert to,“恢复，回复到(从前，一般为不好的状态)”He’s stopped taking drugs now, but he may revert to taking them again.他现在是停止吸毒了，但有可能重新吸上。off-Broadway,“外百老汇戏剧的”：an off-Broadway play,外百老汇剧。small-time,“有限的，不重要的”：a small-time criminal,一名罪轻的刑事犯。

　　So Mr. Annan has spent the last three weeks offering blunt observations: first about who failed whom and now about who is paying the price and what can be done about it. It is, he acknowledges, the "most difficult" moment of his four decades at the United Nations.

　　【参考译文】于是安南先生在过去的三个星期里不断发表直言不讳的评论：先是提到谁令谁失望，现在又是哪方正付出代价，为此人们可以做些什么。他承认，这是他在联合国工作四十年来所遇到的最困难的时刻。

　　The defiant Iraqi government, the Anglo-American coalition and the splintered Security Council itself all have been on the receiving end of his pointed reminders.

　　【参考译文】他尖刻的提示目标直指桀骜不驯的伊拉克政府，英美联盟以及四分五裂的安理会。

　　【注释】splinter,“(从大机构中)分裂出来，分成若干派系”：Eventually, the former big party splinteredsintosseveral smaller political parties.最终，先前的大党分裂成数个小政治党派。

　　(本栏目是由世博英语(360abc.com)robin原创编写！带领您体验英语新闻的精髓！世博英语保留一切权利！未经书面授权，请勿转载！）