VOA慢速英语:Search for Malaysia Airplane Enters Third Week

The search for a missing Malaysian airliner continued this week. The airplane carrying 239 passengers and crew members disappeared on March 8th. Last Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the flight ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
搜寻马来西亚失踪客机的工作本周仍在继续。这架载有239名乘客和机组人员的客机于3月8日失踪。上周一，马来西亚总理纳吉布•拉扎克宣布该飞机在南印度洋结束飞行。

"We wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity."
“我们想尽早通知您这一最新进展。”

Satellite records show that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 likely crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. Malaysian officials say the flight ended west of the Australian city of Perth.
卫星记录显示，马来西亚航空公司370航班有可能在南印度洋坠毁。马来西亚官员称，该航班在澳大利亚珀斯市西部坠毁。

Australian Defense Minister David Johnston describes the waters in that area as an extremely difficult environment.
澳大利亚国防部长David Johnston称该水域条件极其恶劣。

"Remember, this Southern Ocean, has shipwrecked many, many sailors in our history in Western Australia. It is rough. There are 20-, 30-meter waves. It is very, very dangerous, even for big ships."
“请记住，在澳大利亚西部的历史上，这片南部海域吞噬了很多很多水手。它的风浪很大，浪高有二三十米。它非常危险，即使是大型船舶。”

The Boeing 777 aircraft was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing at the time of its disappearance. On Tuesday, protesters marched toward the Malaysian embassy in Beijing. They were angry about the way Malaysian officials have reacted to the disappearance of Flight 370. The protesters demanded more information.
这架波音777飞机是正从吉隆坡飞往北京时失踪的。周二，示威者游行前往马来西亚驻北京大使馆。他们对马来西亚官方在370航班失踪上的反应非常气愤。示威者要求公布更多信息。

The same day, Malaysia Airlines officials met with reporters. They defended their decision to inform families and the world that Malaysian officials now consider the flight lost.
同日，马来西亚航空公司官员会见了记者。他们对自己通知家属和世人现在马来西亚官员认为该航班坠毁的决定辩护。

Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese. The Australian government is easing visa and immigration rules to permit relatives to travel to Perth. The city's Chinese community has offered to assist the visitors.
三分之二的乘客是中国人。澳大利亚政府放宽了签证和移民规则以允许亲属前往珀斯。该市的华人社区也对来访者提供协助。

Critics say Malaysia has been keeping information from victims' families and the media. The British satellite company Inmarsat told Malaysian officials four days after the disappearance that they had received hourly signals from the plane. Yet the officials were said to have waited three days before acting on that information.
批评人士称，马来西亚一直对遇难者家属和媒体隐瞒信息。英国卫星公司Inmarsat在航班失联四天后告知马来西亚官员，他们曾收到该飞机每小时一次的信号。然而据说有关官员等了三天才对该信息作出反应。

John Goglia has investigated plane crashes for the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. He noted Malaysia's lack of experience with air disasters.
John Goglia在美国国家运输安全委员会负责调查飞机坠毁。他指出马来西亚缺乏应对空难的经验。

"In this particular instance, what had come out certainly seemed disconnected.It seemed like they didn't follow any of the known processes that had been established for years and years."
 “在这种特定情况下，已经发生的一切看上去毫无条理。看上去他们没有遵循任何已经确立多年的已知程序。”

Other Southeast Asian countries were quick to join the search. But they were slow to share radar or satellite information with Malaysia about possible sightings.
东南亚其它国家很快加入搜索。但他们在就可能踪迹同马来西亚共享雷达或卫星数据上行动迟缓。

Malaysia is in a difficult position. Some observers say it does not want to anger China. Yet China's Global Times newspaper published editorials blaming Malaysia's government. One piece read: "Malaysia is determined to enter the ranks of developed countries by 2020. But judging from its handling of the MH370 incident, Malaysia's modernization will take far longer than this."
马来西亚陷入困难的境地。一些观察家称，马来西亚并不想激怒中国。然而，中国的环球时报发表社论指责了马来西亚政府。其中写道：“马来西亚决心在2020年前迈入发达国家行列。但从马航370事件的处理手法来看，马来西亚的现代化仍需更长的时间。”

Malaysia has a growing tourist industry. Last year, 1.8 million Chinese visited the country. But this could change because of Flight 370.
马来西亚的旅游业不断增长。去年有180万中国人到访该国。但因为370航班这一切可能会改变。

On Thursday, China's Foreign Ministry again called for more exact information from Malaysia on the details of the search. A spokesman said he hoped Malaysia would improve its communications with China.
周四，中国外交部再次呼吁马来西亚在搜索细节上提供更准确的信息。一位发言人称，他希望马来西亚能改善同中国的沟通。

This continues to be a developing story. For the latest information, go to 51VOA.com
事态仍在发展之中，有关马航客机的最新消息，请访问www.hxen.net 。