[00:02.00]Pro-Russian activists have been working to take over parts of eastern Ukraine,
[00:05.89]using tactics similar to those that helped Moscow annex Crimea.
[00:10.10]Western nations are already using sanctions
[00:12.70] to punish Russia for seizing Crimea
[00:15.10]and to discourage any possible Russian invasion of other parts of Ukraine.
[00:20.10]U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says
[00:22.60] economic sanctions could get much tougher.
[00:25.40]"If Russia or its proxies disrupt the election,
[00:29.10]the United States and those countries represented here today
[00:33.00] in the European Union will impose sectoral economic sanctions."
[00:37.59]Russia's vital oil and natural gas industry
[00:40.29] could be one target of stronger sanctions.
[00:43.29]That would be a big change from sanctions that have so far
[00:46.89]been aimed just at people in Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle.
[00:51.50]John Chambers, of the Standard and Poor's financial services company,
[00:55.09]says sanctions worry investors because they increase uncertainty.
[00:59.59]"There's already been an impact on the Russian economy.
[01:02.00]You see that in the financial markets.
[01:04.00]You see that in the outward portfolio flows."
[01:09.29]Uncertainty makes it hard for investors to assess risk,
[01:13.09]prompting them to take money out of the country.
[01:15.79]Without capital to buy and build things,
[01:18.39]the economy can stall or even shrink.
[01:21.00]Russia's economy already had problems,
[01:23.59]making it hard to judge the impact of sanctions,
[01:26.20]according to Columbia University Professor Tim Frye,
[01:29.59]who spoke via Skype.
[01:31.09]"There are lots of underlying negative trends in the Russian economy
[01:35.00]that have dramatically slowed growth in the last couple of years.
[01:38.50]At the margins, sanctions may be increasing some economic uncertainty,
[01:42.89]but they are not having a broad economic impact yet."
[01:46.29]An economist who once advised the Russian and Ukrainian governments
[01:49.89]says sanctions could get "a lot tougher."
[01:52.50]Anders Aslund, of the Peterson Institute for International Economics,
[01:56.09]says that sanctions may have kept Moscow
[01:58.70]from taking stronger military action against Ukraine.
[02:02.20]"It is not obvious, but I think they （the sanctions） have worked.
[02:05.59]What we have seen is that the Russian action
[02:09.90] in eastern Ukraine looks as if it is faltering,
[02:14.60]and one of the factors behind it is sanctions."
[02:18.50]Aslund says Russia's economy will shrink
[02:21.30]rather than grow this year, at least, in part, due to sanctions.
詞匯解析
impose
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
v.強(qiáng)加；課征；強(qiáng)迫；征收(稅款)
參考例句
用作動(dòng)詞 (v.)
I don't want to impose on you by staying too long.
我不想打擾你,不多耽擱了。
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inner
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
adj.內(nèi)心的；內(nèi)部的；里面的
n.里面
參考例句
用作形容詞 (adj.)
He has no inner resources and hates being alone.
他沒有內(nèi)在的精神寄托，因而害怕孤獨(dú)。
用作名詞 (n.)
Time is therefore always ticking in our inner ear.
因此時(shí)間總是在我們內(nèi)耳里面滴滴答答地走。
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outward
難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞
英漢解釋
adj.向外的；表面的；外部的
adv.向外；在外；表面
參考例句
用作形容詞 (adj.)
A detonation projects an instantaneous pulse of pressure outward in all directions.
爆炸的瞬間會(huì)朝各個(gè)方向發(fā)出向外的壓力波。
用作副詞 (adv.)
The walls of the dilapidated shed lean outward.
那座破棚屋的墻向外傾。
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wealthy
難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞
英漢解釋
adj.富有的
n.富人
參考例句
用作形容詞 (adj.)
A wealthy sponsor came to our rescue with a generous donation.
有個(gè)富有的贊助人慷慨捐贈(zèng)來解救我們。
用作名詞 (n.)
Obama says those cuts favor the wealthy.
說這些政策只會(huì)對(duì)富人有利。
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bureau
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.局；辦事處；(帶抽屜的）寫字臺(tái)
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
She put the envelope beneath her underwear in the bureau, a place Richard would never look.
她把信封放在梳妝臺(tái)抽屜的內(nèi)衣下面,這里理查德是決不會(huì)看的地方。
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shrink
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
vi.收縮；退縮；萎縮；畏懼，害怕
vt.使收縮
n.收縮；萎縮
n.精神科醫(yī)生
參考例句
用作不及物動(dòng)詞 (vi.)
Will this woolen sweater shrink when washed?
這件羊毛衫洗后會(huì)縮水嗎？
用作及物動(dòng)詞 (vt.)
The hot water shrank my pullover.
我的套頭毛衣遇熱水后收縮了。
用作名詞 (n.)
You can expect some shrink when the jeans are washed.
這種牛仔褲洗后要縮些水。
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