英語新聞一點通：「曲球」捏造伊拉克軍情 @ 【精英翻譯】的部落格

“Curveball" Throws Curveball on Iraq

You may not know the name Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi. However, under the codename “Curveball", he was one of the chief sources of information about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This information led directly to the Iraq war, because the US believed that Iraq had to be stopped from building these weapons. Even at the time, people questioned the call. Now, “Curveball" has admitted that he was lying about the WMD program. The CIA and their German counterparts, the BND, were responsible for passing on Curveball’s information as true. As a result, they are facing serious criticism. Colin Powell, the former US secretary of state has stepped up to the plate to demand that the CIA explain why they did not cover all the bases. It seems that the CIA are now facing curveballs of their own.

「曲球」捏造伊拉克軍情

或許你從未聽過「賈納比」這個名字，他正是以代號「曲球」提供關於伊拉克擁有大規模毀滅性武器的主要情報來源。即使在當時，這項判定曾遭到質疑；由於美國認為必須阻止伊拉克製造這些武器，該情報仍直接引發了伊拉克戰爭。如今，「曲球」坦承有關大規模毀滅性武器的情報是憑空捏造的，美國中央情報局和德國聯邦情報局因此必須對當初散播不實的情報而負責，並遭受嚴厲的批評。美國前國務卿科林鮑威爾挺身而出，要求美國中央情報局解釋為何當初未全面確認軍情的真實性，以自我保護，看來美國中央情報局正面臨相當棘手的難題。

字彙

codename 代號
chief 主要的
admit 承認
counterpart 對應的人(或物)
responsible 需承擔責任的
criticism 批評

解讀

Writers often use sports metaphors in stories. This story uses baseball metaphors. A “curveball" is a difficult question, and “call" is the umpire’s decision. “Stepping up to the plate" means getting ready to hit the ball, and “cover the bases" means to protect yourself.

作者經常在寫作時使用與運動相關的比喻，本篇文章使用了源自棒球運動的術語作為比喻。「曲球」代表困難的問題，「判決」則是比賽時裁判的判定。「站上本壘板」代表球員準備擊球了，而「涵蓋所有的壘包；守壘員不讓打擊者上壘的守護動作」則引申為全面防備、保護自己。

文句練習

You should always soften __________ with a compliment.
As class monitor, Mark is _________ for taking the register every day.
One of the early US stealth planes was developed under the ________ Aurora.
President Obama’s Taiwanese ____________ is Ma Ying-jeou.
The strength of technology companies like Acer and Asus is one of the ____ factors in Taiwan’s economic growth.
I have to ______ that I was surprised by the news.

文句練習解答