聽力原文:
A hollow superpower
外強中干的超級大國
Don’t be fooled by Syria. Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy is born of weakness and made for television
別被俄羅斯的對外政策迷惑，弗拉基米爾·普京大帝的對外政策從根上是軟弱的，主要是為了在電視上好宣傳
hollow 空洞的;無用的;無價值的
JUBILANT crowds waved Russian flags; homecoming pilots were given fresh-baked bread by women in traditional dress. Judging by the pictures on television, Vladimir Putin won a famous victory in Syria this week. After his unexpected declaration that the campaign is over, Mr Putin is claiming credit for a ceasefire and the start of peace talks. He has shown off his forces and, heedless of civilian lives, saved the regime of his ally, Bashar al-Assad (though Mr Assad himself may yet prove dispensable). He has “weaponised” refugees by scattering Syrians among his foes in the European Union. And he has outmanoeuvred Barack Obama, who has consistently failed to grasp the enormity of the Syrian civil war and the threat it poses to America’s allies in the Middle East and Europe.
重點詞匯：
1 jubilant 喜氣洋洋的；歡欣鼓舞的；歡呼雀躍的
2 heedless (of sb/sth) (formal) not paying careful attention to sb/sth 不加注意；掉以輕心
3 regime（尤指未通過公正選舉的）統治方式，統治制度，政權，政體
4 Bashar al-Assad 巴沙爾阿薩德
5 dispensable不必要；可有可無；不重要
6 refugee 避難者，難民;
7 scatter 撒；撒播
8 foe 敵人；仇敵
9 outmanoeuvre 比…高明；比…技高一籌
10 consistent 一致的；始終如一的
11 enormity 巨大；深遠影響；嚴重性
12 pose（威脅、問題等）；引起；產生
claim credit for oneself 居功
聽力原文:
Look closer, however, and Russia’s victory rings hollow. Islamic State (IS) remains. The peace is brittle. Even optimists doubt that diplomacy in Geneva will prosper (see article). Most important, Mr Putin has exhausted an important tool of propaganda. As our briefing explains, Russia’s president has generated stirring images of war to persuade his anxious citizens that their ailing country is once again a great power, first in Ukraine and recently over the skies of Aleppo. The big question for the West is where he will stage his next drama.
重點詞匯：
1 ring (說法、討論、辯論等的)特性，特點
例句：His proud boast of leading 'the party of low taxation' has a hollow ring.
他洋洋得意地吹噓自己領導著“一個主張低稅收的政黨”，這聽起來很空洞。
2 brittle 脆弱的；不穩固的；易變的
3 exhaust 用完；花光；耗盡
4 propaganda 宣傳；鼓吹
5 stirring 令人激情澎湃的；激動人心的
6 ailing 處境困難的；每況愈下的
7 aleppo 阿勒頗（敘利亞西北部城市）
聽力原文:
Make Russia great again Mr Putin’s Russia is more fragile than he pretends. The economy is failing. The rise in oil prices after 2000, when Mr Putin first became president, provided $1.1 trillion of windfall export revenues for him to spend as he wished. But oil prices are three-quarters down from their peak. Russian belts have tightened further because of sanctions imposed after Mr Putin attacked Ukraine. Living standards have fallen for the past two years and are falling still. The average salary in January 2014 was $850 a month; a year later it was $450.
重點詞匯：
1 windfall 意外之財；意外獲得的東西
2 trilion 萬億
聽力原文:
Mr Putin was losing legitimacy even before the economy shrivelled. Many Russians took to the streets in the winter of 2011-12 to demand that their country become a modern state with contested elections. Mr Putin responded by annexing Crimea and vowing to restore Russian greatness after the Soviet collapse—“the greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century, he called it. Part of his plan has been to modernise the armed forces, with a $720 billion weapons-renewal programme in 2010; part to use the media to turn Russia into a fortress against a hostile West; and part to intervene abroad.
重點詞匯：
1 legitimate 合法的；法律認可的；法定的
2 shrivel 枯萎，干枯，皺縮
3 annex 強占，并吞（國家、地區等）
4 crimea 克里米亞
5 restore 恢復
6 geopolitics 地緣政治；地理政治學
7 catastrophe 災難；災禍；橫禍 同義詞：disaster
8 fortress 堡壘，要塞;
9 hostile 敵意的；敵對的
10 renewal 恢復；更新；重新開始
11 intervene 出面；介入

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