The wreckage5
fell over a wide area6
around Donetsk, in eastern7
Ukraine. Ukrainian government forces are fighting pro-Russia separatists in
that area. On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama called the incident an “outrage of unspeakable proportions8.”
“Evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by9 a surface10-to-air missile11 that was launched12 from an
area that is controlled by Russian-backed13
separatists inside of Ukraine.”
Mr. Obama spoke from the White House. He did
not say who was responsible for the crash14.
But he did note what he called a steady
flow of support15 from Russia for the separatists.
“This includes arms and training16. It includes heavy weapons17 and it includes anti-aircraft
weapons.”
Mr. Obama called for an immediate cease-fire18 between
the Ukrainian government and the separatists. He said the two sides must stop fighting19
to permit an investigation.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon led a worldwide call20
for an open investigation of the crash. Australian
Prime Minister21 Tony Abbott said the crash was, in his
words, “not an accident; it’s a crime.” And German Chancellor Angela Merkel
said, “There are22
many indications that the plane was shot down, so we have to take things seriously23.”
Malaysia’s Transport Minister said it would be
an “outrage against24
human decency” if the airliner25
was shot down on purpose26.
The crash of flight MH17 happened four months
after another Malaysia Airlines plane, Flight MH370, went missing27. That plane was traveling from
Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China. Extensive
searches have taken place28 across the South China Sea to
the Indian Ocean. But it has not been found29.
On Thursday, officials from Ukraine’s Foreign
Ministry said that MH17 was flying at a height
of about30 10,000 meters when a Buk missile struck it. The
Buk is a Russian-made surface-to-air missile that can hit extremely high targets31. A Malaysia Airlines
statement32 said
Flight MH17 lost contact with Ukrainian air-traffic controllers at 2:15
UTC.
About the same time33, social media postings on Twitter and the
Russian website VKontakte claimed
that34 separatists had shot down an AN-26military transport
plane near the town of Torez, not far
from35 where the passenger plane crashed. A separatist
leader and Russian citizen36
known as Igor Strelkov reportedly
placed the posts37.
The VKontakte posting included a video showing
smoke rising from38
from the fields39
outside Torez. It said the military transport was shot down in the area somewhere near40 the
Progress coal mine41.
Later, a new posting on the Vkontatke Website
and Twitter replaced42
it. The new posting came from Alexander Borodai, the leader of the separatist
People’s Republic of Donetsk. It said a passenger
jet43 had crashed near Torez. The separatist leader denied involvement44
in the crash and suggested that45
Ukrainian government forces were responsible.
Most46 of the passengers on the Malaysian
plane were Dutch47.
Many were scientists heading to48
an international AIDS conference in Australia.
Emergency workers reported that more than 180
bodies have been located49.
Reports conflict about whether50
the plane’s audio and video recorders51
have been recovered52.
And that’s In The News, from VOA Learning
English. I’m Christopher Cruise.
Vocabulary
1. Flight = vôo
2. Died = morreram
3. Apparently = aparentemente
4. struck the plane = atingiu o avião
5. wreckage = destroços
6. fell over a wide area = caíram sobre uma área ampla
7. eastern = oriental
8. outrage of unspeakable proportions = ultraje de proporções indescritíveis
9. shot down by = abatido por
10. surface = superfície
11. missile = míssil
12. launched = lançado
13. Russian-backed = apoiado pelos russos
14. Crash = queda (avião)
15. a steady flow of support = fluxo constant de apoio
16. training = treinamento
17. heavy weapons = armas pesadas
18. cease-fire = cessar-fogo
19. must stop fighting = devem parar de lutar
20. led a worldwide call = liderou um apelo mundial
21. Australian Prime Minister = Primeiro Ministro Australiano
22. There are = Existem
23. to take things seriously = levar as coisas a sério
24. against = contra
25. airliner = avião
26. on purpose = de propósito
27. went missing = desapareceu
28. Extensive searches have takenplace = buscas extensas tem acontecido
29. Found = encontrado
30. height of about = altura de aproximadamente
31. hit extremely high targets = atingir alvos extremamente altos
32. statement = declaração
33. About the same time = aproximadamente no mesmo momento
34. claimed that = afirmou que
35. not far from = não distante de
36. citizen = cidadão
37. reportedly placed the posts = supostamente colocou as postagens
38. rising from = elevando-se de
39. fields = campos
40. somewhere near = em algum lugar perto de
41. coal mine = mina de carvão
42. replaced = substituiu
43. passenger jet = jato de passageiros
44. denied involvement = negou envolvimento
45. suggested that = sugeriu que
46. Most = a maioria
47. Dutch = Holandeses
48. heading to = dirigindo-se a
49. located = localizados
50. whether = se ou não
51. audio and video recorders = gravadores de áudio e vídeo
52. recovered = recuperados
