The US and the Taliban have signed a landmark peace agreement after nearly 20 years of war that could result in American troops leaving Afghanistan within 14 months.
在美国和塔利班交战近 20 年之后，双方现已签署一项具有里程碑意义的和平协议。该协议有望使美军在未来 14 个月内撤出阿富汗。
The deal also paves the way for talks between Afghans to end one of the longest-running conflicts in the world.
该协议也为阿富汗各方的谈判铺平了道路。内部和谈有望结束（阿富汗人内部）这场世界上持续最久的冲突之一。
The Taliban have agreed to sever ties with al-Qaida and other international terror groups and sit down for peace talks with other Afghans, including a government they have always denounced as a US puppet. In return, Washington will start a phased withdrawal of troops.
塔利班已同意切断与“基地”组织及其他国际恐怖组织的联系，并坐下来同阿富汗各方认真进行和谈，其中包括一直被他们谴责为美国“傀儡”的阿富汗政府。作为交换，美国将开始分阶段从阿富汗撤军。
Civil war — in various iterations — has torn Afghanistan apart over 40 years. With the majority of the population under 30, most have known nothing but conflict. So there is excitement that efforts to negotiate an end to the war have made progress.
在过去的 40 年里，以不同形式反复爆发的内战将阿富汗变得四分五裂。阿富汗的现有人口大多未满 30 岁，所以他们熟知的唯有战乱。因此，人们为停战和谈取得进展而兴奋不已。
But there is also widespread concern about Taliban motives in signing a deal they have described as a “victory”, and fears the US may use the deal as cover to leave regardless of the state of the war.
但人们也普遍担心塔利班签署这项协议的动机，它称这项协议是一场“胜利”。人们还担心美国利用这项协议，掩护其罔顾战争局势而撤离阿富汗的举动。
“Like many Afghans, I have mixed feelings. The general secrecy around the deal, the lack of presence of non-Taliban Afghans in the process, the fact that the US-Taliban talks seemed to marginalise other Afghan voices, all have made me anxious,” said Shaharzad Akbar, the chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
“和很多阿富汗人一样，我也百感交集。这项协议的达成几乎全程保密，不属于塔利班组织的阿富汗代表在谈判过程中缺席，且美国与塔利班的谈话似乎将来自阿富汗其他各方的声音边缘化了，这些都令我忧虑，”阿富汗独立人权委员会主席，莎哈扎德·阿克巴尔（音）说道。
“However, on the other hand, if the agreement allows for a reasonable timeline for a responsible withdrawal and ensures intra-Afghan talks, there is room for hope about a substantive reduction in conflict and violence. Peace will require much more.”
“不过，从另一方面来看，如果这项协议为美方按责撤军规定了合理的时间表，并确保阿富汗的内部谈判（顺利进行），那么从本质上减少冲突和暴力的希望还是存在的。而要想实现和平，这还远远不够。”
主编：木子、大仔
品控：木子、毛西
审核：Bao
重点词汇
withdraw/wɪðˈdrɑː/
v. 撤回
landmark/ˈlænd.mɑːrk/
n. 地标；里程碑
pave the way
铺平道路；创造条件
搭配短语：pave the way for/to sth.
running/ˈrʌn.ɪŋ/
adj. 连续的；持续的
sever/ˈsev.ɚ/
v. 切断；断绝
搭配短语：to sever a rope（切断）
例句：The two countries have severed diplomatic relations.（断绝）
近义词：break off
例句：The two countries have broken off diplomatic relations.
词汇辨析：break off, sever
两者在表示“断绝（关系，联系）”的时候，可以互换。在表示让某个具体的物品断裂的时候，break off 表示折断、掰断某物；而 sever 表示切断、割断某物。
搭配短语：to break off a piece of chocolate
sit down
尽心尽力（去做某事）
英文释义：If you sit down and do something, you spend time and effort doing it in order to try to achieve something.
denounce/dɪˈnaʊns/
v. 谴责，公开指责
相关词汇：announce（v. 宣布）
puppet/ˈpʌp.ɪt/
n. 木偶；傀儡
phase/feɪz/
v. 分阶段进行
词性拓展：phase（n. 阶段）
例句：The work is being phased over a few weeks.
iteration/ˌɪt̬.əˈreɪ.ʃən/
n. 重复，反复
英文释义：the repetition of a process or utterance
词义辨析：iteration, repetition
两者均有“重复”的含义，且两者紧密相关，但 iteration 强调为了做出改变而重复做某事，而 repetition 则没有这层意思。
tear sth. apart
使某事物四分五裂
相关词汇：tear（v. 撕裂）
相关搭配：tear sb. apart（使某人痛苦；使某人担忧）
例句：It just tears me apart to be away from you.
cover/ˈkʌv.ɚ/
n. 掩护，保护；遮盖物
词性拓展：cover（v. 遮盖，掩盖）
secrecy/ˈsiː.krə.si/
n. 秘密；保密
相关搭配：do sth. secretly = do sth. in secrecy
marginalise/ˈmɑːr.dʒɪ.nəl.aɪz/
v. 使…边缘化
相关词汇：margin（n. 边缘）
搭配短语：to live on the margins of society
派生词：marginal（adj. 边缘的）
词根词缀：-ise（构成动词）
allow for
将…考虑在内
英文释义：to consider something when making a plan
intra-/ɪn.trə-/
prefix 在内部
派生词：intra-family
substantive/səbˈstæn.t̬ɪv/
adj. 实质性的，本质上的
搭配短语：substantive changes
搭配短语：substantive issues