Level/难度等级:欧框CEFR: B2; 可读分值Readability:40; 蓝思lexile:1010L-1200L
国内：英语四级 Words/词汇：353 个 keyword/关键词：乌克兰 历史
参考翻译：
The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine
《欧洲之门:乌克兰历史》(The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine)
“An exemplary account of Europe’s least-known large country” (Wall Street Journal) by an award-winning historian.
“欧洲最不为人所知的大国的典范记述”(华尔街日报)，作者是一位获奖的历史学家。
Ukraine is currently embroiled in a tense fight with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence.
乌克兰目前卷入与俄罗斯为维护领土完整和政治独立而进行的紧张斗争。
But today’s conflict is only the latest in a long history of battles over Ukraine’s territory and its existence as a sovereign nation. As the award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues in The Gates of Europe, we must examine Ukraine’s past in order to understand its present and future.
但今天的冲突只是漫长历史上围绕乌克兰领土及其作为主权国家存在的战斗中的最新一起。正如获奖历史学家Serhii Plokhy在《欧洲之门》(The Gates Of Europe)一书中指出的那样，我们必须审视乌克兰的过去，才能了解它的现在和未来。
Situated between Central Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, Ukraine was shaped by the empires that used it as a strategic gateway between East and West—from the Roman and Ottoman empires to the Third Reich and the Soviet Union.
乌克兰位于中欧、俄罗斯和中东之间，曾被一些帝国塑造成东西方之间的战略门户——从罗马帝国和奥斯曼帝国到第三帝国和苏联。
For centuries, Ukraine has been a meeting place of various cultures. 几个世纪以来，乌克兰一直是各种文化的聚集地。
The mixing of sedentary and nomadic peoples and Christianity and Islam on the steppe borderland produced the class of ferocious warriors known as the Cossacks, for example, while the encounter between the Catholic and Orthodox churches created a religious tradition that bridges Western and Eastern Christianity.
定居的游牧民族与基督教和伊斯兰教在草原边境地区的融合造就了凶残的战士阶级哥萨克人，而天主教和东正教的相遇创造了一种连接东西方基督教的宗教传统。
Ukraine has also been a home to millions of Jews, serving as the birthplace of Hassidism—and as one of the killing fields of the Holocaust.
乌克兰也是数百万犹太人的家园，是哈西德主义的诞生地，也是大屠杀的屠杀场之一。
Plokhy examines the history of Ukraine’s search for its identity through the lives of the major figures in Ukrainian history:
普罗希通过乌克兰历史上主要人物的经历来审视乌克兰寻找自己身份的历史:
Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kyiv, whose daughter Anna became queen of France; 基辅的智者雅罗斯拉夫王子(Prince Yaroslav the Wise of kiev)，他的女儿安娜成为了法国王后;
the Cossack ruler Ivan Mazepa, who was immortalized in the poems of Byron and Pushkin;
哥萨克统治者伊万·马扎帕，拜伦和普希金的诗歌使他永垂不朽;
Nikita Khrushchev and his protege-turned-nemesis Leonid Brezhnev, who called Ukraine their home; and the heroes of the Maidan protests of 2013 and 2014, who embody the current struggle over Ukraine’s future.
尼基塔·赫鲁晓夫(Nikita Khrushchev)和他的门徒、后来的宿敌列昂尼德·勃列日涅夫(Leonid Brezhnev)，后者把乌克兰称为自己的家;以及2013年和2014年独立广场抗议活动中的英雄，他们代表着当前围绕乌克兰未来的斗争。
As Plokhy explains, today’s crisis is a tragic case of history repeating itself, as Ukraine once again finds itself in the center of the battle of global proportions. An authoritative history of this vital country, The Gates of Europe provides a unique insight into the origins of the most dangerous international crisis since the end of the Cold War.
正如普洛希解释的那样，今天的危机是历史重演的悲剧，因为乌克兰再次发现自己处于这场全球战争的中心。作为这一重要国家的权威历史，“欧洲之门”为我们提供了一个独特的视角，来洞察这场自冷战结束以来最危险的国际危机的根源。