万花筒 Kaleidoscope2007-10-24&10-25, 海岸巡逻队紧盯北极
时间：2018-12-11 作者：英语课 分类：万花筒2007年
A town of about 4,000 inhabitants on the edge of Alaska’s North Slope, Barrow calls itself the top of the world. It’s the northernmost settlement in the United States, one of the northernmost in the world. As temperatures continue to rise in the northern reaches of the arctic, the pack ice here is open for a longer and longer period each year. With increasing ship traffic and the promise of far more, it's here in Barrow that the US Coast Guard is pushing to build its first base in the Arctic Ocean. Admiral Thad W. Allen is commandant of the Coast Guard.
All we know is we have an operating environment. So we have some responsibilities for it in this changing and it's incumbent 1 on, not only myself as the leader of the Coast Guard, but I think United States in general ought to take a look at the potential things that could happen up there, be prepared for them.
The Coast Guard says that the base would speed responses to cruise ship accidents or spills from oil tankers 2 which the guard believes would eventually carry shipments from Scandinavia to Asia through the Bering Strait. These arctic routes could cut 5000 miles off the shipments that currently travel through the Panama or Suez Canals. Moreover, milder conditions in the Arctic Ocean could open the door to prospecting 3 for oil, gas, and mineral deposits.
And quite frankly 4, there is a large issue here related to the private sector--- oil and gas exploration.
The United Nation’s law---the Sea Treaty says that countries can expand their territorial 5 claims well beyond their shores. I think there's tremendous urgency to pass you know , a law that sees, sets, sets up a framework to resolve differences in opinion regarding, claims on continental 6 shelf and so forth 7, but it’s much broader than that.
While the US has yet to ratify 8 the UN treaty, and any prospecting could be years away, Coast Guard officials like Admiral W.Allen feel that politics and environment aside, his agency will need to provide the same services that it performs in the Atlantic or the Pacific.
- He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
- It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。
- They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
- The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。
- The prospecting team ploughed their way through the snow. 探险队排雪前进。
- The prospecting team has traversed the length and breadth of the land. 勘探队踏遍了祖国的山山水水。
- To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
- Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。
- The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
- They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。
- A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
- The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。