美国有线新闻 CNN 2015-04-03

 Today is a deadline for an international agreement involving a controversial nuclear program. 

 

On one side of the table, the Middle Eastern nation of Iran. It insists its nuclear program is for civilian¹ power and other peaceful purposes. Members of the international community are concerned it could be used to make nuclear weapons.

 

On the other side of the table, the U.S., the U.K., China, France, Germany and Russia. They're considering lifting economic penalties, sanctions on Iran, if it puts a hold on its nuclear program. But as of last night, there were some hang-ups in the negotiations².

 

1. How quickly will Iran be allowed to develop its nuclear program after 10 years? How quickly will other countries lift their sanctions? And if Iran breaks the deal, will the sanctions be put back in place? We'll update you on whether an agreement is reached.

 

What happens with that potential deal can have an impact on the price of oil. Global crude prices plummeted³ last year as oil production in the U.S. shot up. Twenty fourteen was America's biggest one-year increase at oil production in more than a century. Hydraulic⁴ fracturing, also known as fracking, a way of extracting oil from the ground, factored in, so did horizontal drilling. The number of stories we've covered this year can further influence oil's price.

 

Look, they're, they're making, producing so much oil in this country, they're running out of places to put it. And that could cause some pressure on prices down the road, so three kind of story lines here:

 

1. We're producing one and a half million barrels a day more crude than the world is using and so you've got this big supply issue.

 

2. The Iran nuclear deal. If the deal is in, Iran could potentially be exporting legally more oil. That would be even more supply on top of more supply.

 

But here let me rein⁵ it back a little bit, because then there's this other big negative. What about Yemen? Yemen and Saudi Arabia leading, potentially, more ground offensives, a ground offensive into Yemen. An instability in the Middle East could cause oil prices to pop.

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

5 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。