美国有线新闻 CNN 巴西海岸大规模原油泄露 日本德仁天皇举行即位大典

 

First story takes us to the largest country in South America, where a mystery is washing up along Brazil's coast. Crude oil — hundreds of tons of it — has appeared on Brazil's northeast beaches. This has been going on since early September. Roughly 1,200 miles of shoreline have been polluted. The mystery here is where it came from. No one knows yet.

Brazil's government has tested the oil, and officials say it did not come from Brazil. They believe it's from Venezuela, but they didn't directly blame Venezuela for the spill. Brazil's environmental minister says it might or might not have been an accident. It could have come from another country's ship, for instance, that was carrying Venezuelan oil. Venezuela says it's not responsible.

Natural oil spills, when the substance simply seeps¹ out of the ocean floor, are possible. But Brazil's president thinks this could have been a criminal act. Whoever or whatever is to blame, thousands of volunteers and government workers have been doing what they can to c?lean up the coast.

Environmentalists are concerned about the oil's effects on the coral reefs² in the area, and officials say a number of birds and sea turtles have been found dead in the slick.

Critics of Brazil's government say it hasn't done enough to address the spill. Earlier this week, it said it was sending 5,000 more members of the military to h?elp out. Because people there don't know here the oil's coming from, they can't say f?or sure whether the spill is getting worse or better.

Officially, the Pacific nation of Japan has had a new emperor since May, shortly after Emperor Akihito abdicated³ — or gave up — his throne. But it wasn't until this week that his son, Naruhito made his enthronement and that of his wife official.

This is the ceremony in which a new Japanese emperor proclaims⁴ his status to the world. It's a centuries-old tradition filled with rituals⁵ and attended by more than 100 high-ranking officials from around the globe. And it's all for a position that's mostly ceremonial.

Japan is officially a parliamentary constitutional monarchy⁶. Though its emperor is a symbol of the country and the unity⁷ of the Japanese people, its decision-making power is in the hands of elected politicians. Of course, some of them were also at the ceremony.

1 seeps   

n.（液体）渗( seep的名词复数 )；渗透；渗出；漏出v.（液体）渗( seep的第三人称单数 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water seeps through sand. 水渗入沙中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Water seeps out of the wall. 水从墙里沁出。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 reefs   

礁体

参考例句：

• The motorboat cut across swift currents and skirted dangerous reefs. 汽艇穿过激流，绕过险滩。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Fish are abundant about the reefs. 暗礁附近鱼很多。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 abdicated   

放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 退位，逊位

参考例句：

• He abdicated in favour of his son. 他把王位让给了儿子。
• King Edward Ⅷ abdicated in 1936 to marry a commoner. 国王爱德华八世于1936年退位与一个平民结婚。

4 proclaims   

v.正式宣布( proclaim的第三人称单数 )；显示

参考例句：

• The constitution proclaims that public property shall be inviolate. 宪法宣告公共财产不可侵犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Britain proudly proclaims that it is a nation of animal lovers. 英国骄傲地声称自己是一个热爱动物的国家。 来自辞典例句

5 rituals   

（宗教等的）仪式( ritual的名词复数 )； 例行公事，老规矩

参考例句：

• A cognac before bed is one of our little nightly rituals. 临睡之前喝点儿干邑是我们每天晚上的小习惯之一。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills. 这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

6 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

7 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。