新奇事件簿 油轮袭击致使中东局势紧张加剧

Tensions are rising in the Middle East over the latest attacks on oil tankers¹. The USA is blaming Iran for the attacks on two tankers in the Gulf² of Oman on Thursday. The tankers are owned by Japan and Norway. They were hit by blasts while navigating³ waters close to the strategically important Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Around a fifth of the world's oil passes through the Strait, which is just 68km at its narrowest point. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran was behind the "blatant⁴ assault" on the vessels⁶. He said the U.S. would defend itself and its allies against "Iranian aggression⁷" in the region. However, he provided no evidence that Iran was behind the attacks.

由于近期的油轮袭击事件，中东地区的紧张局势正在加剧。周四，美国指责伊朗袭击两艘位于阿曼湾的油轮。两艘油轮归日本和挪威所有。两艘油轮在霍尔木兹海峡附近航行时遭到爆炸袭击，霍尔木兹海峡位于伊朗和阿拉伯联合酋长国之间，具有重要战略意义的。世界上大约五分之一的石油都要经过这个海峡运输，海峡最窄的地方只有68公里。美国国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥称，伊朗是“公然袭击”这些船只的幕后黑手。他称美国将保卫自己及其盟友不受伊朗在该地区的“侵略”。但他没有提供证据证明伊朗是袭击的幕后黑手。

The attacks are the second such incidents carried out against tankers in the past month. Two Saudi tankers were sabotaged⁸ in the UAE port of Fujairah last month. The U.S. says the latest tankers were hit by mines and posted a video online of supposed Iranian forces removing an unexploded mine off the hull⁹ of one of the ships. Iran's Foreign Minister described the attacks as "suspicious". He said Iran's navy was investigating them. Iran called the U.S. accusations¹⁰ "unfounded," "inflammatory" and "Iranophobic". The Japanese owner of one of the tankers said his vessel⁵ was struck by some kind of missile and not by a mine. The United Nations cautioned that the truth needed to be "clearly established".

这是在过去两个月内发生的第二起针对油轮的袭击事件。上个月，两艘沙特油轮在阿联酋富查伊拉港遭到蓄意破坏。美国称最近期的油轮遭到了地雷袭击网上有视频显示疑似伊朗军队正在拆除一艘船只船体上未爆炸的地雷。伊朗外交部长称该袭击“可疑”。他称伊朗海军正在进行调查。伊朗称美国的指控是“毫无根据的”、“有煽动性的”以及“反伊朗的”。其中一艘油轮的日本所有者表示他的船只是被某种导弹而非地雷击中。联合国警告称，真相需要“清晰明确”。

1 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• 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。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

4 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

5 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

6 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

8 sabotaged   

阴谋破坏（某事物）( sabotage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The main pipeline supplying water was sabotaged by rebels. 供水主管道被叛乱分子蓄意破坏了。
• They had no competition because competitors found their trucks burned and sabotaged. 他们之所以没有竞争对象，那是因为竞争对象老是发现自己的卡车遭火烧或被破坏。 来自教父部分

9 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

10 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。