VOA慢速英语2015 哥伦比亚与美国公司因沉没的珍宝发生争执

AS IT IS 2015-12-09 Colombia, US Company Dispute Over Sunken Treasure 哥伦比亚与美国公司因沉没的珍宝发生争执

一艘西班牙船只附近海底发现了黄金宝藏，目前就其所有权问题引发了一场轰动。

The ship, or galleon¹, named the San Jose could be worth billions of dollars in lost treasure.

这艘称作圣·约瑟的船，或者叫做加利恩帆船失去的财富价值数十亿美金。

The Colombian Institute of Anthropology² and History says it discovered the sunken wreck³.But an American company says it discovered the ship 30 years ago and owns much of the loot.

哥伦比亚人类学和历史研究所认为是哥伦比亚发现了这艘沉船。然而， 美国公司则表明他们早在30年之前就发现这艘船了，大部分财富都应是他们所属。

Colombian President Juan Manual Santos said Saturday that the ship was found by an international team of experts. He would not reveal the ship’s location.But the ship is not located where the U.S. company said it was in the early 1980s, he said.

周六哥伦比亚总统桑托斯说，一支国际专家小组发现了船只残骸。他不会透露船只地理位置。但是这艘船并不位于美国公司上个世纪八十年代早期声称的位置。

The sunken treasure includes jewelry⁴ and gold coins and could be the largest ever found.Experts believe the cargo⁵ could be worth billions of dollars if recovered.

这艘沉船中的宝藏有各类珠宝饰物和金币，是目前发现的最大的宝藏。专家坚信，若货物能够打捞上来，它们将值数十亿美金。

An American company called Sea Search Armada says it found the wreck in 1982.Courts in the United States, Colombia and Spain have looked at the dispute.

美国一家称为海上搜索舰队的公司说，他们在1982年就已发现船只残骸。美国、哥伦比亚与西班牙法庭已经开始调查这次纠纷。

Maritime⁶ law usually gives the discoverer of a shipwreck⁷ half of the value of the cargo.But in 1984, Colombia passed a law that gave the company only 5 percent of the value.

海商法通常给予发现遇难船只的公司等同于货物价值的一半的奖励。然而，1984年，哥伦比亚通过一项法律，法律规定，只奖励公司发现货物价值的5%。

Colombia’s Supreme⁸ Court says the cargo must be recovered before it can decide who owns the ship.

哥伦比亚最高法院称，必须先打捞货物上来，再决定它的所属权。

Santos said Colombia’s claim would be protected. He said a new museum will be built in Cartagena to show the items recovered from the ship.

桑托斯称，哥伦比亚的索赔将受到保护。卡塔赫纳将建造一个新的博物馆，用来陈列从这艘船里打捞的物品。

The navy is closely guarding the shipwreck.

海军严密监守着这艘遇难船。

The government says the video and pictures prove the sunken ship is the San Jose.

政府认为，视频和照片证明这艘沉船一定是圣·约瑟。

The San Jose was attacked by British warships⁹ and sunk June 8, 1708.Almost all of the 600 people on the ship died. Experts say they believe it was carrying jewels and millions of gold coins.Those jewels and coins were taken from Spanish colonies.

圣·约瑟在1708年6月8日遭到英国战舰的袭击。船上600个成员几乎全部遇难。专家们坚信，这艘船当时正携带着大量珠宝和数百万金币。而这些珠宝金币都是从西班牙殖民地夺走的。

Spain used the money to wage war against Britain.

西班牙用这些钱来向英国发动战争。

No humans have reached the site.Special undersea vehicles took pictures of the San Jose that show its cannons¹¹ and other cargo.Santos said it would take many years to recover the ship’s contents.

目前还没有人到达残骸位置。特殊的水下仪器拍摄了圣·约瑟的照片，照片显示了它的大炮和其它货物。桑托斯说，打捞船上的物品需要耗费数年。

“This is not only about raising a bunch of shiny gold coins,”said Justin Leidwanger, a maritime history expert, to the Wall Street Journal.“It’s a discovery of extraordinary cultural and historical importance.”

“这不仅仅是打捞大量闪闪发光的金币，”海洋历史专家贾斯汀·莱德万格对《华尔街日报》说道。“而是发觉非凡的文化与历史重要性的一次探索。”

Words in This Story

make waves – expression to cause a disturbance¹² or controversy¹³     

loot – n. informal money

location – n. a place or position

maritime – adj. of or relating to sailing on the sea or doing business (such as trading) by sea

site – n. a place where something important has happened

cannon¹⁰ – n. a large gun that shoots heavy metal or stone balls and that was once a common military weapon

cargo – n. something that is carried from one place to another by boat, airplane, etc.

bunch – n. informal a large amount; a lot (mostly US)

1 galleon   

n.大帆船

参考例句：

• The story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea.在1628年，有一艘大帆船在处女航开始时就沉没了，这个沉船故事一定是最神奇的海上轶事之一。
• In 1620 the English galleon Mayfolwer set out from the port of Southampton with 102 pilgrims on board.1620年，英国的“五月花”号西班牙式大帆船载着102名

2 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

3 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

4 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

5 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

6 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

7 shipwreck   

n.船舶失事，海难

参考例句：

• He walked away from the shipwreck.他船难中平安地脱险了。
• The shipwreck was a harrowing experience.那次船难是一个惨痛的经历。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

10 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

11 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

13 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。