新奇事件簿 复兴大坝加剧地区紧张局势

A dam on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia is escalating¹ tensions in the region.

埃塞俄比亚青尼罗河上的一座大坝加剧了该地区的紧张局势。

African Union-led talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance² Dam broke down on Monday.

周一，由非洲联盟牵头的关于埃塞俄比亚复兴大坝的埃塞俄比亚、埃及以及苏丹三方谈话破裂。

There are fears that the filling of the dam could lead to armed conflict. Ethiopia is constructing the dam to supply electricity to its rural areas.

有人担心，给大坝蓄水会导致武装冲突。埃塞俄比亚正在修建大坝，为其农村地区提供电力。

It is the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa and is two-thirds finished. Ethiopia has started filling the dam, which has raised alarm in Cairo.

这是非洲最大的水电站坝，且三分之二已完工。埃塞俄比亚已经开始给大坝蓄水，这引起了开罗的警觉。

Egypt views the dam as an "existential threat" and is concerned the dam will reduce its water supplies.

埃及认为这座大坝是一种“存在威胁”，且担心大坝会减少其供水。

Most of Egypt's water comes entirely³ from the Nile, particularly during times of drought.

埃及大部分的水源完全来自尼罗河，尤其是在干旱时期。

The Blue Nile originates in natural springs above Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It supplies the majority of the water for the Nile River.

青尼罗河起源于埃塞俄比亚亚塔纳湖上的天然泉水。其为尼罗河提供了大部分的水。

The Blue Nile merges⁴ with the White Nile near Khartoum in Sudan.

青尼罗河与白尼罗河在苏丹喀土穆汇合。

The waterway becomes the River Nile from the point of confluence⁵ of the two rivers.

两条河在一点处汇合成了尼罗河。

Ethiopia calls the dam an "existential necessity". Taxes from Ethiopian citizens have largely paid for the dam.

埃塞俄比亚称这座大坝是“生存必须”。埃塞俄比亚公民的税收是大坝建设的主要资金来源。

Ethiopia's government says the dam is essential as nearly half the country's population lacks access to electricity.

埃塞俄比亚政府表示，大坝是必要的，因为该国近一半的人口缺乏电力供应。

Egypt has said it could share electricity with Ethiopia instead of the dam being used.

埃及表示，它可以与埃塞俄比亚共享电力，而不是使用大坝。

An Egyptian politician said: "One nation's need for electricity is pinned to another nation's need for water."

一名埃塞俄比亚政客说到：“一个国家对电力的需求与另一个国家对水的需求是密不可分的。”

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 merges   

（使）混合( merge的第三人称单数 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• The 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Mo Yan"who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary". 2012年诺贝尔文学奖得主为莫言，他“很好地将魔幻现实与民间故事、历史与当代结合在一起”。
• A device that collates, merges, or matches sets of punched cards or other documents. 一种整理、合并或比较一组穿孔卡片或其它文档的设备。

5 confluence   

n.汇合，聚集

参考例句：

• They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.他们建造了城市的汇合两条河流。
• The whole DV movements actually was a confluence of several trends.整个当时的DV运动，实际上是几股潮流的同谋。