2006年VOA标准英语-Militants in Nigeria's Oil Region Claim Ne

By Joe Bavier
Abidjan
20 February 2006
 

Oil instalation belonging to Shell Petroleum¹ Development Company in Odidi Niger Delta²  
  
Militants⁴ in Nigeria's volatile⁵, but oil-rich, Niger Delta say they have struck again, just days after abducting⁶ a group of foreign oil workers. The recent wave of kidnappings and sabotage⁷ has cut oil exports from sub-Saharan Africa's largest producer by one-fifth.

A statement by the militant³ group, the Movement for the Emancipation⁸ of the Niger Delta, claims its fighters blew up a Nigerian navy vessel⁹ and attacked an oil facility in the oil-rich southeast.

Nigerian military officials and representatives of Royal Dutch Shell, the company that operates the sabotaged¹⁰ pipeline¹¹, were not available to comment on the alleged¹² attacks. The new claims of violence come three days after nine oil workers employed by the U.S.-based oil services firm Willbros were kidnapped by militants claiming to belong to the group.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, known as MEND, has warned that such action will continue. It is demanding the release of two prominent Ijaw ethnic¹³ leaders. Both are being held in federal custody¹⁴. The militants held four foreign oil workers for several weeks last month before releasing them.

Nigerian oil analyst¹⁵ Tunde Martins says MEND differs from many other Niger Delta militant groups, which often warn of impending¹⁶ violence, but seldom follow through.

"The fact that they were able to make real their threats shows that it is a serious group of hostage takers," he said.

Martins says the decision by the federal government to create a special military task force to combat the militants has yielded few results and could even aggravate¹⁷ the situation.

"I think the government has to go back to its drawing board, because if the Nigerian government were to react militarily to the threat of these hostage takers, it would have resulted into a lot of bloodshed," he added.

The last hostages were released unharmed, apparently¹⁸ in exchange for cash. This latest round of violence has caused oil production in Nigeria, one of the worlds top-10 petroleum producing nations, to drop by 20 percent. Prices on the world market have also risen by around $1.5 per barrel.

The Niger Delta has long been a flash point of violent unrest and ethnic clashes. Armed groups demand a greater share of the oil wealth pumped from the delta region. They also seek reparations from foreign oil companies for widespread environmental destruction.

1 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

2 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

6 abducting   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的现在分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• She was charged with abducting a six-month-old child. 她被控诱拐一个6个月大的孩子。
• At the same time, the rate of abducting foreigners is going down. 同时，发生在外国人身上的绑架案正在下降。

7 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

8 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 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

11 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

12 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

13 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

14 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

15 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

16 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

17 aggravate   

vt.加重(剧)，使恶化；激怒，使恼火

参考例句：

• Threats will only aggravate her.恐吓只能激怒她。
• He would only aggravate the injury by rubbing it.他揉擦伤口只会使伤势加重。

18 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。