双语 第4期

The article in the Vol.179 No.11 Time issue on March 19th 2012, 0.44 million barrels per day , mentions that that’s the net amount of petroleum products that the U.S. exported in 2011, marking the first time since 1949 that the country exported more petroleum products than it imported, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Imports fell to 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd)―the lowest level in 11 years―while exports rose to 2.9 million bpd, largely on the back of strong global demand for diesel fuel. (Diesel has a larger profit margin than gasoline―attractive to refiners―and is used in much greater levels by European countries, where cars as well as trucks often run on diesel.) But this doesn’t mean the U.S. is anywhere near close to being energy independent, at least when it comes to crude oil. The U.S. imported $331.6 billion worth of crude oil in 2011―by far the largest U.S. import of any good. Thanks in part to rising oil prices, that represented a 32% increase from 2010. Translation: while the growth of the U.S. petroleum industry is good for oil companies, the people who work for them and the overall U.S. trade deficit, it’s not likely to relieve the pain at the pump. Trying buying a hybrid instead.

最新一期的美国《时代周刊》杂志一篇题为“美国日净出口44万桶成品油”的文章提到：美国在2011年实现了自1949年以来成品油的首次净出口。成品油进口量跌至每天240万桶，创近11年来最低，而出口量升至每天390万桶，这很大程度上是因为国际市场对柴油的强劲需求。但这并不意味着美国已接近能源自给，至少原油无法自给。2011年，美国进口了价值3316亿美元的原油，原油成为美国进口价值量最大的货物，部分原因是国际市场原油价格相比2010年上涨了32%。我们可以这样理解：虽然美国成品油行业的增长对炼油企业、员工乃至减少美国贸易赤字都有益处，但这并不能缓解美国在原油方面的紧张局面。

The article with the title saying, on March 8th, 2012, Syrian money transfers tracked mentioned that searching for any sign of splintering in Syria’s ruling class, the United States has tracked what it suspects is the transfer of millions of dollars in foreign accounts by elites with ties to President Bashar al-Assad.But the flow of money is murky. U.S. intelligence officials said they cannot estimate the total amount and are still trying to assess what the transfers mean: Is Assad’s inner circle starting to fray, or are wealthy Syrians simply hedging their bets? The struggle to make sense of the money transfers underscores the degree to which many aspects of the uprising in Syria remain opaque to outside observers ― including U.S. spy agencies ― a year after internal efforts to oust Assad began.

2012年3月8日的《华盛顿邮报》刊登一篇题为“追踪叙利亚资金转移”的文章称：为了找到叙利亚统治阶层内部分裂的迹象，美国已经开始追踪叙利亚精英人士设在国外银行账户上数以百万美元计的资金动向，美国怀疑这些人与叙利亚总统巴沙尔・阿尔・阿萨德有着密切关系。但是，资金的流向令人费解。美国情报官员称，他们无法估计资金转移的总额，并且还在尽力弄清楚资金转移的真正含义――究竟是阿萨德的内部开始争吵、分裂，还是那些叙利亚富人只是想保护财产的安全？对弄清楚叙利亚资金转移的真正含义所做的努力进一步说明了叙利亚动荡局势的方方面面不为外界人士所知晓的程度。