埃及8月重新开放苏伊士运河

AS IT IS 2015-06-22 Egypt: Expanded Suez Canal to Open in August 埃及8月重新开放苏伊士运河

Egyptian officials are making plans to open a newly-expanded Suez Canal on August 6th. Officials say the “new” canal will be more than double the waterway’s earnings 1 over the next 10 years. But some experts say the project alone will not be able to turn around Egypt’s economy.

埃及官方计划8月6日开放新扩建的苏伊士银河，官方称这条“新”运河未来十年的水道收益将翻倍。但一些专家称单单该项目并不能扭转埃及的经济。

Admiral Mohab Mohamed Hussien Mameesh heads the Suez Canal Authority.

海军上将莫哈布·马米什是苏伊士运河当局的负责人。

He says the project will cut in half the amount of time it takes to travel through the Suez Canal. He says this time savings 2 will lower costs for shippers.

他说该项目将使得苏伊士运河的渡河时间减半，他说节省的时间将降低货主的成本。

The expansion of the current canal means two ships will be able to sail by each other. Now, there is only enough room for one ship to pass through the waterway.

运河扩建意味着两艘船将能同时通行，现在的空间只够一条船通过该水道。

The Suez Canal connects Europe and Asia. The canal earned $5.5 billion in income for Egypt last year.

苏伊士运河连接欧洲和亚洲，这条运河去年给埃及带来了55亿美元的收入。

Admiral Mameesh says less than 10 years from now, the expanded canal will earn $13 billion a year.

马米什上将从现在起不到10年内，扩建的运河每年将获得收益130亿美元。

Professor Andrew Lambert teaches naval 3 history at King’s College in London. He says the success of the canal will depend largely on the health of the world’s shipping 4 industry. He says that is something Egypt cannot control. And he says even if the expanded canal is successful, he does not think it will improve the lives of average Egyptians. People in Egypt are facing rising poverty rates and prices. The economy is slowly recovering from recent financial and political unrest.

安德鲁·兰伯特教授在伦敦国王学院教授海军历史，他说这条运河的成功将在很大程度上取决于全世界航运业的健康发展，他说这是埃及所无法控制的。他说即使扩建后的运河运营成功，他认为它也无法改善埃及普通民众的生活。埃及人面临越来越高的贫困率和物价，该国经济正从最近的金融和政治动乱中慢慢恢复。

“Egypt is a large, complex country with a very big population. It is highly unlikely it is going to be able to live off the kinds of incomes it will get -- even from two canals. The costs of governing Egypt are very large. It has major debt problems.”

“埃及是个有着庞大复杂的人口大国，不大可能以这条运河为生，即使有两条运河，治理埃及的成本很高，还有严重的债务问题。”

But officials say the economy is growing. And they say the canal is just one project that will both increase foreign investment in Egypt and create income for the country.

但官方称经济在发展，他们说运河只是一个能给埃及增加外国投资及创收的项目。

Words in This Story

canal – n. a waterway that is designed so boats can pass through it

income – n. earnings; money that is earned from work, business or investments

complex – adj. of or having many parts that are difficult to understand; not simple.