Oil Prices Drop on Fears for Japan's Economy

    World oil prices are dropping because of fears the earthquake and tsunami¹ in Japan will weaken the country's economy and curtail（缩减） its demand for oil.
    Oil recently has been trading at two-year highs. The violent conflict（冲突,矛盾） in Libya sharply cut its production and generated fears that the political unrest there could spread to other oil-producing countries in the Middle East, further reducing the world supply.
    But those fears were outweighed² Tuesday by worries that Japan, the world's third biggest oil importer, would at least in the short term limit its imports. Part of Japan's economy has already stalled as the country copes with the vast damage from last Friday's earthquake and tsunami and attempts to contain radiation leaks at some of its nuclear reactors³.
    Major Japanese industrial operations have already shut down. Sony, the country's biggest consumer electronics exporter, has stopped operations at 10 factories, while Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, has closed all of its plants.
    The benchmark price for Brent crude oil on the London market fell to about $108 a barrel, down sharply from recent trading that had pushed the price close to $120. In New York, the price for U.S. crude dropped below the recent $100-per-barrel mark to the $97 range.
    Analysts⁴ said Japan's oil imports could expand again as the country starts to clean up the damage and rebuilds the northeastern sector⁵ of the country that was swept away by the tsunami.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 outweighed   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• This boxer outweighed by his opponent 20 pounds. 这个拳击选手体重比他的对手重20磅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She outweighed me by ten pounds, and sometimes she knocked me down. 她的体重超过我十磅，有时竟把我撞倒。 来自百科语句

3 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。