VOA慢速英语2016 美国继续在武器出口方面领先（在线收听）

AS IT IS 2016-06-27 US Continues to Lead in Weapons Exports 美国继续在武器出口方面领先

The United States continues to export more arms than any other country in the world, according to a defense advisory service.

一家国防咨询服务机构称，美国出口的武器比世界上的任何国家都要多。

It says U.S. arms manufacturers exported tens of billions of dollars in weapons last year.

它说，美国武器制造商在去年就出口了几百亿美元的武器。

The advisory service IHS Jane’s released its Global Defense Trade Report on Sunday.

咨询服务提供商简氏周日发布了全球国防贸易报告。

The report shows the international defense market increased by $6.6 billion in 2015 to $65 billion.

报告中显示，与2015年相比，国际国防贸易增加了66亿美元，达到了650亿美元。

The U.S. exported nearly $23 billion in weapons to other countries, especially to the Middle East. That represents an increase of $10 billion since 2009, the report says.

美国向其他国家出口了近230亿美元的武器，尤其是向中东地区。报告称，这代表着自2009年以来已经增加了100亿美元。

“The global defense trade market has never seen an increase as large as the one we saw between 2014 and 2015,” says Ben Moores, who works for IHS Jane’s. He adds that “2015 was a record-breaking year.”

“全球国防贸易市场的增长，从来没有我们在2014-2015年期间看到的这么大。”简氏工作人员本·莫瑞斯说。他补充道，“2015年打破纪录了。”

Weapons sales from French companies last year were more than two times the total in 2014 -- increasing from $8 billion to $18 billion. The report said if that rate of increase continues, France will pass Russia as the second-largest weapons exporter by 2018.

去年法国公司销售的武器是2014年的两倍还多——从80亿美元上升到了180亿美元。报告称，如果增长率持续下去，到2018年法国就会超过俄罗斯成为第二大武器出口国。

The increase in arms sales last year was mainly the result of increased demand from Middle Eastern countries. They got about $21.6 billion worth of weapons, including $8.8 billion from the United States.

去年武器销售的增长主要是因为中东国家需求的增长。他们买了约216亿美元的武器，其中88亿美元的武器是从美国买的。

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates bought about half of the weapons sold to Middle Eastern countries. They got about 17.5 percent of all global defense imports, or $11.4 billion.

沙特阿拉伯和阿拉伯联合酋长国买下了出口到中东国家的一半武器。他们占到了全球国防进口的17.5%，约合114亿美元。

Saudi Arabia was the single largest weapons importer last year. It bought several kinds of aircraft, precision-guided weapons, and intelligence-gathering equipment. Saudi Arabia is fighting rebels in Yemen and trying to stay competitive with Iran.

沙特阿拉伯是去年最大的武器进口国。该国买了几个型号的飞机、精确制导武器和情报收集装置。沙特阿拉伯正与也门的反政府武装作战，并想要和伊朗竞争。

Iran is growing stronger because Western nations have eased restrictions as part of an agreement Iran signed to limit its nuclear activities. Iran is buying new equipment for its air force, and is likely to increase trade with Russia. The IHS report says in years to come, Iran could spend between $40 billion and $60 billion replacing its older airplanes.

伊朗已经越来越强大，因为西方国家放松了对伊朗的制裁，而放松制裁的条件之一就是伊朗签署了限制发展本国核工业的协议。伊朗正在为该国空军购买装备，并可能会增加与俄罗斯的贸易。咨询公司的报告称，在接下来的几年里，伊朗可能会花费400亿-600亿美元用于更换老旧的飞机。

Egypt has sharply increased the amount of money it spends on defense. It spent up to $2.3 billion last year. It is now the world’s fourth-largest weapons importer.

埃及的国防费用大幅度上升。去年达到了23亿美元。现在它是世界上第四大武器进口国。

Countries around the South China Sea have increased their defense spending by 71 percent since 2009 as they try to limit China’s influence in the area.

南中国海附近国家的国防支出自2009年以来也增加了71%，因为它们想限制中国在这一地区的影响。

The report predicts the weapons trade will continue to increase worldwide. It says arms spending will total about $69 billion this year.

该报告预测，世界范围内的武器贸易会持续增长。它说今年的武器支出将会达到近690亿美元。

Words in This Story

global – adj. involving the entire world

precision – adj. designed for very accurate measurement or operation