考研英语阅读素材:阿根廷国土面积为何突然翻了一番?

Argentina doubles in size, or so it claims

阿根廷国土面积翻了一番，至少据其声称而言

The government takes advantage of a UN ruling to extend the country’s territorial waters

阿根廷政府利用联合国的一项裁决扩大了该国的领海面积

Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernández, has plenty to worry about: a soaring covid-19 caseload and a depressed economy. So it must have been delightful for the government to change the subject on September 21st by issuing a map showing that the country’s territory is nearly double its former size.

阿根廷总统阿尔贝托·费尔南德斯有着许多烦心事：新冠肺炎感染病例的激增以及低迷的经济。9月21日，阿根廷政府当局发布了一张新的地图，该地图所显示的阿根廷国土面积几乎是过去的两倍，这对于想要改变国内悲观气氛的政府来说无疑是件好事。

It illustrates the effect of a law Mr Fernández signed in August, which expands Argentina by 1.7m square km (650,000 square miles), an area three times the size of metropolitan France.

这正是费尔南德斯在8月份签署的一项法案所实现的效果，这项法案将阿根廷的国土面积扩大了170万平方公里(约合65万平方英里)，相当于三个法国本土面积之大。

Argentina now bestrides South America and Antarctica, from the Tropic of Capricorn to the South Pole. Its territory includes some of the world’s richest fishing grounds and possibly oil and gas. The Falkland islands, which Argentines call the Malvinas, lie within it.

阿根廷如今横跨南美洲和南极洲，从南回归线一直延伸至南极。其领土范围将世界上最富饶的几个渔场囊括其中，海底可能还有石油和天然气。而福克兰群岛(阿根廷人称之为马尔维纳斯群岛)也在其中。

This is not entirely based on fantasy. In 2016 the UN’s Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) issued a ruling, based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, that fixes the edge of the vast shelf that juts out from Argentina’s coast.

这也并非凭空想象而来。2016年，联合国大陆架界限委员会(CLCS)根据《联合国海洋法公约》发布了一项裁决，确定了从阿根廷海岸延伸出来的广阔大陆架的边缘。

There the seabed is shallow enough—less than 2,500 metres deep—to count as an extension of Argentina’s mainland. The effect of the ruling is to extend Argentina’s territorial waters beyond the normal 200 nautical miles (370km).

那里的海床很浅(不到2500米深)，因此可以算作阿根廷大陆的延伸。这项裁决的结果是将阿根廷的领海延伸至通常情况下的200海里(约合370公里)之外。

Mauricio Macri, Argentina’s then-president, a conservative, celebrated the ruling in 2016 as a diplomatic victory but did not write it into law. His priority was friendly relations with the rest of the world, including Britain. In 1982 Britain fought a war to expel Argentina’s armed forces, which had invaded the Falklands that year.

2016年，时任阿根廷总统、保守派人士毛里西奥·马克里对这一裁决表示欢迎，并将其称之为一场外交胜利，但当时并未将其写入法律。他当时的首要任务是与包括英国在内的世界其他国家建立友好关系。1982年，阿根廷军队登陆福克兰群岛，随后英国向阿根廷发动了一场夺岛战争。

Mr Fernández, a left-leaning Peronist, is more assertive. The law he signed in August, and the borders on his map, take in far more than the area to which CLCS said Argentina was entitled.

作为左翼庇隆主义者的费尔南德斯则更为自信。他在今年8月签署的法案以及最 新发布的地图所显示的边界，都远远超过了CLCS声称阿根廷有权享有区域的范围。

In sending the territorial-expansion bill to Congress this year, Mr Fernández insisted on “Argentina’s claim to the Malvinas”, which has long been part of its law and is endorsed by nearly all Argentines.

在今年向国会提交领土扩张法案时，费尔南德斯坚持“阿根廷对马尔维纳斯群岛主权的主张”，该主张早已成为阿根廷法律的一部分，并得到了几乎所有阿根廷人的支持。

The new official map shows South Georgia and the South Sandwich islands (also British), as part of Argentina, too, and adds areas that had it not claimed in law before. The British are mainly interested in the water’s riches, Argentina’s government thinks.

据最新的官方地图显示，南乔治亚岛和南桑威奇群岛(也由英国实际控制)也属于阿根廷的一部分，此外还增加了一些过去未曾在法律上主张的地区。阿根廷政府认为，英国人主要是对丰富的水资源感兴趣。

That explains the “stubbornness of British colonialism”, suggested Daniel Filmus, the government’s secretary for the Malvinas, Antarctica and South Atlantic. The map asserts Argentine sovereignty over the Antarctic peninsula, an ice-cream cone poking into the Weddell sea, which is also claimed by Chile and Britain.

阿根廷负责马尔维纳斯群岛、南极洲和南大西洋事务的官员丹尼尔·菲默斯认为，这解释了“英国殖民主义的顽固性”。这张地图表明了阿根廷对南极半岛主权的主张，南极半岛就像一个冰淇淋筒一般伸入了威德尔海，而智利和英国也宣称拥有南极半岛的主权。

In fact, the UN commission avoided taking a position “in a case where a land or maritime dispute exists”. The areas it awarded Argentina are a fraction of the country’s claim.

事实上，联合国委员会已经避免“在存在陆地或海洋争端的情况下”发表立场。其所支持的阿根廷领土仅占该国领土主张的一小部分。

Argentina does not plan to try to reconquer the islands, but it does hope to use its interpretation of the commission’s ruling to press Britain to negotiate. “The UN is saying that the Malvinas is a matter of dispute,” contends an adviser to the president. “The British always try to say there is no dispute over the islands.” Argentina’s foreign ministry put out a video calling for “dialogue” under UN auspices. Britain is unlikely to agree.

阿根廷并不打算武力夺回这些岛屿，但它确实希望利用其对联合国委员会裁决的解释迫使英国进行谈判。总统顾问争辩称：“联合国也认为马尔维纳斯群岛主权存在争议，但英国人总是试图表明这些岛屿不存在争议。”阿根廷外交部日前发布了一段视频，呼吁两国在联合国主持下进行“对话”。但英国不太可能同意。