Studio Classroom - July 30

July 30
北極奪寶大作戰 CLAIMING THE ARCTIC'S TREASURES
哪些國家有權擁有北極天然氣和原油資源呢?

Worldwide
Claiming the Arctic's Treasures
The shrinking Arctic ice invites a rush of exploration

Our world is on the verge of a modern-day resource rush in the earth's Arctic regions.
For decades, we've suspected that the Arctic Ocean holds an abundance of natural resources.
Some scientists estimate that as much as 30 percent of the world's undiscovered natural gas and 13 percent of its undiscovered oil lie beneath its waters.
We've always assumed these lucrative resources would always be unreachable, locked under the thick Arctic ice.
But a warming climate and rapidly melting ice cap have now put these resources within reach.

Currently, the biggest question for the countries surrounding those resources is one of ownership:
To whome do these resources rightfully belong?
The U.N.'s Law of the Sea Treaty aims to resolve this very question.
The treaty states that a country has economic control of all natural resources within 200 nautical miles of its coast.

However, it's also possible for a country to claim possession of ocean territory beyond the 200-nautical-mile boundary.
To make this kind of claim, a country must prove that the ocean bottom in question is part of the country's continental plate.

vocabulary
claim - to say that something is true although it has not been proved and other people may not believe it
arctic - 北極地帶;北極圈
{Ex. The Arctic is the area of the world around the North Pole.}
shrink - to become smaller, especially when washed in water that is too hot; to make clothes, fabric, etc. smaller in this way
[shrink shrank shrunk] {Ex. My sweater shrank in the wash. 我的毛衣縮水了}
verge - a piece of grass at the edge of a path, road, etc.
on the verge (of) 接近於; 瀕於
{Ex. He was on the verge of tears. 他差點兒哭了出來}
rush - to move or to do something with great speed, often too fast
{Ex. Don't rush off, I haven't finished. 別急着走哇，我還沒說完呢}
suspect - to have an idea that something is probably true or likely to happen
{Ex. I suspected her motives in offering to help. 她主動要幫忙，我懷疑她的動機}
abundance - a large quantity that is more than enough
beneath [bɪ'niθ] - in or to a lower position than somebody/something; under somebody/something
{Ex. They found the body buried beneath a pile of leaves. 他們發現屍體被埋在一堆樹葉下面。}
lucrative - producing a large amount of money; making a large profit
melt - to become or make something become liquid as a result of heating
{Ex. The sun had melted the snow. 陽光融化了積雪}
ice cap 冰帽, 冰蓋, 冰冠
treaty - a formal agreement between two or more countries
nautical mile 海里; 浬(合1.852公里) []
possession - the state of having or owning something
{Ex. The possession of a passport is essential for foreign travel. 出國旅行必須持有護照}
territory - land that is under the control of a particular country or ruler
continental plate 大陸板塊 [ˈkɑntə'nɛntl]