Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s $70 billion deal to buy BG Group PLC marks the most aggressive step yet in the competition to be the world’s dominant supplier of liquefied natural gas—a fuel with a fast-growing and increasingly global market.
荷蘭皇家殼牌公司斥資700億美元收購(gòu)BG Group。液化氣的全球市場(chǎng)正在飛速增長(zhǎng)。迄今為止，這一收購(gòu)是對(duì)世界最大液化氣供應(yīng)商的爭(zhēng)奪中最激進(jìn)的一步。

易詞解詞（BY 袁新民）

aggressive（ag-向，gress 走， -ive 形容詞后綴；走向某人的→接近某人的→）?
a. 1. 侵犯的，侵略的，挑釁的； 2. 敢做敢為的，有進(jìn)取心的?
?
dominant [5d?min?nt] （dom家→帶后綴的形式domin家中的主人，統(tǒng)治者， -ant屬于…的；屬于統(tǒng)治者或主人的→）?
a. 1. 占優(yōu)勢(shì)的，支配的，統(tǒng)治的；2. 居高臨下的，高聳的?

The deal, announced Wednesday, would?vault?Shell far ahead of?rivals?like Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp. in the race to build market share for LNG, a chilled form of natural gas used for electricity generation and home heating.
該項(xiàng)收購(gòu)于本周三公布。它將使殼牌的液化氣市場(chǎng)份額遠(yuǎn)超?？松梨凇⒀┓瘕埖戎饕?jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。液化氣是指降溫后的天然氣，主要用于發(fā)電和家庭供暖。

The tie-up is a bet that countries like China, India and others in the developing world will move toward cleaner burning fuels like natural gas instead of coal amid growing pressure to?curbemissions. And it is a?gamble?that Asian markets will come to rely on U.S. exports of the product, when the first shipments leave the country—expected sometime in late 2015 or early next year.
此次合并是一場(chǎng)賭博。一方面賭中國(guó)、印度等發(fā)展中國(guó)家為了應(yīng)對(duì)限排，將用天然氣等更清潔的燃料取代煤炭；另一方面賭亞洲市場(chǎng)將依賴美國(guó)進(jìn)口——第一批天然氣預(yù)計(jì)將于2015年末或2016年初從美國(guó)運(yùn)出。

易詞解詞（BY 袁新民）

curb（與curve同源：cur彎→帶后綴的變體curb?馬勒彎曲能控制馬→控制→）?
vt. 控制，約束?
n. 1. 控制，約束；2. （街道或人行道的）路緣

Exxon Mobil estimates that the global trade in liquefied natural gas will more than triple through 2040, to nearly 100 billion cubic feet a day—roughly 40% higher than current U.S. gas output. The company projects that countries throughout Asia and the Pacific will import half of the gas they consume by 2040, with LNG making up 80% of imports.
埃克森美孚預(yù)計(jì)到2040年，全球液化氣交易量將接近每天1000億立方英尺，達(dá)到現(xiàn)在的3倍。這一數(shù)量超過(guò)美國(guó)天然氣現(xiàn)產(chǎn)量40%。它還預(yù)計(jì)2040年以前，亞太國(guó)家消耗的天然氣中一半將依靠進(jìn)口，其中液化氣將占80%。

Building up its LNG business would also give Shell some?insulation?from volatile oil prices, which have?plummeted?since last summer.
去年夏天開(kāi)始，石油價(jià)格開(kāi)始大幅下跌。發(fā)展液化氣項(xiàng)目能夠讓殼牌在某種程度上避免受到油價(jià)波動(dòng)的影響。