D China may send naval ships to the seas off Somalia to help the fight against p

D

China may send naval ships to the seas offSomalia to help the fight against piracy（海盗行为） there, Chinese media on Wednesday quoted a Vice Foreign Minister assaying at the United Nations, Reuters reported.

"China is seriously consideringsending naval ships to the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali coast forescorting operations in the near future," the Xinhua news agency quoted HeYafei as saying. He Yafei, speaking at a Security Council ministerial meeting,said that China welcomed global cooperation in the fight against Somali piracy,and supported efforts by other countries to send ships to the region, Xinhuareported.

Earlier this month a leading Chinesemilitary strategist, Major-General Jin Yinan, urged the government to sendships, in comments generating debate about combating piracy in a country whichhas generally confined its navy to waters near home. Jin told a Chinese radiointerviewer that "nobody should be shocked" if his government one daydecided to send navy ships to deal with the pirates, whose recent victims haveincluded ships from Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. Jin is the head of astrategy institute at China's National Defense University.

While the military strategist is urging anactive part, other scholars think the government should be cautious before adecision is made. The Chinese military ships should go there "only withinthe UN framework," said Pang Zhongying, a professor of internationalrelations with Renmin University of China. Pang added that he also had someconcerns over the Chinese navy's capability. "I don't think the Chinesenavy has the capability to fight against unconventional threats far in theocean," he said, adding supplying and refueling in the Indian Ocean arekey challenges.

A sharp increase in attacks at sea thisyear in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia has pushed upinsurance costs, brought the Somali pirates tens of millions of dollars inransom（赎金） andprompted foreign warships to the area. Among the captured ships are a Saudisupertanker loaded with $100 million of crude oil, the Sirius Star, and aUkrainian cargo ship carrying some 30 Soviet-era tanks. The victims have alsoincluded a Hong Kong-flagged ship with 25 crew aboard and a Chinese mainlandfishing boat reported seized off Kenya. NATO ships began anti-piracy operationsoff the Somali coast in late October, but they have failed to stop the attacks.

56. This year, many ships from differentcountries have been captured by the Somali pirates except _______.

A. a Saudi supertanker   B. aUkrainian cargo     C.NATOships      D. the Sirius Star

57. The underlined word"confined" in the third paragraph most probably means ________.

A.involved            B.restricted           C.confirmed        D. contract

58. From the passage, we learn that_______.

A. China has sent its navy to fight theSomalia pirates

B. some countries have launched theiranti-piracy operations

C. the Somalia pirates often attackedforeign warships for ransom

D. The Chinese navy hasn’t the capabilityto travel far to combat pirates

59. When the Major-General Jin Yinan said"nobody should be shocked", he actually indicated that ________.

A. the Chinese people should keep calmabout the government's decision

B. no one should be frightened by thepirates' attack as the Chinese navy will defend them

C. it is reasonable for China to send itsnavy to fight against the Somalia pirates

D. if China had dealt with the piratesearlier, nobody would have been shocked

60. Professor Pang Zhongying’s main concernabout the Chinese naval ships is that _______.

A. adding supplying and refueling far inthe ocean is really a challenge

B. the Chinese navy has never foughtagainst such unconventional threats

C. the fighting against pirates is notwithin the UN framework

D. the attacks in the Gulf of Aden andIndian Ocean off Somalia has increased sharply

试题答案

【答案】

56-60. CBBCA     

【解析】略