文 / 王不留（微信公众号：考研英语笔记）
Crisis, what crisis? Britain’s fuel shortage
Last weekend Britain basked in unseasonably sunny weather. But many Britons had little time to enjoy it. Drivers queued at petrol stations for hours in a panic-buying spree. By the end of Sunday BP said 30% of its 1,200 filling stations had run out of supplies.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, claimed this was a “manufactured” problem. A leak to the media by an unnamed haulage-industry association about delivery problems at a few stations had triggered the panic, he said. But hauliers blame Brexit for exacerbating an existing shortage of trained lorry drivers, whose numbers have fallen by nearly a quarter over the past 12 months. The government plans to issue 5,000 short-term visas for foreign drivers and has put 150 military lorries on standby to help make deliveries. For now Mr Shapps has advised anxious Britons to “be sensible”. His plea may do little to stop the panic at the pumps.
Crisis, what crisis? Britain’s fuel shortage
危机，什么危机？英国燃料短缺
王不留注：受新冠疫情和“脱欧”等因素影响，英国卡车司机日前出现“用工荒”。由于燃油运输大部分依赖卡车运输，“用工荒”导致一个严重的后果是英国最近出现油荒。
Last weekend Britain basked in unseasonably sunny weather. But many Britons had little time to enjoy it. Drivers queued at petrol stations for hours in a panic-buying spree. By the end of Sunday BP said 30% of its 1,200 filling stations had run out of supplies.
上周末，英国天气异常晴朗。但许多英国人没空享受。司机们在加油站排队数小时，疯狂抢购。截至周日，英国石油公司表示，他们1200个加油站中，有30%已经燃油售罄。
basked 晒太阳 ; 取暖 ; bask的过去分词和过去式
unseasonably 不当季地 ; 不当令地 ; 反常地
sunny 晴朗的 ; 阳光充足的 ; 欢乐的 ; 快乐的
Britons 英国人 ; Briton的复数
queued 排队等候 ; 排队 ; 列队等待 ; queue的过去分词和过去式
petrol stations 汽车加油站 ; petrol station的复数
spree 玩乐，作乐 ; 纵乐 ; 一阵，一通
By the end of 到…结束时 ; 在…尽头
filling stations 汽车加油站
run out of 用完 ; 用光…
王不留注：BP（正式英文全称：BP p.l.c.。前称：British Petroleum（英国石油），后BP简称成为正式名称），英国石油公司，是世界最大私营石油公司之一，也是世界前十大私营企业集团之一。
BP还是世界上最大的石油和石油化工集团公司之一。
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, claimed this was a “manufactured” problem. A leak to the media by an unnamed haulage-industry association about delivery problems at a few stations had triggered the panic, he said. But hauliers blame Brexit for exacerbating an existing shortage of trained lorry drivers, whose numbers have fallen by nearly a quarter over the past 12 months. The government plans to issue 5,000 short-term visas for foreign drivers and has put 150 military lorries on standby to help make deliveries. For now Mr Shapps has advised anxious Britons to “be sensible”. His plea may do little to stop the panic at the pumps.
英国交通大臣格兰特·沙普斯(Grant Shapps)声称这是一个“人为”问题。他说，一家未具名的运输业协会向媒体泄露了一些车站的运输问题，引发恐慌。但运输业者指责英国脱欧让训练有素的卡车司机短缺，在过去的12个月里，这些卡车司机的数量已减少了近四分之一。*计划发放5000个针对外国司机的短期签证，并已安排150辆军车作为备用，帮助运送货物。目前，沙普斯建议焦虑的英国人“保持理智”。但他的请求可能无助于阻止加油恐慌。
leak to 将…泄露给…
a few 少许 ; 几个 ; 〔反语〕很多 ; 一点点
hauliers 陆路运输业者 ; 陆路货运承运人 ; 货运公司 ; haulier的复数
exacerbating 使恶化 ; 使加剧 ; 使加重 ; exacerbate的现在分词
a quarter 四分之一 ; 一刻钟 ; 二十五美分
on standby 常备的;备用的
make deliveries 发货
at the pumps 加油站