Why a military spat between Japan and South Korea could snowball into crisis?
spat 争吵/spæt/
snowball 滚雪球
为什么一场在日本和韩国之间的军事口角会滚雪球发展成一场危机？
Japan and South Korea are engaged in a heated military dispute that analysts say could damage the already tenuous geopolitical situation in northeast Asia if the two sides do not reach a resolution.
are engaged in 忙于…
dispute 争论
tenuous 微妙的，薄的 /'tenjʊəs/
geopolitical 地理政治学
日本和韩国正陷入一场军事争论。
评论家称如果双方不能达成决议可能会破坏原本就脆弱的地缘政治。
The spat began December 20 after an encounter between a Japanese plane, which Tokyo said was collecting intelligence, and a South Korean destroyer, which Seoul said was on a humanitarian mission.
encounter 偶遇
destroyer 驱逐舰/dɪ'strɒɪə/
humanitarian人道主义/hjʊ,mænɪ'teərɪən/
这场争吵开始于12月20日，发生在一架日本飞机和韩国驱逐舰偶遇之后，东京方面说飞机是在收集情报，首尔方面说驱逐舰是在执行人道主义任务
Both sides disagree on what happened next -- the Japanese said the South Koreans targeted their aircraft with missile-targeting radar, while the South Koreans said the Japanese plane was flying dangerously low and that the radar "was not intended to trace any Japanese-controlled aircraft."
missile 导弹
双方都不承认接下来发生了什么--日本说韩国用导弹寻迹雷达锁定了日本的飞机，而韩国说日本飞机已经超出安全距离并且没有用雷达锁定任何日本飞机。
