This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
Few people had ever heard of the natural elements known as rare earth metals before a recent dispute between China and Japan. Yet these metals are used in devices like smartphones, flat screens, hybrid car batteries, MP3 players and military equipment.
在最近的中日稀土争端之前，几乎没人听说过被称为稀土金属的自然元素。然而，这些金属用于像智能手机，平面显示屏，混合动力汽车电池，MP3播放器和军事设备等。
In September, Japan detained a Chinese ship captain near disputed islands in the East China Sea. China denied that it stopped exports of rare earth metals to Japan to force his release. But the incident raised concerns.
9月，日本在中国东海的一个具有争议的岛屿附近扣押了一名中国船长。中国否认其为了迫使日本释放人质而停止向日本出口稀土金属。但是此次事件还是引起了广泛关注。
Japan is the world's biggest importer of rare earths. And China produces ninety-seven percent of the world supply.
日本是世界上最大的稀土进口国，而中国占到世界稀土供应量的97%。
China says it sold almost four billion dollars' worth in two thousand eight. But marketing professor George Haley at the University of New Haven in Connecticut says China has always kept prices low.
中国称，2008年它出售了差不多价值40亿美元的稀土。但是，康涅狄格州的纽海文大学（University of New Haven in Connecticut)市场学教授乔治·海利（George Haley）称，中国在稀土出口价格上一直保持低价。
GEORGE HALEY: "So unlike other minerals, the price of rare earth elements, after the nineteen eighties when they started production, has actually fallen."
海利：“和其他矿产不同，自19世纪80年代中国开始开采稀土以来，稀土价格明确下降。”
Some countries with rare earth metals no longer mine them -- including the United States. One reason is the low-cost imports from China. Another reason is concerns about environmental damage .
一些拥有稀土金属储量的国家不再开采--包括美国在内，其中原因之一是从中国可以低价进口，另一个原因是考虑到开采对环境的破坏。
So what are these rare earth metals? Well, most of them are not rare; that is just their name. Several are more common than copper, lead or silver.
那么这些稀土金属到底是什么呢？它们的大多数其实并不稀有，那只是它们的名称而已。有些稀土金属比铜、铅或者银更为常见。
People who remember the periodic table of the elements from chemistry class might recognize them. Rare earths include the fifteen lanthanide metals along with yttrium and scandium.
记得化学元素周期表的人可能会想起它们，稀土金属包括15种镧系金属还有钇和钪。
Samuel Bader, a physicist at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, says rare earths are often found together.
芝加哥阿贡国家实验室（Argonne National Laboratory）的物理学家塞缪尔·贝德（Samuel Bader）称，稀土金属被发现时经常混在一起。
SAMUEL BADER: "They all have similar chemical properties. Once you do find them, they are very difficult to separate from each other."
贝德：“它们的化学性质非常相似，一旦你发现它们，很难把它们彼此分离出来。”
But Mr. Bader explains that the same properties that make them hard to refine also make them valuable.
但是，贝德解释说相同的化学性质使得它们很难被提炼出来，也使得他们价值非凡。
SAMUEL BADER: "Rare earth metals provide the world's strongest commercial magnets. This is why they're important. It's that simple."
贝德：“稀土金属提供了世界最强大的商用磁铁，这就是为什么他们重要，就这么简单。”
Rare earth magnets are lightweight and unaffected by conditions like high temperatures. So they work well in places like electric motors in hybrid vehicles or generators for wind turbines. Physicists use super-powerful magnets to speed particles and control radiation like X-rays.
稀土磁铁重量轻，而且不受类似高温等条件影响，所以，它们在混合动力汽车电动机或者风力涡轮发电机上就能工作良好。物理学家利用超强磁加速粒子运动，控制X射线等辐射。
And the list goes on, says George Haley, who has studied the subject.
研究该课题的海利称，这样的例子不胜枚举。
GEORGE HALEY: "Electronics, fiber optics, you could go down the list of products important not just for the economic success of the United States, but for our defense and for our job creation here at home."
海利：“电子产品、光纤通信，你可以一一例举这些不仅对美国经济非常重要，还对我们的国防，对我们创造就业机会来说，都非常重要的产品。
Next week, we'll talk more about rare earth metals, and an American company that plans to start mining them again.
下周，我们将继续讨论稀土金属，以及一家计划重新开采稀土的美国公司。