Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The United States is sending more soldiers to the Middle East. About 9,000 troops are on ships. A third big ship with airplanes, called an aircraft carrier, is going too.
Iran made an offer at the United Nations. Iran said it could open the Strait of Hormuz in seven days and stop the fighting. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow sea road for oil ships.
President Trump said no. He said the offer was not good enough. He also said the United States has a strong blockade around Iran.
Mr. Trump said new attacks may come after the elections on 3 November. Oil is still very expensive.
- troops
- soldiers
- aircraft carrier
- a very big ship that carries airplanes
- strait
- a narrow sea road between two lands
- offer
- a plan one side gives to another
- blockade
- a way to stop ships from coming in or out
- election
- a day when people vote
- attack
- to start a fight with weapons
- oil
- a thick liquid used for fuel
Level 2 — Elementary
The United States is sending about 9,000 more troops and a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East. Reports say the troops are traveling on a group of ships.
Last week Iran spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It said it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting within seven days.
President Trump rejected the plan. He said Iran wants a deal because it is losing badly. He called the American blockade a wall of steel.
Mr. Trump also said strikes could start again after the midterm elections on 3 November. Brent oil costs about 100 dollars a barrel, so many countries worry about fuel.
- deploy
- to send soldiers or ships to a place
- proposal
- a plan that someone suggests
- reject
- to say no to something
- ceasefire
- an agreement to stop fighting for a time
- midterm elections
- votes held in the middle of a president's term
- escalation
- when a problem or fight gets bigger
- waterway
- a river or sea that ships can use
- barrel
- a unit used to measure oil
Level 3 — Intermediate
The United States is deploying roughly 9,000 additional troops aboard a group of ships, together with a third aircraft carrier, to the Middle East as the war with Iran enters a new phase of uncertainty.
The move followed Iran's proposal, raised at the United Nations General Assembly, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end hostilities within seven days. President Trump rejected it as unacceptable, arguing that Tehran is negotiating from weakness because, in his words, the money is not coming in.
Mr. Trump has described the American naval blockade as the greatest in military history. He has also told reporters that renewed strikes after the 3 November midterm elections are possible, and he has said he doubts peace with Iran can ever last.
Markets are watching closely. Brent crude has hovered near 100 dollars a barrel, and governments have discussed releasing more fuel reserves to ease supply worries.
- deploy
- to send military forces to a location
- hostilities
- acts of war or fighting
- unacceptable
- too bad to be allowed
- negotiate
- to talk in order to reach an agreement
- naval
- connected with a country's navy
- renewed
- started again
- reserves
- supplies kept for future use
- supply
- the amount of something available
Level 4 — Advanced
Washington is dispatching approximately 9,000 additional troops aboard an amphibious group, along with a third aircraft carrier, to the Middle East, a deployment that underscores how quickly the conflict with Iran can pivot between diplomacy and force.
The reinforcements arrived on the heels of a proposal Tehran floated at the United Nations General Assembly: reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt hostilities within seven days. President Trump dismissed it as unacceptable, insisting that Iran was bargaining out of desperation and boasting of what he called a wall of steel around its coast.
More strikingly, he has indicated that military action could resume after the 3 November midterm elections if talks fail, an admission critics say sits uneasily with his early pledge that the campaign would last only weeks. Supporters counter that leverage, not haste, wins concessions.
For markets, the stakes are tangible. With Brent crude hovering around 100 dollars a barrel and consuming nations weighing further releases from strategic stockpiles, every statement from either capital is parsed for its effect on the world's most important energy chokepoint.
- amphibious
- able to operate on both sea and land
- pivot
- to change direction suddenly
- dismiss
- to treat as unworthy of consideration
- desperation
- a state of having lost hope and being willing to take risks
- leverage
- power to influence an outcome
- concession
- something given up in a negotiation
- stockpile
- a large reserve of goods kept for emergencies
- chokepoint
- a narrow passage that controls the flow of trade
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