新西兰英语 508 Bad weather in Tauranga again

 　　Bad weather meant that oil could not be pumped out of the ship the Rena today. The waves were too high. Pumping the oil is slow work because the oil is cold and thick. The pipe from the Rena to the oil barge¹ is nearly 200m long and quite narrow, 7.5cm in diameter. It takes one hour to pump three to four tonnes. Another 1200 tonnes are still in the tanks on the Rena.

　　Oil in the sea has travelled 130km along the East Cape² to other beaches. 1300 dead birds have been found along the shore, especially birds which spend most of the time in the water like penguins³ and shags.

　　The ship is looking more dangerous. The crack is wider and the angle of the ship is now 21 degrees. Three tug⁴ boats are holding the ship. The weather tomorrow will probably be better. If the sea is calmer, pumping oil will continue.

　　Vocabulary

　　narrow – opposite of wide

　　diameter = width of the pipe

　　crack – where the ship could break in two parts

　　Tug boats pull ships into the harbour

　　Calm sea is the opposite of rough sea; a calm sea is flat while a rough sea has high waves

　　Grammar

　　It takes one hour to pump … This is the grammar: It takes (me) + time + to do … e.g. It takes (me) 20 minutes to get to school.

　　Can you make other sentences using “it takes”?

1 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。