新西兰英语 511“Rena” Disaster

 　　Listen to the last two items on this website for background to the Rena disaster.

　　The disaster from the broken ship Rena is getting worse. There is a crack in the middle of the ship which means it will sink. Salvage¹ workers hope the back part – the stern² – will either float into shallow water before it sinks or will get stuck on the reef³ like the front part – the bow.

　　At the moment, there are two dangers – oil in the water and some containers floating in the sea. Every high tide leaves thick, smelly oil on the beach and it is killing⁴ wildlife. The beach is closed to local people while the army is cleaning up the oil but more than 1000 volunteers want to help too.

　　Eighty-eight containers fell off the ship. The waves carried some containers to the beach and broke some of them, spilling their contents in the water and on the sand. The Tauranga harbour is closed tonight because of the danger from floating objects in the water.

　　Commercial fishing boats cannot go to sea because they could hit a container. Also some fish may be affected⁵ by the oil. Maori living on the island of Motiti usually eat food from the sea but now they cannot do this.

　　The beaches in Tauranga with their beautiful white sand are very popular with swimmers, surfers and walkers. Local people are very upset by this disaster which could close the beaches this summer.

　　Vocabulary

　　disaster – a terrible happening

　　salvage – saving a ship and its cargo⁶

　　shallow – not deep

　　commercial fishing – people who catch fish to sell; this is their job

　　Questions

　　Make a list of questions you would like to ask the captain of the ship or salvage workers. You could write some of these questions as a comment.

1 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

2 stern   

adj.严厉的，严格的，严峻的；n.船尾

参考例句：

• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。
• The headmaster ruled the school with a stern discipline.校长治校严谨。

3 reef   

n.礁，礁石，暗礁

参考例句：

• The ship and its crew were lost on the reef.那条船及船员都触礁遇难了。
• The ship was wrecked on a coral reef.这条船在珊瑚暗礁上撞毁了。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。