新西兰英语 555 Rena breaks in half

 　　On October 5th 2011, the ship, the “Rena”, hit a reef¹ coming into the Port of Tauranga. The ship was carrying 1300 containers. Many containers fell into the sea and heavy oil spilled from the ship and reached the beaches. Last week, there were still 830 containers remaining on the ship. Most of the oil has been removed from the ship and the beaches.

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　　The “Rena” broke in half today. This was not surprising because the weather was stormy and the sea was rough³. The waves were 6m high last night. The rough sea could continue until Wednesday.

　　The two halves of the ship are now about 20 to 30m apart. It is possible the back half, the stern⁴, could sink. 200 to 300 containers fell into the sea. About 20% of them will float but the rest will sink. Some containers may float to the beach or out to sea. Containers which are hidden in the water are dangerous for other ships. Small boats have to keep away from the area, and large ships which are arriving or leaving the port have to take extra care.

　　Nothing can be done to the ship until the weather improves.

　　Vocabulary

　　spill² – liquid falls by accident e.g. Be careful. Don’t spill your coffee on the floor.

　　remove – take away

　　improve – get better

　　heavy oil – opposite is light oil

　　rough sea – opposite is calm sea

　　float – opposite is sink

　　apart – opposite is together

　　Useful phrases⁵:

　　There were still X remaining; there are still 358 days remaining this year.

　　Nothing can be done

　　Grammar

　　Showing possibility: could continue, could sink, may float

　　Showing necessity⁶: have to keep away, have to take extra care

　　Adjectives⁷:

　　It is not surprising – we are not surprised

　　There are many adjectives in English like this e.g. It is interesting, I am interested

　　Here are some others: amazing/ amazed; astonishing/ astonished; tiring/ tired; fascinating / fascinated; frightening / frightened

1 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。

2 spill   

n.溢出，溅出，涌出，摔下，暴跌，溢出量，木片，小塞子；vt.使溢出，使散落，洒

参考例句：

• The coffee is so full that it might spill over.咖啡太满可能会溢出来。
• He took a spill when he rode the horse.他骑马时从马上跌了下来。

3 rough   

adj.粗糙的；粗略的，大致的；粗野的，粗暴的

参考例句：

• It's just a very rough translation.这只是一篇非常粗糙的译稿。
• His reply was a bit rough.他的答复过于粗鲁了一点。

4 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。

5 phrases   

n.短语( phrase的名词复数 )；成语；说法；乐句

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 necessity   

n.必要性，需要；必需品

参考例句：

• I look upon this as an absolute necessity.我认为这是绝对必要的。
• You must understand the necessity of education.你必须懂得教育的必要性。

7 adjectives   

n.形容词( adjective的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We can form nouns from adjectives. 我们可以用形容词来构成名词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Attributive adjectives precede the noun. 定语形容词位于名词前。 来自《简明英汉词典》