新西兰英语 684 Shipping company pays for Rena disaster

 　　A year ago today, the ship, the Rena, hit a reef¹ in Tauranga harbour. The result was a disaster for the harbour, the beach, sea birds, exporters and local businesses. It probably destroyed the career of the captain and navigator also. They served three months in prison before being deported² to their homeland, the Philippines.

　　It cost the shipping³ company or their insurance company $80m to remove the shipping containers from the wreck⁴ and try to salvage⁵ the ship. It cost our government $47m to clean up the oil. This week, the Greek shipping company also agreed to pay $27.6m for the costs of the clean-up, $27m compensation⁶ for lost goods in the containers and $11.5m to locals who lost business. If the wreck has to stay in the water, the company will pay another $10.4m.

　　Under New Zealand law, any ship which causes damage like this has to pay $11.3m. New Zealand’s law is 36 years old and was never updated. However, the company has agreed to pay double this amount to avoid going to court. Instead, the company and the New Zealand government settled this by negotiation⁷.

　　Task

　　Listen with your eyes closed and see if you can write down the amounts of money correctly, then check by reading the text.

　　Listen to March 9th 2012 to hear the background to this or type Rena in the search box.

　　Vocabulary

　　?reef – rocks

　　?disaster – terrible thing which happens

　　?navigator – reads maps

　　?deported – sent back to their country

　　?wreck – badly damaged ship; it cannot be used any more

　　?salvage – remove containers and try to save the ship

　　?clean up the oil (phrasal verb); a clean-up (n) – take oil from the sea and beach and make the sea and beach clean (Important not to say: clean the oil)

　　?compensation – money to pay for their loss

　　?updated – changed for modern times

　　?negotiation – long discussions and agreement

　　Questions

　　1.What local businesses lost money?

　　2.Why did the company want to avoid going to court?

　　3.Do you think the ship should stay on the reef? It could be used by divers⁸ but local Maori say the reef must be restored to its natural state.

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 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

5 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。

6 compensation   

n.补偿（或赔偿）的款物，补偿，赔偿

参考例句：

• Workers who have been unfairly dismissed may claim compensation.被无理开除的工人可以要求补偿。
• Equal compensation should be given to men and women for equal work.男女同工应同酬。

7 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

8 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。