VOA慢速英语2010年-IN THE NEWS - Oil Spill in US Gulf: Th

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Attention turned to Washington this week over the continuing oil spill in the Gulf¹ of Mexico.

On Thursday, the chief executive officer of BP faced hours of intense questioning at a House of Representatives hearing. Tony Hayward apologized for the spill. But he said it was too early to say what caused the April twentieth explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Eleven workers died.

He said BP expects to complete two relief wells in August to stop the leak from a damaged well. But he would not answer questions about the design of the leaking well.

Lawmakers said the company has a record of putting profits ahead of safety.

But Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas apologized to Tony Hayward. He said he was sorry for what he saw as political pressure by President Obama to force BP to set up a claims fund for victims.

BP chief Tony Hayward speaking before a House subcommittee in Washington Thursday

He called it a "tragedy" and a "twenty billion dollar shakedown" of a private company. The congressman² later apologized for his apology.

On Wednesday, BP officials came to the White House for what many people expected would be a twenty minute meeting. They came out four hours later after talks with the president and other officials.

BP agreed to put twenty billion dollars over the next three years into an independent fund to pay claims and damages. President Obama said it was not a limit on what the company might have to pay. BP has already spent more than a billion dollars on the clean-up operation.

BP will also suspend dividend³ payments to shareholders⁴ temporarily. About forty percent of BP shareholders are in Britain, but almost as many are in the United States.

A special rig capturing some of the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico

And BP has agreed to establish a one hundred million dollar fund to pay unemployed⁵ oil rig workers. The money is for those affected⁶ by a six-month suspension of deepwater drilling.

President Obama gave his first speech from the Oval Office Tuesday night to discuss the oil spill. He called it "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced."

Many Gulf residents have criticized the president's performance in the crisis. Many people who work in fishing part of the year also depend on well-paid jobs in offshore⁷ energy. The six-month ban on deepwater drilling is meant for safety. But in Louisiana alone, the oil and gas industry produces seventy billion dollars each year.

Members of Congress from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi are appealing to the administration to shorten the six-month moratorium⁸. But some environmental groups say it should be made permanent to end the nation's dependence⁹ on oil.

This week, government scientists raised their estimate of the leak to between thirty-five and sixty thousand barrels of oil each day. BP has increased the amount of oil captured. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said Friday that twenty-five thousand barrels were captured in the past twenty-four hours.

Also, BP said it was getting closer to the damaged well. And BP's chairman told Sky News that Tony Hayward will no longer be supervising the daily operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
 

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。

4 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 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。

7 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

8 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

9 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。