环球英语 — 212：The Bhopal Gas Leak

　　Voice 1
Thank you for joining us today for Spotlight¹. I’m Rebekah Schipper
Voice 2
And I’m Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“The night the gas leaked, I was fixing clothes. I sat next to the door. It was around twelve o–clock at night. The children’s father had just returned from a poetry gathering². He came in and asked me, “What are you burning? It makes it hard for me to breathe.” And then it became very hard to breathe. The children sleeping inside began to cough. I spread a mat outside and made them sit on it. Outside we started coughing even more and became breathless. Then our friend and my husband went out to see what was happening. They found out that some gas had leaked. Outside there were people shouting, ‘Run, run, run for your lives.’”
Voice 1
Bano Bi was thirty–five [35] years old when the Union Carbide chemical factory in Bhopal, India experienced a gas leak. It was one of the world’s worst industrial accidents.
Today’s Spotlight it on the Bhopal disaster of 1984].
Voice 2
Bhopal is the capital city of the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. It is a busy city. One point four million [1,400,000] people live in Bhopal. In the late 1970’s the Union Carbide company built a chemical factory in Bhopal. This factory made pesticides³, chemicals to kill insects. These chemicals helped farmers to protect their crops from insects. But some of the chemicals used to make pesticides can be very dangerous. Many of the people in Bhopal did not know how dangerous the chemicals are.
Voice 1
But the factory started to lose money. By 1984, the land had become dry. Farmer’s crops were not growing. They did not purchase pesticides from the factory any more. The factory officials tried to save money. They turned off safety devices. They made less safety inspections⁴. Many workers lost their jobs.
Voice 2
In the early morning on December 3 1984, a worker cleaned the pipes in the factory. He sprayed water in the pipes. But he did not block the water like he was supposed to. The water mixed with the chemical Methyl Isocyanate in a holding tank. A chemical reaction happened. The chemical, also called M.I.C., began to heat.
Voice 1
The factory had many systems that would prevent chemical leaks. But none of the systems were working. Normally, the refrigerator system would cool the chemicals. But the refrigerators were not on. So, the M.I.C. continued to heat. The temperature rose to two hundred [200] degrees Celsius⁵. The M.I.C. turned into a gas. The gas started to leak out of the tank. M.I.C.was among the most dangerous chemicals Union Carbide used.
Voice 2
A gas scrubber is a safety device that stops harmful gas before the gas can leak. But the gas scrubber at the Bhopal factory was not on. It did not stop the gas. Factory officials also turned off the warning alarm. They did not want people to worry. There was one last safety device in the factory. The flare⁶ tower burned leaked gas and stopped the danger. But the flare tower in the Bhopal factory was not working. The M.I.C. gas escaped into the air.
Voice 1
M.I.C. gas is heavier than air. It floated down to the ground. It blew through the streets. The gas floated through windows and under doors. Ramesh was sixteen [16] the night of the gas leak.
Voice 4
“People were shouting ‘Get up!’ ‘Run, run, gas has leaked!’ My brother got up and said ‘Everyone is running away, we too must run.’ I opened my eyes and saw that the room was full of white smoke. When I removed the blanket from my face, my eyes started to burn. Every breath burned my insides. I was scared of opening my eyes. The gas was getting in through my mouth and through my nose.”
Voice 2
The people of Bhopal did not know what to do when the gas leaked. They could have been safe. All they had to do was block their doors and windows with a wet cloth. But the Union Carbide company did not tell them this. The gas affected⁷ many people.
Voice 1
M.I.C. gas damages the soft tissue of the lungs. It causes a person’s lungs to fill with fluid. M.I.C. damages a person’s eyes and makes their stomach sick. The gas made people go blind. It made breathing difficult. The gas affected many young children because they were closer to the ground. When people went to the hospital to be treated, doctors did not know what to do. The Union Carbide factory told the doctors that the M.I.C. gas was not a serious problem. They did not give the doctors information about the chemical. Factory officials did not tell them how to treat people affected by the gas.
Voice 2
But the gas did not only make people sick. It did not only harm their eyes. It killed thousands of people. Many pregnant⁸ women lost their babies. The official number of deaths from the gas is three thousand eight hundred [3,800]. But no one can agree on a number. Some sources say that as many as ten thousand [10,000] people died from the gas. In the end, the gas harmed about five hundred thousand [500,000] people in Bhopal.
Voice 1
Today, people still feel the effects of the gas leak. People in Bhopal are more likely to have skin, lung, and stomach cancer. Pregnant women lose their babies more often. Many children are born with genetic⁹ problems. Many of the accident survivors¹⁰ have health problems. Their muscles lose coordination¹¹. They cannot move their bodies smoothly¹². They have memory loss. And many people’s bodies cannot fight sickness as easily. It has been estimated that every day, one person dies from the effects of the gas leak.
Voice 2
Union Carbide has never taken responsibility for the gas leak in Bhopal. They blamed the leak on an angry worker. They say that he poured water into the tank on purpose. But the company has not named the person responsible. Union Carbide gave money to many people affected by the gas leak. But the money was not enough to care for all the needs of all the victims.
Voice 1
After the accident, police arrested Warren Anderson, the president of Union Carbide. But he was released and he left India. India still wants to bring the president of Union Carbide to court. They want him to take responsibility for the accident in Bhopal.
Voice 2
Today, the Dow Chemical company owns Union Carbide. But neither of these companies can deny the gas leak. Every year, people protest in the streets of Bhopal. They mourn the people who died in the accident. They also fight for health care for all the people still suffering from the accident. They are searching for justice for the victims.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

6 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

7 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。

8 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

9 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

11 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

12 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。