VOA标准英语2010年-Questions Linger Over Extent of Gulf S

There are no reliable estimates of exactly how much oil has leaked into the Gulf¹ of Mexico since the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.

The fatal disaster sank the rig and left its 1600-meter-deep well gushing² plumes⁴ of crude oil and natural gas.

So far, the best estimates of how much oil is venting⁵ into the Gulf range between 5,000 to 100,000 barrels per day.

Unknown variable

According to BP, the British oil company leasing the ill-fated rig, 5,000 barrels of oil per day are gushing from the broken well.

BP made its calculation - based on observations from ships, airplanes and satellites - of the thickness and extent of the oil slick they saw spreading on the surface and which has now reached Gulf coast shorelines.

University of California earth science professor David Valentine says surface observations, used for tracking oil tanker⁶ spills, don't readily apply to the deep ocean.

An image from a live video feed of the oil plume³ is seen on BP.com Wednesday, May 26, 2010 before the oil company's planned "top kill" strategy to choke off the gusher⁷. (AP Photo/BP.com)

"Especially when you have oil traveling such great distances from the sea floor to the sea surfaces and when you have dispersants and other things that are acting⁸ on the oil that might may impact the shape and thickness of the sheen at the sea surface."

Different priorities

BP officials say their priority right now is to stop the leak.

BP spokesman Tom Mueller told the New York Times the company doesn't plan to make any extra efforts to calculate the flow.

"It's not relevant to the response effort," Mueller says, adding that it might even detract from the effort.

Earth scientist Valentine believes the opposite is true:  "If we don't know the total amount we are never really going to know where it all went."

In the May 27 edition of the British science journal Nature, Valentine proposes a quick and accurate method for calculating the rate of the spill.

Calculating extent of the spill

He says a more precise estimate of the volume of the spill could be achieved - using existing technology - by measuring methane⁹, the gas which comprises 40 percent of the mass of the leaking petroleum¹⁰.

Unlike oil which forms globules in water, Valentine says methane dissolves in and moves with the ocean currents as it rises from the ruptured¹¹ pipe making it easy to measure.

"If we are able to then go in and determine the total amount of methane, right there we have a very large component¹² of the total oil spilled and it's a fairly simple conversion¹³ to figure out what the actual amount of spillage was."

Valentine, who has studied natural methane seeps¹⁴ in the ocean, says scientists can measure the methane in the area around the leak by following the methane plumes. 

"The methane that you see is going to be very, very high in concentration compared to anything in the background," he says. "So what we really get is a minimum value. We can say the leakage¹⁵ was at least this much."

Valentine says the U.S. academic research fleet has vessels¹⁶ that can do the job at a cost of a few million dollars or less, but that timing¹⁷ is crucial in reducing the impact of the Gulf oil spill.  In his Nature commentary Valentine writes that, "capitalizing on this idea requires immediate¹⁸ action," and he adds "the likely rewards far exceed the costs."
 

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 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

4 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

5 venting   

消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风

参考例句：

• But, unexpectedly, he started venting his spleen on her. 哪知道，老头子说着说着绕到她身上来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• So now he's venting his anger on me. 哦，我这才知道原来还是怄我的气。

6 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

7 gusher   

n.喷油井

参考例句：

• We endeavour to avoid the old,romantic idea of a gusher.我们力图避免那种有关喷油井的陈旧的、不切实际的计划。
• The oil rushes up the tube and spouts up as a gusher.石油会沿着钢管上涌，如同自喷井那样喷射出来。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

10 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

11 ruptured   

v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• They reported that the pipeline had ruptured. 他们报告说管道已经破裂了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wall through Berlin was finally ruptured, prefiguring the reunification of Germany. 柏林墙终于倒塌了，预示着德国的重新统一。 来自辞典例句

12 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

13 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

14 seeps   

n.（液体）渗( seep的名词复数 )；渗透；渗出；漏出v.（液体）渗( seep的第三人称单数 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water seeps through sand. 水渗入沙中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Water seeps out of the wall. 水从墙里沁出。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 leakage   

n.漏，泄漏；泄漏物；漏出量

参考例句：

• Large areas of land have been contaminated by the leakage from the nuclear reactor.大片地区都被核反应堆的泄漏物污染了。
• The continuing leakage is the result of the long crack in the pipe.这根管子上的那一条裂缝致使渗漏不断。

16 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

18 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。