新西兰英语 394 Pike River Coal Mine Inquest

　　An inquest is a court which tries to find out the cause of death after an accident or violent death. A coroner is the judge in this court. Yesterday, the chief coroner held an inquest in Greymouth to find out the cause of death in the Pike River Mine tragedy.
After he listened to experts, he said it was clear that the 29 men died at the time of the first explosion on Nov 19th 2010. Listen to Nov 20th 2010 and later items tagged “coal” for more about this tragedy.
Medical experts said the miners died from poisonous gases, lack of oxygen and burning from the explosion. Of course families had hopes that the men were still alive after the first explosion because the Chilean miners had survived so long. However, a coal mine is very different from a copper¹ mine. A coal mine is much more dangerous because of the presence of methane² gas.
The coroner will now sign death certificates for the 29 men.
There will be a royal commission of inquiry³ this year to try to find out why this accident happened and how to make coal mining safer.
Questions
Why is a coroner’s court necessary? Does your country have a coroner’s court?
Who usually signs the death certificate when someone dies?

1 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

2 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。

3 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。