CNN 2010-09-07

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Sweater vests and Fridays are awesome¹! Thanks for spending part of yours with CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz, taking you through the next 10 minutes of headlines. Let's go ahead and get started.

First Up: Rig Fire

AZUZ: First up, officials are trying to figure out what caused a fire on a rig in the Gulf² of Mexico. Another one. This happened yesterday morning. It's a rig that produces oil and gas, and it's located around 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana. 13 people had to go overboard. Authorities said all of them have been accounted for; nobody was hurt. Government officials said that they're prepared to respond to any potential environmental problems that might come up. This was a breaking news story yesterday. The details are still coming in; they'll probably keep coming in all weekend. To get the latest information, head to our web site, CNNStudentNews.com.

AZUZ: Over on the east coast, people are preparing for the impact of Earl. The hurricane was expected to pass near North Carolina's Outer Banks last night. It could hit New England by tonight. Government officials are getting ready. President Obama signed a disaster declaration for North Carolina. What that means is that federal agencies and federal money can be used for any relief efforts. Beyond the physical damage that Earl could cause though, some coastal³ residents are worried about the economic damage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It may be 8 days it would affect us. It really kills us, along with the economy. And so, this is all we need on a Labor⁴ Day weekend.

AZUZ: Well, there it is. That is what Hurricane Earl looks like from the international space station. Thursday, Earl was downgraded to a category 3 hurricane, but this thing -- as you can see -- is massive. It's bigger than the entire state of California. And its outflow, the clouds that are part of the storm, could stretch from one end of Texas all the way to the other.

So What?

AZUZ: You might have noticed that Hurricane Earl keeps changing categories. So what? Well, hurricanes are assigned categories based on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It measures a storm's wind speed and estimates how much damage that storm might cause. Stronger winds, more potential for damage. Category one hurricanes have maximum sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour. They usually won't cause any real damage to buildings. But they're kind of scary if you've ever been in one. At 96 miles per hour, a storm becomes a category two. A category three hurricane has winds of at least 111 miles per hour. Those can cause some structural⁵ damage. Category four is 131. And when those winds reach 156 miles per hour, you're dealing⁶ with a category 5 hurricane. Those are the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale. They can cause complete roof failure on most homes and buildings.
 

1 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

2 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。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。