新西兰英语 564 Why did 29 miners die?

 　　Twenty-nine miners¹ died in the Pike River coal mine in November 2010. The government set up a Royal Commission² to find out what happened and why. The third stage of this Royal Commission Inquiry³ finished on Friday. This third stage tried to find out what caused the explosion⁴ which killed the miners.

　　Listen to September 25th 2011 to hear more about the Royal Commission.

　　When the Royal Commission is finished, there will be a report but during this third stage we heard a lot of about the possible cause of the explosion. There was probably a rock fall after the coal was taken out of one area. This led to an increase in methane⁵ gas in that area. When the electricity was turned on to drive the water pumps, the explosion happened a few seconds later.

　　We also heard there were other problems in the mine with workers. Some were not well trained. There were financial problems with the mine which meant pressure to work longer hours and mine more coal. There was conflict⁶ between some of the bosses. There were not enough safety checks by mining inspectors⁷.

　　The final stage begins April 2nd. The final stage will look at how to make coal mining safer in the future.

　　Vocabulary

　　?set up – start

　　?Royal Commission – it is like a law court; it reports to the government

　　?stage – part

　　?led to – A led to B; B followed A

　　?methane gas – CH4

　　?trained – taught what to do

　　?financial problems – the mine needed to make more money

　　?pressure – force

　　?to mine (verb) – to remove the coal from the mine

　　?conflict – arguments

　　Grammar

　　Note how useful it can be to start a sentence with “There is/ are/ was/ were/ has been/ have been / will be”. You can also use it after a clause⁸ e.g. “When the Royal Commission is finished, there will be …”

1 miners   

矿工( miner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The coal miners have come out for about two weeks. 煤矿工人已罢工约两周了。
• The roof of the cave dropped in on the miners, trapping them. 洞穴的顶部坍了下来，砸在矿工身上。

2 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

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。

4 explosion   

n.爆发，发出，爆炸

参考例句：

• The police arrived right at the moment of the explosion.警察就在爆炸的那个时候赶到了。
• The shock of the explosion was felt far away.爆炸引起的震动很远都可感觉到。

5 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。

6 conflict   

n.冲突，矛盾，争执；vi.争执，撞斗，冲突，抵触

参考例句：

• Your statement is in conflict with the rest of the evidence.你的陈述同其余证据有矛盾。
• The conflict between them seems ceaseless.他们之间冲突似乎没个止息。

7 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 clause   

n.（正式文件或法律文件的）条款，从句，分句

参考例句：

• The sentence consists of a main clause and a subordinate clause.这句中有一个主句和一个从句。
• What clause do you require in the contract?你要求在合同中订上什么条款？