美国有线新闻 CNN 2012-11-14

 Two weeks after the so-called Superstorm Sandy hit the northeastern U.S. They are some signs of recovering in the region. Power has been restored for millions of people. Some bridges and tunnels have reopened. But signs of devastation¹ and struggle are there too. Officials say the storm is responsible for at least 113 death in the U.S., more than 160,000 people still don’t have power. That means they are fighting the cold as the temperature drops. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the priority is to get food, shelter and clothing to these victims of the storm. Some of that is coming from relief groups and volunteers like this team from New Orleans that cooked and served thousands of meals. Now, if you’d like get involved, go to the spotlight² section in cnnstudentnews.com, and click on the “Impact Your World” link. Find out how you can make a difference. 

 

Is this legit? Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer of oil. 

 

It’s true. The Middle Eastern nation is home to around one fifth of the entire world’s existing reserves of oil. 

 

But Saudi Arabia might lose that number one ranking by the end of this decade. A new report says the U.S. will be the world’s top producer of oil by the year 2020. The U.S. is going through a sort of oil boom right now, and part of that is thanks to new technology. For example, hydraulic³ fracturing, which is sometimes called fracking. It’s a process that involves pumping water and chemicals into the ground to cause rock formations to fracture and release oil and natural gas. It’s controversial though. Some researchers are worried that the process could hurt the environment. But that same concern, producing oil versus⁴ protecting environment is happening up in the Arctic, where some companies are planning to drill. Miguel Marquez has more on that. 

 

This is the spot where America’s oil needs meets environmental frustration⁵ and concern. The Noble Discoverer, one of two rigs Shell is operating in the Arctic, the rigs aren’t drilling for oil, only putting in 1,500 foot preparatory wells that they’ll revisit and complete next year when the real work begins. Success here doesn’t come easy. In a setback⁶, Shell scaled back its drilling plants this Summer after a major piece of cleanup gear and oil containment⁷ dome⁸ was damaged during testing. To win drilling right, Shell has paid for and equipped its own armada of cleanup vessels⁹. Environmentalists and some Alaskan native say, the failure is proof the Arctic is not ready for oil exploration. 

 

“You can’t have success in a controlled environment, how can you be confident you can control it in the place like the Arctic?”

 

“Well, first of all, we are working on this, this is why we were testing the containment dome to begin with. We were looking at a really, say, it is a serial¹⁰ number one piece of equipment. So the work we are doing is really working to work all the bugs¹¹ out of the problems before we bring it up to the Arctic.”

 

But oil from the Arctic won’t come cheap and it won’t come easily. Shell has already spent $5 billion just to get to this point, and they are not entirely¹² sure what they’ll find down there. They believe that as much as 20% of America’s future oil needs could be below the sea floor where I’m standing¹³.

 

The U.S. Navy is hoping to send a message. It punished seven of its elite¹⁴ Special Forces members, its Navy SEALs for releasing classified information. Now, normally, this kind of punishment would be handled privately¹⁵. But not this time around. The U.S. Navy made this punishment public, because commanders wanted to let all SEALs know that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. Brian Todd now tells us what this is all about.

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

4 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

5 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

6 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

7 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

8 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

9 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》

10 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

11 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

15 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。