新西兰英语 505 Gas pipe break（在线收听） |
A break in the Maui gas pipe in the upper North Island has caused very expensive problems. 5000 businesses and other buildings use this gas. They include hospitals, steel factories, universities, swimming pools, restaurants, hotels and milk factories. Middlemore hospital in South Auckland has no heat or laundry. Luckily, the weather is not too cold. Patients were told to bring their own towels. One Auckland hotel is using barbecues to cook meals for their guests. Maybe they will have cold showers. Most of the milk factories are closed and farmers have had to throw out their milk. 30m litres of milk were not collected and farmers spread it on the paddocks like fertiliser instead. The milk company, Fonterra, says it is losing $20m a day because the factories are closed and they cannot process milk. This is the busy spring season when cows produce a lot of milk.
The gas company, Vector, said it is very difficult to repair this break in the gas pipe. They have to work carefully to make sure there is no explosion. They expect it will take at least two days to repair. In the meantime, some gas is getting through and Fonterra may be able to open some factories tomorrow.
The gas comes from the Maui gas field in Taranaki in the west of the North Island and is carried north and east to the upper North Island. The break is in Taranaki, north of New Plymouth. The CEO of Vector thinks the cause of the break is ground movement.
Vocabulary
laundry – place where sheets and towels are washed
patients – sick people in hospital
fertiliser – plant food
process milk – make milk powder, butter and cheese
explosion – like a bomb
Questions
What causes ground movement?
Who should pay if businesses have to close because they have no gas? |
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