VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-03-28 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: 25 Years Later 埃克森公司瓦尔迪兹石油泄漏25周年

 

AS IT IS 2014-03-28 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: 25 Years Later 埃克森公司瓦尔迪兹石油泄漏25周年

Hello again!  I’m Jim Tedder¹ in Washington with the program that helps you to learn and improve your American English.  Today we look back 25 years to a disaster that affected² the environment and the economy in our northernmost state.

Then …some politics.  Some experts say this election year is looking good for the Republican party.  We will examine the situation in detail.

It’s nice to have you with us as we learn about our world …As It Is.

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The Exxon Valdez was a huge tanker³, a ship built to carry large amounts of oil.  On March 24, 1989, the tanker set sail from the port of Valdez in the state of Alaska.  Then the Exxon Valdez struck rocks in Prince William Sound.  Forty-one-point-five million liters of oil leaked into the water.

 

The Exxon Valdez produced the greatest environmental disaster from an oil spill in US history.  The spill marked a turning point in the prevention and reaction to such accidents.

For weeks, oil leaking from the Exxon Valdez spread along the coastline of Alaska.  Debbie Payton works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric⁴ Administration.  The federal agency, known as NOAA, is responsible for taking steps when disasters strike.  Ms. Payton remembers visiting communities affected by the oil spill.

“There were oiled birds.  There were some marine⁵ mammals that could be seen surfacing through the oil.  There was oil on the beaches. ?Hundreds of thousands of sea animals died.  Debbie Payton and other NOAA workers did what they could to keep the oil from spreading. They used special equipment to trap and recover the oil in Prince William Sound.  They burned oil and covered rocks on land with chemical dispersants.  

However, oily areas can still be seen today.  Ms. Payton now leads NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration. She says Alaska’s coast and fisheries appear healthy.  But she adds that there are exceptions.

The herring industry has collapsed⁶.  This former fisherman wonders whether local businesses will ever go fishing for herring again.

"Typically say, for the herring season, we might have made $35,000, $40,000.  Now, nothing, of course, nothing.”

The U.S. Supreme⁷ Court limited the amount of corrective damages against Exxon at $2.5 billion.  Exxon also spent over $4 billion in cleanup payments, settlements and fines. Critics say the company should have done more.  But a spokesman for Exxon Mobil, Richard Keil, called it a fair deal.  He spoke⁸ to VOA on Skype. 

“We took immediate⁹ responsibility for the spill, and the payments we’ve made are based on agreements worked out in court with input¹⁰ from all parties.  It’s also important to note that the company voluntarily compensated¹¹ more than 11,000 Alaskans and businesses within a year of the spill.”

Mr. Keil says the Exxon Valdez spill was a low point in his company’s history.  But he also says Exxon Mobil now puts safety first. 

“(It’s) the number one factor guiding any and all business decisions we make.  We want to protect the environment we’re operating in, the communities we’re part of and our employees, contractors¹², and the people who live near our operations.”

Debbie Payton says the spill also led to other changes like a new law, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

“It led to double-hulled tankers¹³.  It led to community action groups,

better integration¹⁴ with response communities -- all the way from the oil spill response organizations, private entities¹⁵, responsible parties through the state and federal governments.” 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration went on to develop an online information system to predict spills in real time.

“And that allows us to just pull pieces of information together quicker and see them quicker so that we can make decisions that much quicker.”

Today NOAA responds to between 100 and 150 spills a year.  Chuck Clusen is with the Natural Resources Defense¹⁶ Council.  He says the anniversary of the Exxon Valdez spill is a reminder¹⁷ of an important lesson.

 “The government and the industry must understand that there are places that you simply cannot go.”

It Is An Election Year in the United States

The United States has begun preparing for congressional elections coming up in November.  Republican Party leaders are increasingly sure that the party’s candidates will make gains in Congress.  Republicans seem especially sure of winning seats in the Senate, which the Democrat¹⁸ Party now controls. 

Political experts generally agree that the 2014 elections will be a good year for Republicans and maybe not so good for Democrats¹⁹.  Anna Matteo tells us more.

Lawmakers from both political parties and the Obama administration are increasingly thinking about the November elections.  These midterm elections are when voters elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives.  Voters will also fill 36 of the 100 Senate seats.

For now, most political experts say it is likely Republicans will hold on to or even add to their majority in the House.  Many experts also feel that Republicans have an excellent chance of winning six additional seats in the Senate.  This would give them a majority.  The Democrats would lose control of the Senate.

There are several reasons Republicans are looking forward to the midterm elections.  Many Democrats currently in office are retiring.  John Fortier works for the Bipartisan Policy Center.  He notes that some Democrats are facing difficult races in states with a strong Republican base.

“The Senate Republicans have a real opportunity to pick up seats, but they need six seats, which is a lot.  The good news for Republicans is that many of these states are in very strongly Republican states.”

He also notes that President Barack Obama has a low public approval rating.  John Fortier thinks this could help Republican candidates.

“The two biggest factors underlying²⁰ a midterm election are how is the economy doing and how is the president in the White House doing.  And ultimately midterm elections do not go very well for the president’s party, they tend to go against it.  And if the economy is worse, it is even worse.  And if the president’s unpopular, it is even worse.”

Another issue in November will be how the American public feels about the country’s new health care law.  The legislation is known as the Affordable²¹ Care Act.  Republicans plan to publicize their opposition²² to the law during the election campaign, says House Speaker John Boehner.

“The truth is you can’t fix this law.  It needs to be torn out by its roots.  You may be tired of hearing about this, but as long as this law is around and making things worse, we’re going to keep fighting it.”

President Obama is quick to defend Affordable Care Act.  He accuses Republicans of having no interest in wanting to fix the law.

“And it is not just to try to improve the law or here is a particular problem with it.  No, we just want to scrap²³ it so that millions of people who now have health insurance, we want them to go back to not having health insurance.  Well that is not going to happen.”

The president has been warning his Democratic supporters that they need to vote in November.  He notes that Republicans often do better in midterm elections because there is low voter turnout, meaning fewer people go to vote.

Tom DeFrank is a longtime political observer with the magazine National Journal.  He feels that if Republicans take control of the Senate, most legislation will halt during the final two years of Mr. Obama’s term.  This will then produce more of what he calls, legislative²⁴ “gridlock.” 

“If he loses the Senate in November he will be reduced to governing by veto, denying the Republicans what they want to do.  I think it’s gridlock and damage control the rest of the way.”

The last time Republicans controlled both houses of Congress was during the presidency²⁵ of George W. Bush.  I’m Anna Matteo.

 

1 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

4 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

5 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

11 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

12 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

14 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

15 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• 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。

16 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

17 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

18 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

19 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

21 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

22 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

23 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

24 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

25 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。