2006年VOA标准英语-Recent Accidents Draw Attention to Mining

By Malini Bawa
Washington, D.C.
05 January 2006
 
Mining Safety

12 U.S. coal miners were killed in an explosion this week.  It's the nation's second worst coal mining disaster since 1984.  But U.S. mines are far less dangerous than those in some other coal-producing countries.

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Rescue workers tried desperately¹ to save the lives of 13 American coal miners, after an explosion Monday trapped them 80 meters underground in Talmansville, West Virginia.  In the end, 12 of the 13 men were found dead, most of them apparently² overcome by toxic³ gasses. 

Rick McGee a relative of one of the miners, said safety is always a worry. "A lot of people think that the coal mines [industry] has advanced so much from the past that is it not dangerous anymore.  And it's a really dangerous job," he said.

In the U.S., federal and state inspectors⁴ check mines regularly, but rarely shut them down.  The West Virginia mine where 12 people died this week had 208 safety citations⁵ last year.  

Dane Kane  
  
"To ignore them means that people will be hurt and people will be killed," said Dan Kane with the United Mine Workers union.

And far more people are killed in other parts of the world.  In the United States, 22 people died in coal mines in 2005. In China, the government reports more than 5,000 die every year, constituting about 80 percent of the world's coal-mining deaths, but only about 35 percent of coal production. 

One explosion last February in northeast China killed more than 200 people.

The Chinese government promised to close thousands of mines this year to crack down on safety violations⁶. But some say higher demand and higher prices for coal mean safety will be ignored.  A report by an international mine workers union found 4.2 lives were lost per million tons of coal production in China in 2003.

The relative risk was even higher in Ukraine, where the death rate was 5.5 lives per million tons, even though Ukraine's coal production is just a fraction of China's.  Scores have died in Ukrainian mines each year since the country's independence, when subsidies⁷ to the industry were slashed⁸.

1 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

4 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》

5 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

7 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》