VOA标准英语2010年-Can BP Survive Gulf of Mexico Catastro

Following a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf¹ of Mexico, BP's reputation in the United States has been badly tarnished².

BP once stood for "British Petroleum'"  The company rebranded itself as simply BP in 1998, but that has not stopped many Americans from using the old name.

Even the U.S. president has referred pointedly³ to the company as "British Petroleum," and many in Britain have taken it as an attack against their country.

BP is one of Britain's largest companies.  Its founders⁴ began oil explorations in modern-day Iran more than 100 years ago.  Now it operates in 80 countries around the world.

Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of research at stockbroker⁵ Charles Stanley, says BP is now a global company.   

"BP is a British company, but it is a multi-national company as well," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr. "It owns substantial businesses in the United States.  It has substantial assets in Asia and in Russia, so it is an extremely important global economy."

But, as tens of thousands of barrels of oil continue to flow daily into the Gulf of Mexico, killing⁶ wildlife, damaging the environment and ruining livelihoods⁷, the company is suffering as well.

BP has already spent over $1 billion on the clean-up operation .  That sum pales in comparison to the planned $20 billion fund to compensate⁸ victims of the disaster.

The company's reputation is also in tatters.  Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress have accused BP of taking shortcuts⁹ that raised the risk of disaster and of being dishonest about the scale of the problem.

Even before this oil leak, BP's safety policies were in doubt following major accidents in Alaska and Texas in the past decade.  And now many Americans say they have had enough.

Batstone-Carr says he thinks BP is strong enough to sustain this double-blow to its bank balance and its reputation, but the ultimate outcome is still unknown.

"I don't think at this stage, nobody knows whether BP will be forced to be broken up, whether it might actually end up being so weakened that it falls into the arms of somebody else," he said. "My suspicion is at this moment in time, that that won't happen.  But there is a lot of uncertainty¹⁰, and of course that is manifest in the share price which has lost about 40 percent of its value over the course of the past six or seven weeks."

Alan Smith, chief executive of the financial planning firm Capital Asset, says with BP's value almost cut in half, it is not just the people at the top who will be hit.  He says it is worrying for the millions of Britons who are invested in the company.

"BP is hugely important to the British economy in general and particularly to private interests and members of pension schemes, most of whom have got exposure to BP just simply due to the size as an institution," said Alan Smith. "So their shares tend to be very widely owned and widely held."

Under pressure from U.S. President Barack Obama, BP bosses have decided¹¹ not to pay out dividends¹² to their shareholders¹³ this year.

Smith says many people may depend on those payments.

"How that affects the individual who owns BP shares and relies upon those to generate income, means that they're not going to have any income at all during this month," he said. "Let's hope that that is a short term, temporary situation and that BP will revert¹⁴ to paying their dividends out in full later in the year."

And he says it is not just Britons whose bank balance may suffer.

"Although it is quoted on the London Stock Exchange and is generally perceived to be a British company, BP is definitely much more an international company of huge importance to the American economy and the American employees," said Smith. "BP actually when they merged¹⁵ with Amoco some years ago, the profile of the employees within the organization changed significantly and now for every British employee of BP there are two and a half Americans working for BP."

But, back in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil is still gushing¹⁶ out.  And until BP finds a way to stem the flow, no one can estimate the full effect of this disaster on BP, its shareholders, or employees. 

 

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

3 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

5 stockbroker   

n.股票（或证券），经纪人（或机构）

参考例句：

• The main business of stockbroker is to help clients buy and sell shares.股票经纪人的主要业务是帮客户买卖股票。
• My stockbroker manages my portfolio for me.我的证券经纪人替我管理投资组合。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

8 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

9 shortcuts   

n.捷径( shortcut的名词复数 )；近路；快捷办法；被切短的东西（尤指烟草）

参考例句：

• In other words, experts want shortcuts to everything. 换句话说，专家需要所有的快捷方式。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Offer shortcuts from the Help menu. 在帮助菜单中提供快捷方式。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

13 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

14 revert   

v.恢复，复归，回到

参考例句：

• Let us revert to the earlier part of the chapter.让我们回到本章的前面部分。
• Shall we revert to the matter we talked about yesterday?我们接着昨天谈过的问题谈，好吗？

15 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

16 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》