VOA标准英语2010年-Gulf Residents Affected by Oil Spill P

A man from the gulf¹ coast region brings a sample of oil tainted² water to a meeting with senators in Washington.

Nearly 100 residents from America's Gulf Coast converged³ on Capitol Hill this week.  They wanted to meet with their representatives and senators to relay their personal stories about the effects of the oil spill.  They also wanted to encourage passage of a clean energy bill that would transition the nation away from fossil fuel and toward alternative energy. 

A visit to a U.S. senator involves a lot of waiting.  A jar of cloudy seawater and oily black-speckled sand sits on the ledge⁴ in the hallway of the Senate Office Building.  A staffer announces the senator is ready and escorts the group into a conference room.  A man plops the jar directly in front of the empty seat at the head of the table where the senators will sit.  It's a sample from their Florida cities, areas just now being affected⁵ by the oil spill. 

They want to tell Democratic Senator Mark Udall of Colorado to speed through an energy bill.  Their chance to do that comes quickly, as Senator Udall walks into the room.

They meet with the senator for 15 minutes and he meets with us for five.

"What I assured them was: given their plea and call and demand in a polite way for us to have a clean energy future, that was job one for me," said Udall.  "That has long been one of my main motivations for being an elected official."

Udall says he plans to bring a climate energy bill to the floor of the Senate by July 4.  This was Meggin McPhee's second appointment with a senator.  She flew up from Destin, Florida.

"It's enabled us to bring a real voice to some in Washington, D.C. who watch the news and see the pictures and realize what's happening, but when they're able to put a true voice to what's going on down there and I think we've been well received," said McPhee.

Nearly 100 residents like Meggin were flown to DC by Repower America, an organization promoting clean energy, run by former Vice⁶ President Al Gore⁷. 

The group went on to meet with several other elected officials.  David Augustine of New Orleans says his group met with a staffer of Republican Senator David Vitter, who also represents Louisiana.

"[Vitter] said to be patient, but my mindset towards this situation is that 'sorry' is not enough anymore."

David feels so strongly, that as a rapper, he's written a song about politicians and the gulf.  One line in the song is particularly relevant:

"Yeah, you apologized, you admitted you're wrong, but we're the ones that got to suffer.  You all get to go home. Sorry ain't enough no more."

This group wants immediate⁸ action.  But there's a lot left to discuss on Capitol Hill, with Senate Democrats⁹ trying to combine an energy bill with a climate bill and Republicans opposing the idea and calling it an energy tax.
 

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 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 converged   

v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的过去式 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集

参考例句：

• Thousands of supporters converged on London for the rally. 成千上万的支持者从四面八方汇聚伦敦举行集会。
• People converged on the political meeting from all parts of the city. 人们从城市的四面八方涌向这次政治集会。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

5 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。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

8 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。

9 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》