新西兰英语 163 Maui Gas

　　Last week, Shell¹ celebrated² the discovery of gas in New Zealand 40 years ago. In 1969, gas was discovered off the coast of Taranaki on the west coast of the North Island. At that time, it was one of the biggest gas discoveries in the world. Ten years later, it produced natural gas for the North Island and today it provides most of the gas for New Zealand. At first the gas field was owned by Shell, BP and Todd Petroleum³, but in 1979, the government took a 50% share for 30 years to keep prices low. It is now 30 years since that time and last month the government gave up its share. Prices could now go up.
It is not an easy gas field to work because it is 35km off the coast in deep water, with big waves and strong winds. Although geologists⁴ thought this gas field would run out about now, they have found large pockets of gas which could last for another five to ten years.
Another Taranaki gas field, Kapuni, is on land, about 85km south of New Plymouth. It has 13 wells and began producing gas and light oil in 1969. Pohokura is a new gas field with three wells on land and six in the sea. Another new gas field, Kupe, is also in the sea off the coast of Taranaki. It will start producing gas later his year.
The South Island does not yet have any gas fields. LPG from Taranaki is shipped to the South Island in bottles. People use gas for heating⁵, cooking and hot water. In the North Island it is also used to generate⁶ electricity.

1 shell   

n.贝壳，壳，外形；v.去壳，脱落；n.[计算机] DOS命令:安装备用的COMMAND.COM文件，并改变环境尺寸

参考例句：

• Please shell some peanuts for the cake.请为做点心剥点胡花生。
• This kind of beetles have hard shell.这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

4 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

5 heating   

n.加热，供暖，暖气装置；adj.加热的，供暖的

参考例句：

• They will install a heating and lighting system in our house.他们将在我们家装上供热供电系统。
• If the pressure is too low,the heating system will act up.如果压力太低，供暖系统就会出毛病。

6 generate   

vt.生成，产生（光、热、电等）导致

参考例句：

• We need someone to generate new ideas.我们需要有人出新主意。
• This book will continue to generate excitement for a long time.这本书将在很长一段时间里继续使人们为之激动。