VOA慢速英语2014 美国北部的铁路安全存在隐患

 

AS IT IS 2014-06-18 Railroad Safety a Concern in Northern US 美国北部的铁路安全存在隐患

North Dakota is the second largest oil-producing American state, after Texas.  Companies remove about one million barrels of crude, unprocessed, oil from the Bakken Formation every day.  The formation -- an area filled with shale¹ and other rocks -- covers parts of western North Dakota and eastern Montana.

Much of the crude oil leaves the area by train.  But several accidents have raised concerns about the method of transportation and the oil itself.

Last July, a train pulling 72 tank cars wrecked³ in the Canadian town of Lac Megantic.  The wreck² caused an explosion and fire that killed 47 people. 

The crude oil in the tank cars came from the Bakken formation.  Several accidents since then have raised concerns about the explosive nature of Bakken crude oil.  The U.S. Department of Transportation recently ordered shippers to test Bakken oil to make sure it is correctly identified before shipping⁴.

But several studies have found that Bakken oil is no more dangerous than other U.S. oil.  Jeff Hume is vice⁵ chairman of Continental⁶ Resources, an oil production company.

“From what we tested and what we have gotten, it fits the specifications⁷ that FIMSA has today for the rail cars that we are shipping it in.  So under today’s rules, we are moving it in a proper container.”

About 70 percent of North Dakota and Montana crude oil is transported by train.  Kari Cutting is vice president of the North Dakota Petroleum⁸ Council.  She says shippers and producers are following government rules.

“All of those federal regulations that have been followed by Bakken, since we started producing Bakken, as far as classifying it, putting it in rail cars, moving it safely, all of the things that the shippers and producers have to do before it goes into that railcar, all of those rules were followed.”

The safety concerns about rail transportation have shown the need for more oil pipelines¹⁰.  But North Dakota State University Economist¹¹ Dean Bangsund says oil pipelines are in short supply.

“A big issue in the state right now is the lack of pipeline⁹ capacity, and that the pipeline capacity to take the crude oil out of the state ends up with large price discounts.  So the industry is now moving, to moving crude oil out of the state by rail.”

The proposed Keystone XL Pipeline would connect pipes from Canada to the southern United States.  Under the plan, 100,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil would flow each day to a proposed link in the town of Baker¹², Montana.

Dean Bangsund talks about the proposal.

“Some of the crude that’s coming through our existing pipelines would be moved into that, therefore displacing and adding existing capacity to some of the pipelines we already have in place.”

But concerns about the environmental risks of the Keystone XL pipeline have delayed the plan. The price of shipping crude oil by rail usually costs more than pipelines.  But some companies still like that method because trains can reach more oil processing centers than existing pipelines.

1 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

2 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

3 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

4 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

5 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。

6 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

7 specifications   

n.规格；载明；详述；（产品等的）说明书；说明书( specification的名词复数 )；详细的计划书；载明；详述

参考例句：

• Our work must answer the specifications laid down. 我们的工作应符合所定的规范。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This sketch does not conform with the specifications. 图文不符。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 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。

9 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

10 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。