CNN 2010-05-12

Environment, economy, elections, education, all E words and all part of these Monday edition of CNN Student News. From CNN center, I’m Carl Azuz.

First up, officials are moving on to Plan C to try to stop the oil that’s gushing¹ into the Gulf² of Mexico. They’ve tried remote controlled subs. They’ve tried this giant dome³. We are gonna have more on that in a second. What is Plan C? A lot of junk. Basically, you stuff the leak with trash and try to clog⁴ the thing up. So what about that containment⁵ chamber⁶? The giant dome, they were planning to drop over the leak. The thing didn’t work. Crystals formed on the dome and made it float. Officials haven’t totally given up on the idea but they are considering other options including junk. As this oil spill starts to wash ashore⁷, meanwhile it could have a huge impact on several industries. About 40% of the country’s sea food harvest comes from the Gulf coast. Fishermen, dockworkers, restaurant owners, all of them could be affected⁸ by this, as supplies go down and prices go up. The biggest challenge is how to get all of this oil under control and then to get the oil out of the water. Allan Chernoff shows us how the government gets ready for these kinds of situations.

When trying to clean up a giant oil spill, how does the oil industry know exactly what to do, what techniques are going to work. The research is done right here at OHMSETT, the Oil and Hazardous⁹ Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank. This facility is run by the Interior Department’s, Minerals Management Service and it’s the largest of its kind in the entire world.

'Fire in the hole.'

Oil sprays into the water. A slick forms and expands. But it’s all intentional¹⁰. Here the government creates controlled oil spills in a giant tank more than two football fields long. Operators create ocean wave conditions then they use various techniques to clean it all up. There are three primary plans of attack for cleaning oil spills in the water. Burn the oil or apply chemical dispersants to break it down, or manually remove it. All three are at work in the Gulf of Mexico. Today, cleanup exports are practicing manual techniques to remove oil. Taking oil off the surface of the water is kind of like peeling the filling of an Oreo cookie. You are skimming it. And that’s what all these various devices do. They skim the oil off the water. Depending upon the grade of oil, how heavy it is, you use a different type of skimmer. At OHMSETT, all different types of oil are sprayed into the tank from a moving bridge. Workers can test skimmers, various dispersants, even burning, all in a safe, enclosed environment that simulates the ocean’s salinity¹¹ and even its wave patterns.

We all know oil is lighter¹² than water. That’s an advantage when it comes to cleaning up a spill, because the oil sits on top of the water. Using those booms, oil can actually be pushed into that skimmer and then it’s sucked up using this giant vacuum.

Cleanup workers from private industry, government and 24 countries around the world have come here to practice and research such techniques, including responders trying to clean in the Gulf of Mexico right

1 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》

2 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。

3 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

4 clog   

vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐

参考例句：

• In cotton and wool processing,short length fibers may clog sewers.在棉毛生产中，短纤维可能堵塞下水管道。
• These streets often clog during the rush hour.这几条大街在交通高峰时间常常发生交通堵塞。

5 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

8 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。

9 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

10 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

11 salinity   

n.盐分；咸度；盐浓度；咸性

参考例句：

• In the sea water sampled the salinity is two parts per thousand.在取样的海水中，盐度为千分之二。
• In many sedimentary basins the salinity of the formation water increases with depth or compaction.在许多沉积盆地中，地层水的含盐量随深度或压实作用而增高。

12 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。