CNN 2010-06-02

The headlines are coming! The headlines are coming! They're here. It's Friday, which is awesome¹! I'm Carl Azuz. This is CNN Student News.

 

The oil spill in the Gulf² of Mexico is up first today, and there is a lot of new stuff to tell you about. First: the "top kill" procedure. What we know: It started Wednesday afternoon. What we don't know: if it's successful. At least, we don't know yet. Yesterday, the Coast Guard said the top kill process was going as planned. A BP official said it had been a success so far, but he also said it'll take 24 to 48 hours to complete.

 

Another thing we do know: This is now the worst spill in American history. It could already be twice as big as the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989. For a while, the estimate was that this leak was spilling around 5,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf every day. New estimates say, nah ah: It could be anywhere from 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day. That means between 18 and 30 million gallons of oil might have been spilled.

 

We've also talked about the controversy³ surrounding the Minerals Management Service. That's the government agency that oversees⁴ oil drilling. There have been accusations⁵ about mismanagement and inappropriate behavior from some members of the agency. Yesterday, the director of the MMS resigned, although some sources indicated that she was fired. Officials are investigating what caused this spill. In the meantime, President Obama wants to limit new oil drilling and exploration, at least for a while.

 

You can keep up with all the details on this throughout the weekend. This is a dynamic story, so head to CNNStudentNews.com. Meanwhile, you've heard about the impact of this oil spill. Rob Marciano is going to give us a first-hand look that is absolutely shocking. Watch this.

 

It was worse back there where it's super thick. I've never seen anything like it. Unreal.

 

Oh man, look at that streak⁶. Look at the holes off of those. It's thick, thick, thick.

 

Like mud.

 

That's unreal. This is ugly. This is really ugly.

 

Ugly is definitely an understatement. And we're only 12 miles from shore. By far, the thickest oil we've seen yet. This is just disturbing. Check it out. I mean, the oil, layers of oil actually building on each other in a putty-like form. This definitely is not dispersed⁷. It's barely weathered at all. It almost looks like it's fresh, fresh from the pipe. Some areas of the oil are thicker than others. This is only the western edge of the slick. We are still not even 50 miles from the site of the spill. Unbelievable.

 

Our little armada pauses. We're out here with five other boats, and all of them have this nasty oil stuck to the hull⁸. That's going to be a chore getting off. This boat just across the way, those guys are lowering a submersible camera to take a look at what the water and oil mixture looks like below the surface.

 

Boats are carrying scientists peering into and under the oil. Dr. Ian McDonald takes samples back to his lab in Florida, while Dr. Doug Inkley patrols for the National Wildlife Federation⁹. A dead eel¹⁰ floats toward our boat. It too is taken as a sample, now headed to the lab for a closer look. Minutes later, something else is in the water. This one is alive.

 

That animal might be in a lot of trouble.

 

You normally don't see sharks like this running around on the surface, but this animal looks like it's in distress¹¹.

 

The shark dives as we approach. Along the way, we see other sea creatures struggling in the oil like this baby crab¹². What's on the surface is easy to see.

 

The animals like this that are out in the open ocean and we don't see them washed up. How do you assess that? You have a shark that dies in the water here and sinks to the bottom. Where's the assessment¹³ on that? How do you assess that?

 

Can't count it. Much like the oil still spewing from the well, the amount of wildlife lost here may never be known. Rob Marciano, CNN, Venice, Louisiana.
 

1 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

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 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

4 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

5 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

6 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

7 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

8 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

9 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

10 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

11 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

12 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

13 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？