This Day in History June 3…

The Gulf of Mexico is known for its beautiful waters and exciting vacation spots. However, on this date in 1979, the Ixtoc I oil well experienced a blowout, which resulted in the well catching fire and later collapsing. More than three million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf. It took experts nearly a year to cap the well and stop the oil from spilling. The Ixtoc I blowout is the second largest oil spill in history. It affected the local wildlife, especially the nesting sites of sea turtles. To help save the baby turtles, thousands of them were taken by air to safe areas in other parts of the Gulf.

歷史上的今天 6月3日…

墨西哥灣以其美麗的水域及令人雀躍的渡假景點而聞名。然而在1979年的今日，「伊克斯托克-I」的油井發生 井噴事件，導致油井起火燃燒並隨後坍塌。超過300萬桶的石油外洩到墨西哥灣。專家們花了將近一年的時間才封住油井及防止原油外漏。「伊克斯托克-I」的 井噴是史上第二嚴重的漏油事件。這起事件影響了當地的野生動物，尤其是海龜的棲息地。為了要拯救小海龜，數千隻的小海龜以空運的方式被運送到海灣其他的安 全地區。

知識大補帖

史上最嚴重的原油外漏事故發生在第一次波灣戰爭時的科威特（Kuwait）南部。1991年1月，海珊 （Saddam Hussein）下令從科威特撤退的伊拉克軍隊打開輸油管（oil pipeline）、油井甚至是港口油輪的閥門，試圖做最後的掙扎。據估計，至少有2.4億加侖（gallon）的原油流入內陸和波斯灣（the Persian Gulf）。

單字片語

◎gulf
n.海灣
◎oil well
n.油井
◎blowout
n. （油井等的）井噴；爆炸
◎result in...
導致／造成……（= lead to...）
◎catch fire
著 火
例：This material catches fire easily.（這種材質很容易著火。）
◎collapse
vi. 倒塌
例：The weight of the snow caused the roof to collapse.（厚重的積雪造成屋頂倒塌。）
◎barrel
n.一桶（之量）
◎spill
vi. & vt.（使）溢出
◎cap
vt.覆蓋
◎stop sth/sb from V-ing
防止某事物／某人……