オリンピックに向けて、職場で開かれている英語研修。毎週の宿題は、英字新聞から記事を一つ選んで読解すること。
今日選んだ記事は、1月2日に島根県隠岐島沖の日本海で発生した、ナホトカ号重油流出事故に関する、その後のニュースです。

過去の経過や人間関係など、予備知識が必要な政治ニュースと異なり、起こった出来事を時系列で捉えていけば良いので、理解しやすい内容です。

 

The Maritime Safety Agency has intensified surveillance of oil spilled from a wrecked Russian tanker that has been washing up on coasts along the Sea of Japan, officials said Monday.

• mar・i・time [mˈærətὰɪm] 海事の　Maritime Safety Agency 海上保安庁　a maritime climate 海洋気候 　a maritime power 海運国
• in・ten・si・fy [ɪnténsəfὰɪ] …を強める
• sur・veil・lance [sɚvéɪləns] 監視　be kept under surveillance 監視される

 

The local MSA office has increased the number of patrol boats monitoring the oil slicks to 50 from 30 and the number of airplanes to 10 from four, with the heavy fuel oil having already arrived at the shores of six prefectures.

A Russian Transport Ministry vessel is heading to the area from the Russian island of Sakhalin to join in the cleanup.

The environment Agency dispathced officials Monday to monitor the oil spill’s effects.

(Monday に on が無いのは単なる略?)

increase の object は数や量なので、the number of~ とする。

中上級編の3では、現在分詞やto不定詞を使う場合は、subject をきちんと言わなければならない場合があることを解説しています。
 

Patrol boats from the 8th regional MSA headquarters collected samples from oil slicks newly found northeast of Oki Island, where the Russian tanker sank, to analyze whether the oil was from the sunken tanker.

• head・quar・ters [hédkw`ɔɚṭɚz]  本署
• new・ly [n(j)úːli]  新たに
• sunk・en [sˈʌŋk(ə)n] 沈没した、水底の、地面より低い sink [síŋk] の過去分詞形 → sank [sˈæŋk]

 

Volunteers from across the country have joined local people in battling one of Japan’s worst oil spills in recent years, using backets and shovels to remove oil from the sea and beaches.

 

The oil poses a massive threat to the local economy and is damaging marine resources and wildlife.

• pose [póʊz] <他動詞> 問題・要求などを持ち出す.Let me pose a question. 質問を 1 つさせてください. / ポーズをとらせる The artist posed me on a sofa.  <自動詞> She posed for her portrait.　「一時停止」はpause [pˈɔːz]

 

At around 9:40 a.m. Monday, two people received slight burns to their faces from an explosion that occurred when they used a gas burner to cut up an oil drum.

• slight [slάɪt]  <形容詞>わずかな　<動詞> …を軽んじる They slighted Mary by not inviting her. 彼らはメアリーを招待しないことで彼女を無視した.
• drum [drˈʌm] 太鼓、ドラム缶

 

Police were looking into the cause of the explosion, though they believed flammable gases inside the drum might have been ignited by the burner flame.

• flame [fléɪm] <不可算名詞 しばしば複数形で>  炎，in flames 炎となって, 燃えて <可算名詞>  炎のような輝き the flame(s) of sunset 燃えるような夕映え. / 情熱，激情 a flame of anger 激怒 /  恋人 an old flame of his.

 

One of the drums delivered at the request of the Ishikawa prefectural government was believed to have exploded.

The injured were members of a group dispatched by customers of the Ishikawa prefectural Fishermen’s Federation who began helping in the cleanup operation early Monday.

Also Monday, a large mass of oil was found floating in the western part of Wakasa Bay in Fukui Prefecture, where a number of nuclear power plants are located.

• a number of いくつかの…

On sunday, oil was found on an oil fence set up in an attempt to protect the warter intake at the Takahama nuclear power plant in Wakasa Bay.

The nuclear  power plant had cut back water intake for plant operations by 10 percent to 20 percent, but Kansai Electric Power Co. restored water intake to normal levels Monday morning.

• cút・bàck を低下させる
• re・store [rɪstˈɔɚ]  復元する　The picture has been restored to its original condition.

However, a number of large oil slicks were drifting off the coast from other nuclear power plants.