BP oil spill worse than thought @ 聯合翻譯有限公司/聯合翻譯社

聯合翻譯引用自世界公民文化中心：http://blog.udn.com/corecorner/4195610

文/Chris G
BP oil spill worse than thought
墨西哥灣漏油狀況比原本想像的更嚴重

BP has conceded that the extent of an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico may be much worse than originally thought.
BP公司承認了墨西哥灣的油污範圍比原本估計的還要更加嚴重。

The oil giant was responding to a warning from US officials that the amount of crude leaking from the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig could be five times greater than early estimates.
這間英國石油公司回應美國政府官員的警告，坦承從「深水地平線」鑽油平台漏出的石油比原本估計的還要多5倍。

“I would say the range is 1,000 to 5,000 barrels a day,” Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said.
「我估計大約是每天1到5千桶」。BP勘探與生產部門營運長Doug Suttles說。

His remarks followed the discovery of a third leak at the site of last week’s explosion, which led the US Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to increase its estimate of the amount of oil spilled into the ocean to 5,000 barrels of oil a day.
他說的數據是在發現爆炸地點有第3個裂縫後所估算的，也因此讓美國國家海洋和大氣管理局對每天外漏的石油估計增加到一天5千桶。

BP had played down the higher figure initially, insisting that the discovery of the new leak did not change its original estimate.
BP 原本還故意縮小一開始的數字，堅持說新發現的漏洞不會改變原本的估計。

“We are attacking this spill on all fronts, bringing into play all and any resources and advanced technologies we believe can help,” Tony Hayward, the BP chief executive, said.

With no obvious way of shutting off the leak soon, though, the scale of the challenge remains daunting.
BP的首長Tony Hayward說：「對於這個油污我們四面出擊，把所有任何我們相信能帶來幫助的科技和支援都用上。」不過，對於根本沒有任何快速又肯定的方法來停止漏油，這個任務的難度還是很嚇人的。

Politicians and Gulf residents slammed BP on over its efforts to end the spew of oil into the Gulf of Mexico andmake whole those who have been hurt.
許多政治人物與墨西哥灣居民對BP制止原油不停流進墨西哥灣的努力痛罵，也痛罵BP對於那些受害者做出的彌補。

"BP misrepresented what their technology could do," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "They misrepresented the amount of oil that was being spewed forth into the Gulf and continued to do so."
「BP扭曲他們的科技能做到的程度，也虛偽的陳述了墨西哥灣噴湧出來的石油數量，而且到現在還是。」眾議院議長Helen Pelosi說。

"Until you see it first-hand, until you really smell it, get a sense of it, you can't understand it fully," said Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana.
「在你還沒親眼看到、親自聞到、對它有某種概念，你是無法完全瞭解它、體會它的。」路易斯安那州議員David Vitter說。

Oil Slick-

這兩個字通常一起用的，多於形容「一片油污」。
注意1：不限制大小或地點，例如路上有一片油污也可以這麼說。
注意2：只能用在黑色的原油，例如機油之類的，所以汽油或廚房裡的烹飪油類不這麼說。

Play down-

低估或減低一件事情的數量、重要性或嚴重性。用處廣泛，只要情況適合都常被使用。不過要注意的是，它並沒有表明出發點是不是刻意的，必須要看整句對話才能判斷。
注意：也可以用“downplay”（動詞），意思相同，也是一個常用到的字。雖然只是一個字，不過不要把它當成單純的「低估、減低」而已，它通常用來描述一件重要或嚴重的東西被減低或刻意低估了。

例：The latest report on the economy shows the economy is not getting better, but the government downplays the numbers. 最新的報告指出景氣沒有好轉，不過政府減化（報告裡）數字的嚴重性。

Scale of the challenge-

直譯是「挑戰的規模」，不過這翻得很不自然。英文裡有很多這樣的句子，單看每個字都懂它的意思，合在一起意思就不同了。”Challenge”單獨使用時，的確大部分的意思是「挑戰」，不過，在這裡描述的是某個困難的狀況，有必須去解決、克服的氛圍。”Scale”單獨用也是規模、大小的意思，不過，在這裡它卻變成「難度」。所以，這句話只用來描述某件事情的困難度有多高、有多難之類的。

例1：The newly-elected president promised the American people the economy will recover. However, we all knowthe scale of the challenge. 新當選的總統給美國人民承諾景氣會好回來的。但是，大家都知道這個承諾的難度有多高。

例2：NASA will design a new spaceship to travel to Jupiter. The scale of the challenge is unbelievable! It requires very advanced and complicated technology. NASA將設計一台新的太空船前往木星。這個案子的難度高到驚人，因為它必須用到非常先進且複雜的科技。

Make whole-

是指讓過失或受到傷害的人、事（或其他合適的名詞）恢復原狀或彌補它們。不過，這裡的「恢復原狀」只能用來恢復傷害過的東西，而且這個東西是抽象的，不是具體的。
注意：通常後面接名詞，而且還要加上受到傷害或過失的內容。

例1：After the party at my house last night, my living room is a mess. I need to make whole my living room. (X)
“make whole” 不能用在像客廳這樣具體的東西上。

例2： I really broke his heart. I want to make whole the suffering I have caused him. (O)
我真的傷了他的心。我想彌補我對他造成的痛苦。