English Essay by Brian Southwick

49 Oil and Louisiana ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　Oil is important for modern life. Can you imagine life without it? Gasoline for cars, buses, and planes is made from oil. Some of our roads are made with oil products. Without oil we couldn’t make plastic. Oil is used to keep us warm in winter and to cook our food. But when we use oil, we cause global warming and environmental damage. The environment may also be harmed when we take oil from the ground.
　I have told you about Louisiana, the U.S. state I am from. For example, I recently wrote about Louisiana’s interesting culture and its delicious food. I haven’t told you about oil in Louisiana. Oil is important to the Louisiana economy. There is much oil in the state under the ground and under the sea. Many people in Louisiana work at oil wells to take the oil out of the earth. Sometimes there are accidents that injure the workers and harm the environment.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

　On April 20 there was a very serious accident at an oil well in Louisiana. Oil began to leak from pipes used to take it out of the earth under the sea, and there was a fire. Eleven workers were killed, and oil began to enter the sea. Since then about 210,000 gallons (1 gallon = 3.7 liters) have leaked from the pipes each day. Fixing the pipes is quite difficult, and people think many fish and other animals will die.
　Some of the animals at risk are sea turtles, dolphins, and birds that live near the sea. Oysters, shrimp, and fish are at risk, too. Fishing is an important business in Louisiana, so if many fish are killed, life will become difficult for a lot of people there.
　Disaster response teams are trying hard to protect the environment. Robots are working under the sea to stop the oil from leaking. I hope the problem can be fixed before it is too late.

<注>
oil （石油）， modern （現代の）， imagine （想像する）， gasoline （ガソリン）， products （製品）， plastic （プラスチック）， global warming （地球温暖化）， damage （被害）， environment （環境）， harmed＞harm （害する）， state （州）， recently （最近）， economy （経済）， wells＞well （井戸）， serious （重大な）， leak （漏れ出る）， pipes＞pipe （パイプ）， killed＞kill （殺す，死なせる）， enter （入る）， gallons＞gallon （ガロン（液量の単位））， liters＞liter （リットル）， fixing＞fix （修理する）， quite （とても）， at risk （危険な状態の）， turtles＞turtle （カメ）， dolphins＞dolphin （イルカ）， oysters＞oyster （カキ）， shrimp （小エビ）， fishing （漁業）， business （仕事）， disaster response teams （緊急時対応チーム）， protect （守る）， robots＞robot （ロボット）， fixed＞fix （修理する，直す）

Question and Answers:　Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and　a verb.

Q1: What are some of the uses of oil?
A1.

Q2: When did the accident take place?
A2.

Q3: How many liters of oil have leaked from the pipes each day?
A3.

Q4: Why will life for people in Louisiana become difficult if many fish are killed?
A4.

Q5: Who is trying to protect the environment?
A5.

＜解答例＞

A1. Oil is used to make gasoline for cars, buses, and planes.
　Some of our roads are made with oil products. Plastic is made from oil, too.

A2. It took place on April 20.

A3. About 777,000 liters of oil have leaked.

A4. Because fishing is an important business in Louisiana.

A5. Disaster response teams are.