这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道节目。
Attention turned to Washington this week over the continuing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
本周（民众）注意力转向华盛顿，集中于发生在墨西哥湾的持续石油泄漏事件。
On Thursday, the chief executive officer of BP faced hours of intense questioning at a House of Representatives hearing. Tony Hayward apologized for the spill. But he said it was too early to say what caused the April twentieth explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Eleven workers died.
本周四，英国石油公司首席执行官在美国众议院听证会接受了数小时的严厉质询。托尼.海沃德对此次石油泄漏事故道歉。但他表示，现在讨论什么原因导致了4月份深水地平线钻井的爆炸尚为之过早。这次事故造成了11名工人死亡。
He said BP expects to complete two relief wells in August to stop the leak from a damaged well. But he would not answer questions about the design of the leaking well.
他表示，英国石油公司预计8月份打好2口减压井以阻止石油继续泄漏。但他表示不会回答任何关于泄漏油井的设计问题。
Lawmakers said the company has a record of putting profits ahead of safety.
议员们表示，该公司存在将利益置于安全之上的记录。
But Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas apologized to Tony Hayward. He said he was sorry for what he saw as political pressure by President Obama to force BP to set up a claims fund for victims.
但德州共和党众议员乔.巴顿向托尼.海沃德致歉。他说，他为他所看到的，奥巴马总统施加政治压力，逼迫英国石油公司设立受害者补偿基金一事表示道歉。
He called it a "tragedy" and a "twenty billion dollar shakedown" of a private company. The congressman later apologized for his apology.
他称这为“悲剧”，是对一家私人公司“200亿美元的勒索”。国会议员随后就乔.巴顿的言论表示道歉。
On Wednesday, BP officials came to the White House for what many people expected would be a twenty minute meeting. They came out four hours later after talks with the president and other officials.
本周三，英国石油公司官员到白宫参加了一个许多人预计为20分钟的会议。他们在与总统及相关官员进行四小时的会谈后离开。
BP agreed to put twenty billion dollars over the next three years into an independent fund to pay claims and damages. President Obama said it was not a limit on what the company might have to pay. BP has already spent more than a billion dollars on the clean-up operation.
英国石油公司同意在未来的三年里向一个独立基金注入200亿美元，用来支付索赔和损失。奥巴马总统表示，这不是英国石油公司可能要支付的最终数额。英国石油公司已经在（石油泄漏）清理行动中耗费10亿美元以上。
BP will also suspend dividend payments to shareholders temporarily. About forty percent of BP shareholders are in Britain, but almost as many are in the United States.
英国石油公司还将暂停向股东派发股息。英国石油公司将近40%的股东在英国，但还有几乎同样多的股东在美国。
And BP has agreed to establish a one hundred million dollar fund to pay unemployed oil rig workers. The money is for those affected by a six-month suspension of deepwater drilling.
此外，英国石油公司已同意设立一个1亿美元的基金用于补偿失业的石油钻井工人，这笔钱将用于补偿受深海钻探暂停6个月影响的民众。
President Obama gave his first speech from the Oval Office Tuesday night to discuss the oil spill. He called it "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced."
周二晚，奥巴马总统就石油泄漏首次在白宫椭圆形办公室发表讲话。他称这是美国历史上面临的最严重的环境灾难。
Many Gulf residents have criticized the president's performance in the crisis. Many people who work in fishing part of the year also depend on well-paid jobs in offshore energy. The six-month ban on deepwater drilling is meant for safety. But in Louisiana alone, the oil and gas industry produces seventy billion dollars each year.
墨西哥湾许多居民批评总统在这次危机中的表现。许多渔民每年只花部分时间捕鱼，剩下的时间则依赖近海能源产业薪水丰厚的工作。对深海钻探6个月的禁令是为了安全。但仅在路易斯安那州，油气产业每年创收达700亿美元。
Members of Congress from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi are appealing to the administration to shorten the six-month moratorium. But some environmental groups say it should be made permanent to end the nation's dependence on oil.
来自德克萨斯州，路易斯安那州和密西西比州的国会议员呼吁政府缩短6个月的禁令。但一些环保组织说，为了终止美国对石油的依赖，深海钻探的禁令应该是永久性的。
This week, government scientists raised their estimate of the leak to between thirty-five and sixty thousand barrels of oil each day. BP has increased the amount of oil captured. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said Friday that twenty-five thousand barrels were captured in the past twenty-four hours.
本周，政府部门的科学家提高了他们对漏油量的评估，他们预计每日泄漏的石油为每日三万五千桶到六万桶之间。本周五美国海岸警卫队上将泰德.艾伦表示，在过去的24小时收集了两万五千桶漏油。
Also, BP said it was getting closer to the damaged well. And BP's chairman told Sky News that Tony Hayward will no longer be supervising the daily operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
此外，英国石油公司表示它们越来越接近（处理好）损坏的油井。同时英国石油公司董事长对“天空新闻”表示，托尼.海沃德将不再负责墨西哥湾（石油泄漏事件）的日常行动。