Welcome to the Voice of America's News Words.
欢迎收看美国之音：新闻词汇。
On the island nation of Mauritius, an oil spill has caused an environmental disaster.
在岛国毛里求斯，一场石油泄漏引发了一场环境灾难。
Compensate. A japanese-owned ship struck a coral reef in the Indian Ocean in late July.
补偿。7月底，一艘日本船只在印度洋撞上了一座珊瑚礁。
Two weeks later, the government of Mauritius declared "a state of environmental emergency."
两周后，毛里求斯的政府宣布进入“环境紧急状态”。
Scientists say the oil cleanup will be costly.
科学家表示，清理油污的成本将会很高。

The ship's owners said steps will be taken to compensate Mauritius for the damages.
船主表示，将采取措施赔偿毛里求斯的损失。
In this example, compensate means to pay for something that has been wrongly damaged.
在这个例子中，“compensate”的意思是对错误损坏的东西进行赔偿。
It also means to act in a way that corrects an imbalance.
它还表示采取行动纠正不平衡。