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land rigs to lose
to oppose incapable
weak immobile

6 Say whether the following statements are true or false.

1 Most drilling rigs are large and quiet.
2 A rig has only one purpose: to drill a hole in the ground.
3 Rigs operate both on land and sea.
4 It is better to visit an offshore rig first.
5 Most of masts and derricks are close to 45 metres high.
6 Another name for a rig manager is a “pushtooler”.
7 PPE stands for personal protective equipment.
8 The crown block is the main work area of the rig.
9 The bit is a hole-boring device.
10 A loud screech coming every time the friction brake bands ease their grip means the brakes
are broken.

7 Fill in the gaps.
a) toolpusher d) sense g) toolpush
b) steel- capped e) rig superintendent h) boss
c) rig manager f) de rigueur i) personal protective equipment

Upon arriving at the rig, the first step is to check in with the ________ (1). He or she is probably in
a mobile home or a portable building on the site that serves as an office and living quarters. The rig
boss may have the intriguing title of “________(2)"; or, rig workers may call him or her the
“________ (3)," or the “_______ (4)." (Currently, most toolpushers, or rig superintendents, are
men; but that's changing). Toolpusher is the traditional term for the rig boss. It probably originated
from the fondness rig workers have of calling practically every inanimate thing on a rig a tool.
Thus, one who bossed the personnel using the tools also pushed the tools, in a symbolic, if not
actual, _______ (5). Nowadays, the drilling industry leans towards the term rig superintendent or
rig manager for the person in charge, but you'll still hear rig hands call him or her the toolpusher
(or, in Canada, the “_______ (6)").

Now don your haul hat, which is a very tough plastic cap with a brim to protect your head. Also, put
on your _______ (7) boots, which keep your toes from being crushed, and your safety glasses to
safeguard your eyes. This style of dress is __________ (8) for everyone. Whether working on a rig
or merely visiting it, everyone must wear __________ (9), or PPE for short (fig. 4). Rig workers
also wear gloves to protect their hands and you may want to wear a pair, too.

8 Scan the text and correct spelling and grammar mistakes.

In 2008 alon, the United States had produced an estimated 4.9 million barrels of rude oil
per day and imported 9.8 million barrels per day from other country. This oil gets refine
into gasoline, kerosen, heating oil and others products. To keep up with our consumtion, oil
companies must constantly look around new sources of petroleum, as well as improve the
production of existing wels. Oil is a fossil fuel founded in many countries around the word. On
the next page, we'll discussed how oil is formed and how geologists found her.

Translation Section

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