媒体英语会带大家一起学习BBC撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

Background: 营救33名智利被困矿工的计划进行非常顺利。近日负责营救的工程师表示被困矿工有希望提早被营救出井。这一预计与12月下旬圣诞节救出矿工的时间表相比，要有所提前。

The engineers are digging two escape tunnels for the men and plan to start on a third one soon. Work on the second of the tunnels is going particularly well. Rene Aguilar, one of the chief engineers at the site, said he expected the drill to reach the area where the miners are sheltering this weekend.

Then, the engineers will haul the drill up to the surface and start digging again, to widen the shaft until it's big enough to serve as an escape route.

Aguilar said the team expected to rescue the men in early November.

The news has been welcomed by relatives of the men, who have been celebrating the birth of one of the miners' daughters. Baby Esperanza was born on Tuesday. Her father, Ariel Ticona, is trapped below ground.

Video images of the birth were sent down a supply chute to the miners' refuge so that he could watch them.

• rescue [´reskju:]   vt.&n.救援；挽救   (初中英语单词)
• refuge [´refju:dʒ]   v.&n.避难(所)；庇护   (初中英语单词)