At the end of each year, the Associated Press releases a list of the top ten news stories of the year.
在每年的年底，美联社都会发布当年十大新闻的名单。

American editors and news directors are asked to vote for what they consider the top stories.
美国的编辑和新闻主管们被要求投票选出他们心中的头条新闻。

This year, the story with the most votes was the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
今年，得票最多的新闻是位于墨西哥湾的严重漏油事故。

An oil rig operated by BP exploded in April.
一个由英国石油公司（BP）运营的钻井平台在四月发生了爆炸。

The explosion killed 11 workers.
爆炸夺去了11名工人的生命。

Close to 5 million barrels of oil were released into the Gulf until the leak was contained in the middle of July.
在七月中旬漏油被堵住之前已有将近500万桶石油泄入墨西哥湾。

BP agreed to set aside $20 billion to pay claims and damages to people working in the area's fishing and tourism industries.
英国石油公司同意拨出200亿美元以支付该地区渔业和旅游业工人的损害赔偿。

The AP says the second most important story was health care reform in the United States.
美联社称，年度第二大新闻是美国的医保改革。

President Obama won a major political victory with congressional passage of his health care reform plan.
奥巴马总统因美国国会通过了其医保改革的方案而赢得了政治上的重大胜利。

Among other things, it will extend health care insurance to 32 million Americans now without it.
其中，该方案将把医疗保险的覆盖范围扩大到当前还没有医保的3200万美国人。

But many Republicans in Congress oppose the law and want to cancel parts of it.
但国会中许多的民主党人则反对这项法案并希望取消其中的部分条款。

The congressional elections in November were another big story.
十一月份的国会选举则是另一则重大新闻。

The Republican Party gained a majority in the House of Representatives.
共和党赢得了众议院的多数席位。

But Democrats kept their majority in the Senate.
但民主党保住了他们在参议院的多数席位。

The American economy was another major story.
美国经济是又一重大新闻。

Economists reported in 2010 that the worst recession since the 1930s had ended.
经济学家在2010年报告称，自20世纪30年代以来的最严重的衰退已经结束。

Americans began to spend more as the year ended.
美国人在年底又开始增大消费。

But the unemployment rate stayed above 9%.
但失业率仍在9%以上。

In January, a powerful earthquake struck Haiti.
一月份，一场大地震袭击了海地。

It killed at least 230,000 people and left millions of others homeless.
它造成至少23万人丧生并使数百万人无家可归。

Disease and other problems have slowed efforts to rebuild the country.
疾病和其他问题延缓了灾后重建的进展。

Another important story was the Tea Party movement in the United States.
另一重大新闻是美国的茶党运动。

The Tea Party supports limited government, less federal spending and lower taxes.
茶党主张受限的政府、更少的联邦开支和更低的税收。

The movement had a big influence on the Congressional elections.
这项运动对国会的选举造成了很大的影响。

Another major story was the rescue of 33 mine workers in Chile.
还有一则重大新闻是对33名智利矿工的救援。

A partial mine collapse on August 5 trapped them more than half a kilometer underground.
一处矿井部分在8月5日坍塌，导致矿工们被困在超过500米深的地下。

They remained trapped for 69 days.
他们一直被困了69天。

Millions of people around the world watched on television as each miner was safely brought to the surface.
全球数百万人通过电视目睹了矿工们被安全救回地面的报道。

In 2010, United States forces officially ended combat operations in Iraq.
2010年，美国军队正式结束在伊拉克的军事行动。

The Iraq war began more than 7 years ago.
伊拉克战争始于7年多前。

Another major story was the activities of the WikiLeaks website.
另一则重大新闻是WikiLeaks（维基泄密）网站的活动。

First the website released thousands of United States military documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
该网站起初发布了数千份美国对伊拉克战争和对阿富汗战争的军事文件。

Then it published thousands of State Department diplomatic cables.
随后它又发布了数千份国务院的外交电文。

They included comments by American diplomats about the lives of world leaders and criticisms of foreign governments.
其中包括美国外交官对世界各国领导人生活的评论，以及对外国政府的批评。

The tenth story on the AP's list was the war in Afghanistan.
位居美联社十大年度新闻末尾的是阿富汗战争。

President Obama ordered an increase in troops fighting the nearly ten-year-old war.
奥巴马总统下令增兵阿富汗这场近十年的战争。

American troops are to begin leaving the country in July.
美国的军队7月份开始从该国撤离。

Afghans are to control their own security by the end of 2014.
到2014年底，阿富汗人将掌控其自身的安全。