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This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English dot com.
這裡是bbclearningenglish.com英語六分鐘節目。
Rob: Hello I’m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m joined today by Finn. Hello Finn.
大家好，我是羅伯。歡迎收聽六分鐘英語。今天費恩和我一起的是費恩。你好，費恩。
Finn: Hello Rob.
你好，羅伯。
Rob: In this programme we’re talking about a serious problem that has been affecting some of the big cities in China: that’s air pollution.
本期節目，我們要討論一個很嚴重的問題。這個問題一直困擾著中國的一些大城市。就是「空氣汙染」。
Finn: Yes, or better known as smog. Smog is polluted air that is a mixture of smoke and fog. I』ve experienced this in Shanghai and it’s not a nice thing to breathe in.
是的，更常見的說法是「霧霾」。霧霾是由煙和霧混合而成的受汙染的空氣。我曾在上海親身經歷過，吸入霧霾可不是什麼好事。
Rob: It certainly isn’t good for your health. We』ll talk more about this soon and explain some pollution-related vocabulary. But let’s start with a question for you, Finn. According to research by the Word Health Organisation, which country has the city with the world’s worst air pollution? Is it: a) China b) India or c) Iran
這肯定對你的身體沒好處。稍後我們就討論一下，並且解釋一些跟汙染相關的詞彙。但是，費恩，我要先問你一個問題。據世界衛生組織的研究，世界上空氣汙染最嚴重的城市在哪個國家？a）中國b)印度c）伊朗
Finn: Well, I think it definitely used to be China. I’m going to say it’s still China.
嗯，我覺得就過去而言肯定是中國。現在來說，我覺得還是中國。
Rob: We』ll find out if you are right later on. Let’s talk more now about the pollution problem which is choking – or making it difficult to breathe in – many Chinese cities.
稍後我們就會知道你的回答是否正確。我們來討論一下困擾中國很多城市的汙染問題吧，汙染讓吸氣都變得困難了。
Finn: Pollution is a word that can describe anything that damages something that is pure. So light pollution is when a pure dark sky is contaminated – or spoiled by street lights and lights in the city.
汙染這個詞可以形容任何摧毀純粹物質的事物。所以光學汙染是指純黑的夜空被街燈和城市的燈光汙染或者侵擾。
Rob: And noise pollution is when loud or annoying sounds like traffic noise spoil a quiet and peaceful environment. But the smog affecting Chinese cities is a form of air pollution – clean air has become dirty.
噪音汙染是指諸如交通噪音之類的喧鬧的或者惹人厭煩的聲音破壞了安靜平和的環境。但影響中國城市的霧霾是一種空氣汙染——潔淨的空氣變得骯髒。
Finn: Yes. Well, smog used to be a problem in other world cities like London, where a combination of fog and smoke from factories and trains sometimes made the air quite dirty and dangerous.
是的，霧霾過去曾是一些其他世界城市的難題， 比如說倫敦。在那裡工廠和火車所排放的煙霧混合物有時會讓空氣變得十分骯髒和危險。
Rob: Yes, sometimes the air was so dirty and so thick they described it as a 』pea-souper』 – meaning as thick as pea soup!
是的，有時空氣太汙濁厚重，以至於他們把空氣形容成「豌豆湯」。意思就是像豌豆湯一樣濃。
Finn: A 』pea-souper』 – that’s good, isn’t it! In Los Angeles, fumes – that’s the bad gases from car engines – and poor weather conditions used to cause poor air quality. But now, new laws and a change in technology mean the air in these cities is cleaner and safer. So, Rob, why is it bad in China now?
「豌豆湯」-說得太好了，不是嗎？在洛杉磯，尾氣——從汽車發動機排出的有害氣體——以及不好的氣候條件過去常常導致空氣品質差。但是現在，新的法律以及技術上的改變意味著這些城市的空氣變得更加潔淨和安全。所以，羅伯，為什麼中國現在的情況不太妙？
Rob: Well Finn, China is becoming more industrialised. That means more factories are being built, and more electricity is needed, and that often comes from coal-fired power stations. And of course, more people are driving cars.
嗯，費恩，中國正變得更加工業化。這意味著需要建立更多的工廠，也就需要更多的電能，而電能常常由燃煤發電站提供。當然，開車的人也增加了。
Finn: Yes they are. Well, at certain times last year, the air was so poisonous in Shanghai that children were not allowed outside and schools were closed.
是的。嗯，在去年的某些時候，上海的空氣毒性很大，以至於孩子們都被禁止外出，學校也關閉了。
Rob: Generally, the air is a threat to public health. It’s particularly bad for people with asthma – and it could lead to lung cancer. In the capital Beijing, pollution regularly goes over the safety limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO). So what can be done?
總體而言，有毒空氣危害著公眾的健康。這對患有哮喘的人們尤其不利——這可能會導致肺癌。在首都北京，汙染常常超過世界衛生組織所設定的安全標準。那麼該做些什麼呢？
Finn: Well, the BBC’s David Shukman has been investigating the problem and found that the Chinese authorities are spending 180 billion on cleaning up the air. See if you can hear what the two main things are that they’re trying to do in Beijing:
BBC的大衛·舒克曼一直在研究這個難題。他發現中國當局花費了1800億治理空氣汙染。看看你是否能聽出來當局在北京正在做的兩件主要事情：
Well first, they’re closing down any power stations within the city that burn coal, that’s the biggest source of pollution; next they’re trying to limit road traffic – greener cars will get priority. And officials say they’re confident they can clean up.
首先，他們關閉了城市中所有的燃煤發電站。這是最大的汙染源。然後他們嘗試限制道路交通——環保汽車優先通行。官員們稱他們對治理好空氣非常自信。
Rob: So the plan is to close down coal-fired power stations because they are the source – or the place where most of the pollution comes from.
所以，計劃就是關閉燃煤發電站，因為它們是汙染源——或者說是大部分汙染來源的場所。
Finn: Yes, and the other plan is to limit – to set a maximum amount of – traffic on the roads. Greener cars will be allowed on the roads first – they will have priority.
是的，另外一個計劃就是限制道路交通——設定交通數量最大值。環保汽車將允許優先上路——它們擁有優先權。
Rob: Of course 』greener』 isn’t referring to the colour of the car, Finn – it’s a term to describe something that causes less pollution and is better for the environment.
當然，「綠色」不是指汽車的顏色，費恩。這是個術語，用來描述汙染更少，更加環保的汽車。
Finn: So these are the cars that use less fuel or might use cleaner fuel that has less particles in it that usually make the air dirty. Officials believe that this green technology will clean up the air.
所以這些汽車用的燃料更少，或者用更為潔淨的燃料，這樣的燃料中所含有的導致空氣汙染的微粒更少。官員們相信這種環保技術可以清潔空氣。
Rob: China is also going to use more renewable energy – this is power made by natural materials that never get used up, such as wind and water. This would reduce air pollution caused by burning coal.
中國也將使用更多的可再生能源。就是指由用之不竭的自然物質生成的能源，如風和水。這將會減少燃燒煤炭導致的空氣汙染。
Finn: Yes, well of course, all these changes will take a long time. But Rob, it’s time now for you to tell me the answer to today’s question.
是的，當然，這一切的變化都會花費很長時間。但是羅伯，現在你該告訴我今天所問問題的答案了。
Rob: Yes, earlier I asked you, according to research by the Word Health Organisation, which country has the city with the world’s worst air pollution?
是的，之前我問你，根據世界衛生組織所做的研究，世界上汙染最嚴重的城市在哪一個國家？
Finn: I thought it was a) China.
我認為是a）中國。
Rob: You did but the answer is Iran.
你是這麼回答的，但答案是伊朗。
Finn: Is it now?! Which city?
現在是伊朗嗎？！哪一個城市？
Rob: Apparently the city of Ahwaz. Now, before we go, Finn, could you remind us of some of the vocabulary that we』ve heard today?
明顯是阿瓦茲。現在，在節目結束之前，費恩，你能幫我們回顧一下我們今天所聽到的詞彙嗎？
Finn: OK. We had:
好的。我們聽到了:
Rob: air pollution
空氣汙染
Finn: smog Choking
霧霾使窒息
Rob: contaminated
受汙染的
Finn: pea-souper
豌豆湯
Rob: fumes industrialised
尾氣工業化的
Finn: poisonous
有毒的
Rob: asthma
哮喘
Finn: greener
環保的
Rob: renewable
可再生的
Finn: energy
能源
Rob: Well, that brings us to the end of today’s 6 Minute English. We hope you』ve enjoyed today’s programme. Please join us again soon.
好了，今天的英語六分鐘節目到這裡就結束了。希望你們喜歡今天的節目。請記得收聽我們下期的節目。
Finn: Please do.
一定要收聽啊！
Rob: Bye bye.
再見！
Finn: Bye.
再見！
That was 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English dot com.
以上是bbclearningenglish.com英語六分鐘節目。