英语阅读二(第五课)中英对照POLLUTION IS A DIRTY WORD
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2020年07月31日 14:55
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轻飏的意思-刘郎
POLLUTION IS A DIRTY WORD 污染是个脏词
Consume, consume, consume! Our society is consumer oriented-dangerously so. To keep the wheels of industry turning, we manufacture consumer goods in endless quantities, and, in the process, are rapidly exhausting (v. use up 耗尽) our natural resources. But this is only half the problem. What do we do with manufactured products when they are worn out? They must be disposed of, but how and where? Unsightly junkyards (n. a place where old useless things are discarded 垃圾场) full of rusting automobiles already surround every city in the nation. Americans throw away 80 billion bottles and cans each year, enough to build more than ten stacks (n. a pile of something, like lumber 堆，垃圾堆) to the moon. There isn’t room for much more waste, and yet the factories grind on(无情地向前移动). They cannot stop because everyone wants a job. Our standard of living, one of the highest in the world, requires the consumption of manufactured products in ever-increasing amounts. Man, about to be buried in his own waste, is caught in a vicious (a. dangerous, cruel 邪恶的) cycle恶性循环. “Stop the world, I want to get off,” is the way a popular song put man’s dilemma (n. a situation for which there is no desirable solution 困境).消费、消费、消费！我们的社会以消费者为中心－这是很危险的。为了让工业的车轮保持转动，我们大量地生产消费品，并在此过程中迅速地消耗我们的自然资源。但这只是问题的一半。当这些工业产品被用过之后我们拿它们怎么办呢？它们必须被处理掉，但是如何或在哪里处理呢？堆满生锈汽车的垃圾场已经包围了这个国家的每一座城市。美国人每年扔掉８００亿个瓶罐，这些东西中够从地球向月球上10多次。再也没有空间放更多的废物了，但是工厂还在继续生产着。工厂不能停下来，因为每个人都需要工作。我们的生活水平是世界上最高的之一，这就要求我们大量地消费已生产的产品。马上就要被自己制造的垃圾淹没的人类处于一种恶性循环之中。“让世界停下来，我要走开。”一首流行歌曲就是这样描述人类的困境的。
It wasn’t always like this. Only 100 years ago man lived in harmony with nature. There weren’t so many people then and their wants were fewer. Whatever wastes were produced could be absorbed by nature and were soon covered over. Today this harmonious relationship is threatened by man’s lack of foresight (n. ability to see into the future预见力) and planning, and by his carelessness and greed. For man is slowly poisoning his environment.事情并非一直如此。仅在100年前，人与自然仍在和谐相处。那时没有这么多的人口，人们的需求也比现在少得多。制造出的任何一种垃圾都能被自然界吸收，并很快被掩盖起来。现在这种和
谐关系正在面临威胁，这是由于人们缺乏远见和计划以及冷漠贪婪造成的。人类正在慢慢慢地毒害他周围的环境。
Pollution is a “dirty” word. To pollute means to contaminate (v. make dirty, impure or diseased 弄脏，污染)---to spoil something by introducing impurities (n. foreign material which make something unfit for use 杂质), which make it unfit or unclean to use. Pollution comes in many forms. We see it, smell it, taste it, drink it, and stumble through it. We literally live in and breathe pollution, and, not surprisingly, it is beginning to threaten our health, our happiness, and our very civilization.污染是个脏词，污染意味着玷污－即用不洁之物弄污某物，使之不净或不宜使用。污染表现为很多种形式。我们可以看见它闻到它，尝到它，喝到它，甚至踩到它。毫不夸张地说，我们就生活在污染中，呼吸着它。并不奇怪，它已在危害我们的健康、幸福甚至文明。
Once we thought of pollution as meaning simply smog---the choking, stinging, dirty air that hovers (v. remain in the air at one place 盘旋，翱翔) over cities. But air pollution, while it is still the most dangerous, is only one type of contamination among several which attack the most basic life functions.我们曾经认为污染仅指烟雾－即盘旋在城市上空那令人窒息、气味刺鼻的肮脏空气。然而空气污染，虽然仍是最危险的一种污染，但它只是危害人类最基本生活活动的几种污染之一。
Through the uncontrolled use of insecticides, man has polluted the land, killing the wildlife. By dumping sewage and chemicals into rivers lakes, we have contaminated our drinking water. We are polluting the oceans, too, killing the fish and thereby depriving ourselves of an invaluable (a. too valuable for the worth to be measured 无价的) food supply.由于不加限制地使用杀虫剂，人类污染了大地，杀死了野生动物；由于向河里和湖里倾倒污水和化学制品，我们已经污染了饮用水。我们正在污染海洋，杀害鱼类，从而也使我们自己失去了一项宝贵的食物来源。
Part of the problem is our exploding population. More and more people produce more wastes. But this problem is intensified (v. make stronger or more serious 使强化，加剧)by our “throw-away” technology. Each year Americans dispose of (to get rid of as useless 扔掉，丢弃)7 million autos, 20 million tons of waste paper plates. It is easier and cheaper to buy a new one and discard(v. to get rid of as useless丢弃，扔掉) the old, even though 95 percent of its parts may still be functioning. Baby’s diapers(a piece of clothing made of thick soft paper or cloth which is fastened around a baby’s bottom and between its legs to absorb its urine and excrement 尿片，尿布), which used to be made of reusable( a. that can be used again 再利用的) cloth, are no
w paper throwaways. Soon we will wear clothing made of paper: “Wear it once and throw it away,” will be the slogan of the fashion conscious. 迅速膨胀的人口也是问题的一部分。越来越多的人口制造出越来越多的垃圾。这一问题由于我们采用“用过就扔”的办法而变得俞加严重。美国人每年扔掉700万辆汽车，2000万吨废纸，2500吨牙膏皮和4800万个罐头皮。我们扔掉口香糖包装包装纸，报纸和纸碗盘。把它们扔掉换新既容易又便宜，尽管其中95％仍可使用。孩子的尿布以前是用可以重复使用的布做的，而现在是纸制一次性用品。不久我们就能穿上纸做的衣服。“穿一次就扔”将成为时尚意识的标准。
Where is this all to end? Are we turning the world into a gigantic dump, or is there hope that we can solve the pollution problem? Fortunately, solutions are in sight. A few of them are positively ingenious.这一切何时能结束？难道我们正在把世界变成一个大垃圾场吗？亦或我们有希望治理污染问题？幸运的是，眼前已有了些解决办法，其中有一些还非常巧妙。
Take the problem of discarded automobiles, for instance. Each year over 40,000 of them are abandoned in New York City alone. Eventually the discards end up in a junkyard. But cars are too bulky to ship as scrap to a steel mill. They must first be flattened. This is done in a giant compressor which can reduce a Cadillac to the size of a television set in a matter of minutes. Any leftover scrap metal is mixed with concrete and made into exceptionally strong bricks that are used in buildings and bridges. Man’s ingenuity has come to his rescue.就拿废弃汽车为例。在纽约一市每年就要扔掉4万多辆。最终这些废物就要烂在垃圾场。但是汽车太大，不可能象碎铁片那样被运到钢铁厂。它们首先得被压扁。这项工作可由一辆巨大的压缩机完成。它在几分钟内就可以把一辆卡迪拉克压缩成电视机大小。余下的金属碎片可与水泥混合真情为制成特别坚硬的砖，用于楼房与桥梁，人的创造力拯救了人类。
What about water pollution? More and more cities are building sewagetreatment plants. Instead of being dumped into a nearby river or lake, sewage is sent through a system of underground pipes to a giant tank where the water is separated from the solid material, purified, and returned for reuse to the community water supply. The solid material, called sludge (thick mud; the product of sewage treatment 淤泥，污泥) is converted (v. to change something from one form into another 使转化)into fertilizer. The sludge can also be made into bricks.那么水污染呢？越来越多的城市在建废水处理厂。废水不再被排到附近的河或湖里而是通过一个地下管道输送到一个巨大容器里面。在这里水与固体物质分开、净化，然后重新被社区供水系统
利用。那些固体物质被称为固体沉积物。可以被转化成肥料，也可以用来做砖。
Controlling air pollution is another crucial(a. decisive; of deciding importance 决定性的，紧要关头的) objective. Without food, man can live about five weeks, without water about five days. Without air, he can only live five minutes, so pure air is a must. Here the wrongdoer is the automobile. Where there is a concentration of automobiles, as in our big cities, air pollution is severe. It is important to see that our cars are equipped with pollution-control devices. Such devices effectively reduce the harmful gases emitted (v. to send out 发出，排放出)from the engine.控制空气污染也是件至关重要的事情。没有食物，人大约能活５周；没有水，人能活5天。没有空气，人只能活５分钟，所以纯净的空气是必不可少的。在这件事上作崇的是汽车。在汽车集中的地方，空气污染就很严重，比如我们的大城市。我们要务必使汽车都装上控制污染的装置。这样的装置可以有效地降低发动机散发出来的有害气体。
Power plants, factories, and apartment buildings can also avoid air pollution. When possible they should use clean fuels like gas and oil. And the smokestacks (n. chimney used by factories to discharge smoke into the upper air大烟囱) of these buildings should be equipped with filters and other smoke-reduction devices.发电厂、工厂和公寓楼也可避免污染空气。如有可能，应使用液化气及油这类洁净燃料。这些建筑物上的烟囱应装上过滤或其他减少烟雾的装置。
Can we eliminate pollution altogether? Probably not. Modern man pollutes with everything he does, so total elimination would require drastic measures. Every power plant would have to shut down. Industries would have to close. We would have to leave all our automobiles in the garage. Every bus and truck and airplane would have to stop running. There would be no way to bring food to the cities. There would be no heat and no light. Under these conditions, our population would die in a short time.我们能根除污染吗？也许不能。现代人无论做什么都在污染环境，所以要根除污染就要采取极端措施。关闭所有的电站，关停所有的工业，把所有的轿车都放在车库里，停止运行所有的公共汽车、卡车和飞机。这样食物将无法被运到大城市，也将没有光和热。在这种情况下人不久就会都死掉。
Since such a drastic solution is impossible, we must employ determined public action. We can reduce pollution, even if we can’t eliminate it altogether. But everyone must do his part. Check your car to see if the pollution-control device is working. Reduce your use of electricity. Is air-conditioning really necessary? Don’t dump garbage or other waste on the land or in the water. Demand that government take firm action against poll
uters. We can have a clean world, or we can do nothing. The choice is up to you. 由于这种极端措施是不可行的，我们必须坚决发动公众行动起来，我们可以减少污染，尽管我们不能将它根除。但我们生个人必须尽到自己的责任。检查一下你的车，看看防污染装置是否运转正常。减少你的用电量。空调真的是很必要吗？不要向大地或水里面倾倒垃圾或其他废物。要球政府采取严厉措施。我们可以拥有一个洁净的世界，我们也可以什么都不做。选择权在你。