英语播客EnglishPod 304

 A:    And therefore, global warming is the greatest de-
       ception of the early 21st century. Questions?

 B:     Uh… yeah. In the lecture you said there ’s more
       evidence in the scientific record supporting global
       cooling?

 A:    Well, yes, essentially¹, the historical record sup-
        ports a theory of climate cycles. Warming and
       cooling are cooperating processes in the plane-
       tary eco-system.

 B:     If that’s true and the planet is getting cooler,
       what explains the rapid melting of the polar ice
       caps and the dramatic rise in the global average
       temperatures?

 A:     But are global temperatures rising?  If you look at
       the data from nineteen seventy-five you ’ll…
 B:    You ’ll be misled. If you were serious, you would
        look at the record starting in the 1880’s. Then
       you would see how dramatically the earth ’s tem-
        perature has changed.

 A:    Young lady, I beg to differ. Look, the point of
       the lecture was to emphasize that there is evi-
       dence for both sides, and I’m putting forth² the ar-
       gument that there’s greater evidence in support of
       the global cooling hypothesis.  Look, it’s an indis-
        putable fact that the public is being manipulated
       and scared into believing there ’s some kind of
       climate crisis; this scaremongering is done, quite
       simply, for political reasons.

 B:     But even without the uncomfortable reality that
       greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide contribute
       to global warming, isn ’t the topic appropriate for
        politicians to discuss?

 A:     Not if they want to use your tax dollars and mine
       to fund completely unnecessary initiatives.
 B:    Yeah, like conservation, protecting endangered
       species and investing in renewable energy. At the
       very least, you have to concede that this debate
        has the potential to end our dependence³ on for-
       eign oil. Buying oil supports autocratic countries
       that use these revenues to devastating⁴ ends.

 A:    Why, I ’ve never been so disrespected in all of my
       days. I ’m a professor, a scientist and researcher
       of high regard.

 B:    Yeah, and a duplicitous one at that. Everyone
        knows you’re in  the pocket of the oil lobby.
       Why should we trust your so-called findings more
       than tobacco institute studies which say smoking
       doesn ’t harm health? You ’re full of it.

 A:    Some people just cannot handle civil debate!

1 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。