【英语时差8,16】清新空气有利延长寿命

 Don: Time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag. A listener writes:

Dear Yaël and Don, 

 

I know that it's important to have clean air, but why? Besides making the air smell better, what's the advantage of reducing air pollution? 

 

Yaël: Interesting question. There are many reasons why reducing air pollution is important. For example, several studies over the past few years have linked higher levels of air pollution to putting people at greater risk for heart disease¹. 

 

D: But maybe the clincher is that decreasing air pollution appears to actually increase human life expectancy². A study by researchers at the University of Utah looked at air pollution statistics³ collected from more than sixty cities across the United States from 1979 to 1983, and then again from 1999 to 2000. The researchers also looked at life expectancy during the same periods. 

 

Y: By 2000, Americans were living an average of nearly three years longer than they had twenty years earlier. The researchers considered other factors, including fewer people smoking cigarettes, changes in income and improvements⁴ in health are. But less air pollution played an important role, too, accounting⁵ for around five months of the life expectancy increase. 

 

D: The finding⁶ is important because, as our listener's question suggests, the positive effects of cleaning the air aren't always clear. The Utah study paints a pretty clear picture: the cleaner our air, the longer we live.  

1 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

2 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

3 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。

4 improvements   

增加或修改( improvement的名词复数 )； 改进； 改善； 改良

参考例句：

• improvements in efficiency at the factory 工厂效率的提高
• They've spent a lot of money on home improvements. 他们花了很多钱装修家居。

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。