万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-01-19&20, 脏和乱----城市

It's like some vision of hell, an environmental apocalypse happening right now. This is the place where the coal fires burn throughout the night, and where there is still darkness at noon. This is the place with the worst pollution, collects the worst of the polluters--the coal processors, the power plants, and steel factories. Welcome to the most polluted city on the planet--the city of Linfen.

This city stinks—the assessment¹ of one young boy. His mother hopes the face masks they wear offer at least some protection. Here you'll will find the cheap goods China sells to the world as well as this nation's least welcome export: the green house gases their industries pump out.

If China is the new workshop of the world, then this place is its engine room, pretty much everything you can see here is fueled by coal. This nation burns an amazing 2,000 million tons of it every year.

By the time the children of Linfen No.2 School are grown, China would have grown too, bigger than America in terms of Carbon Dioxide emissions².

This is a nation learning that their economic boom also means environmental bust³.

What do you know about global warming?

I only know that the ice at both poles will melt and the sea waters will rise, and there will be less space for human beings to live.

First of all, Linfen is very polluted. We need to clean up our own city.

ITV news obtained these exclusive pictures of the city council destroying they claim the 200 dirtiest factories. But you wonder their efficiency when their pollution monitoring kit⁴ is kept under wraps, and covered in a thick layer of dust. It didn't look like it'd been used for weeks. And on the outskirts⁵ of town we found this, a huge coking plant belching⁶ out unfiltered clouds of smoke.

How dirty would you say this place is?

So I think it is not a small coal maker⁷. It's very big, and very dirty. That's the dirtiest that I've ever seen.

China has set itself tough pollution targets and missed them dismally⁸. Coal is bringing wealth to this country but adding a literal meaning to the phrase "filthy⁹ rich".

John Ray ITV news, Linfen in China.

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

3 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

4 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

5 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

6 belching   

n. 喷出，打嗝 动词belch的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The Tartars employed another weapon, the so-called Chinese dragon belching fire. 鞑靼人使用了另一种武器，所谓中国龙喷火器。
• Billows of smoke were belching from the chimney. 巨浪似的烟正从烟囱里喷出来。

7 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

8 dismally   

adv.阴暗地，沉闷地

参考例句：

• Fei Little Beard assented dismally. 费小胡子哭丧着脸回答。 来自子夜部分
• He began to howl dismally. 它就凄凉地吠叫起来。 来自辞典例句

9 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。