英闻天下——221 China Air Pollution

 　　PM2.5 is one of the major pollutants¹ of the air pollution in Beijing and it poses the greatest risk to human health. Its concentration reached a record high of 993 on January 12, almost 50 times the World Health Organization's recommended level.

 

　　PM2.5 levels across most of Beijing have been above 400 micrograms per cubic meter for much of the last two weeks.

 

　　When the air is this hazardous², the government recommends people avoid outdoor activities. But many must still go outside causing a sharp increase in the use of face masks. Lulu is a Beijing resident.

 

　　"I felt the smog was really thick yesterday, it hurts my throat and hurts to breathe. So I started to wear a mask today. The air pollution is really serious."

 

　　Face mask sales are going through the roof both online and in-store. The most popular face mask retailer³ on Taobao, China's leading online shopping website, has sold more than 112,000 masks in the past month.

 

　　Tong Ren Tang, a large pharmacy⁴, has also seen a dramatic increase in mask sales in recent weeks. A sales clerk says:

 

　　"The pollution has been very severe the past weeks. There has been a sharp increase in face mask sales in recent weeks compared with the same period last year."

 

　　The ongoing⁵ air pollution is raising health concerns among Beijing residents. Many are choosing to travel out of the city to avoid the thick smog, while others are purchasing air purifiers to filter indoor air.

 

　　Officials have closed some factories and ordered some government cars off the road to reduce emissions⁶. They have also proposed rules to scrap⁷ old vehicles and to ban new cement and steel factories.

 

　　TOTO Beijing is the only big ceramics⁸ factory in the capital city. One of its production procedures creates dust pollution. With air pollution escalating⁹ in the last several days, the city government told the factory to cut production.

 

　　Han Yong, deputy general manager of TOTO Beijing says halting production means big losses for the factory.

 

　　"Stopping our two plants in Beijing means we lose 1 million yuan or about 160,000 US dollars per day at the eastern factory and 0.8 million yuan at the western factory."

 

　　TOTO Beijing is only one of a 103 high-polluting factories that have completely stopped production since Tuesday.

 

　　Authorities say they were cutting the use of government vehicles by all departments by 30 percent.

 

　　However, once the smog gets lighter¹⁰ and the alert is lifted, factories will be back in production again. They may need to intensify¹¹ production to make up for their losses, so the problem has not really been solved. Many believe that the government will have to do more to cut the pollution sources, because temporary responses are not enough.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.

1 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

2 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

3 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

4 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 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。

7 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

8 ceramics   

n.制陶业；陶器

参考例句：

• an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso 毕加索陶瓷作品展
• The ceramics bore the imprint of Luca della Robbia. 陶器上印有卢卡·德拉·罗比亚的字样。

9 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

10 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

11 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。