CCTV9英语新闻12月：辽宁首开“雾霾罚单” 8城市共被罚5420万

By CCTV reporter Guan Yang

Liaoning Province has fined eight cities 54-million yuan -- about nine million US dollars, for failing to curb¹ air pollution. The revenue from the fines will be used to fund projects that can improve local air quality.

Our reporter, Guan Yang, travelled to one of the most polluted cities in Liaoning to find out why the tough measure were needed.

It’s not such a good idea to do morning exercise in Benxi, an industrial city in the country’s northeast that was founded as a center for metallurgy.

Reporter: “The recent tough penalties in Liaoning province come in response to rising concerns over severe air pollution. There’ve been widespread complaints and frustration² from urban residents. In Benxi, one of the cities to be fined, the impact of air pollution on the quality of life is hard to ignore.”

For decades the city’s economy has been driven by steel production and coal mining. With smokestacks and chimneys dominating the city skyling .. it seems fresh air is one of the rarest commodity here.

“You can imagine the kind of poor air people who live next to these factories breath; if your apartment is on the upper floor the air quality might be better; but as days grow darker and colder more smoke is being spewed out of these smokestacks.” Ren Xiaomin, resident of Benxi in Liaoning province, said.

Decades of breakneck economic growth, a coal-dominated energy mix and lax environmental law enforcement have made Liaoning one of the most polluted provinces in the country. Something had to be done and penalizing³ the worst pollutors who have failed to clean up their act is a start.

“We don’t think the media should use the term "fines", rather it's an administrative⁴ tool used to supervise lower level governments; the regulation will push officials to keep an eye on the sky when they view their economic charts; and the money collected will be directly deducted⁵ from the city’s fiscal⁶ revenue at the end of the year.” Sun Pengxuan, manager of Liaoning Environmental Protection Bureau, said.

While Benxi was fined just 200,000 yuan for failing to force heavy pollutors to cut emmssions; that money may be returned to them. The region’s “Green Sky Project" aims to find ways to reduce emmissions from coal-burning winter heating systems and to help companies implement⁷ energy-saving and emission-reduction plans.

“Fighting air pollution is a long battle, Western countries have spent decades trying to improve their air quality, and are still trying; what we are doing here is to make that improvement happen as soon as possible.” Sun said.

And indeed it will be a long battle, and apart from providing technology and funds to clean up the air, it’s also imperative⁸ that local leader start considering the environment as much as they do economic development.

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

3 penalizing   

对…予以惩罚( penalize的现在分词 )； 使处于不利地位

参考例句：

• This is more than just penalizing a company that you are mad at. 她说：这将远远超过惩罚一个你感到不满的公司。

4 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

5 deducted   

v.扣除，减去( deduct的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cost of your uniform will be deducted from your wages. 制服费将从你的工资中扣除。
• The cost of the breakages will be deducted from your pay. 损坏东西的费用将从你的工资中扣除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

7 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

8 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。