英国空气污染问题恶化引关注

 　　"This week large parts of England and Wales have fallen under the spell of a hazy¹ sky. The Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said pollution in the southeast of England, including London, reached nine on a scale of 10."

　　Jill Meara is a public health spokeswoman:

　　"Today, there is forecast to be high or very high levels of air pollution across a lot of the south of England, so we want to warn people if they already have lung disease, asthma² or heart disease, that they may need to be extra cared for and maybe stay inside and limit their exercise during this smoggy weather."

　　This is a rare occurrence in the UK.

　　Professor Martin Williams, from the Environmental Research Group at King's College London, explains why there are such high levels of air pollution this week:

　　"We've been analyzing³ the measurements and looking at the various components⁴ of the particle mix that we measure and by doing that we can have a very good idea of where do the sources come from and it looks as if the large part, maybe even 70% of particle pollution measured in the southeast UK yesterday afternoon and today has been imported from the rest of the Europe, as some of the rest are contributed by the UK sources. But there's also an unusual combination of Saharan dust, which means winds from the Sahara desert can lift dust from the desert and transport the dust across Europe. And it looks as if there's been a transport of Saharan dust all the way through Europe, through Spain and France and up to the UK, so there are three main components of the pollution, mostly from continental⁵ Europe, some from the UK itself and some from the Saharan dust. "

　　Professor Williams says today's pollution mix is different from that which plagued the UK in its industrial past, these days the number one pollutant⁶ threatening the country's air quality is produced by diesel⁷ engines.

　　Medical researcher Dave Newby says that invisible particles in the air, from these engines, run deeper into the human body and stay longer.

　　"The particles are released by diesel engines, they are so small they get very deep down, even into the blood stream. And we think that these can cause very bad effects on blood vessels⁸, they can cause bad effect on the hardening of the arteries⁹, it could even cause or precipitate¹⁰ heart attacks."

　　Last month, Paris was caught in a similar polluted air situation and imposed restrictions¹¹ on the numbers of cars running on the road.

　　Public transport is also made free of charge to the public to relieve the pressure on traffic.

　　It is unsure of whether Britain will follow suit.

　　But Professor Williams points out that while the government is introducing tighter emission¹² standards, it does not necessarily cut down the quantity of emission in real practice.

　　"Now that's seems a little bit odd, but it's a fact of life. We've shown that diesel emissions¹³, for example emissions from diesel cars haven't really improved in the last 20 years even though the standards have reduced quite a lot. That's because the test the cars have to pass, the regulatory test, isn't appropriate to what happens in the real world. So there's always that little question mark about emission standard for vehicles."

　　For CRI, I'm Duan Xuelian reporting from London.

1 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

2 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

3 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

4 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

5 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

6 pollutant   

n.污染物质，散布污染物质者

参考例句：

• Coal itself is a heavy pollutant.煤本身就是一种严重的污染物。
• Carbon dioxide may not be a typical air pollutant.二氧化碳可能不是一种典型的污染物。

7 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

8 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 precipitate   

adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物

参考例句：

• I don't think we should make precipitate decisions.我认为我们不应该贸然作出决定。
• The king was too precipitate in declaring war.国王在宣战一事上过于轻率。

11 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

13 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。