VOA慢速英语2011--Experts Meet in Rome to Discuss Cleaner

Technology Report - Experts Meet in Rome to Discuss Cleaner and Greener Information and Communication 

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
Technology experts, government officials, policy makers¹ and engineers are meeting this week in Italy. They have gathered in Rome for the first Green Standards Week conference.
Italy’s Ministry² of Economic Development and the International Telecommunications Union organized the conference. The event calls attention to the need for information and communication technologies to fight climate change and to build greener, more environmentally-friendly economies.
In recent years, the world has changed because so many people now use computers, mobile phones and other kinds of electronic devices. But the increasing use of information and communication technologies, also known as ICTs, also has led to more pollution, especially greenhouse gas emissions³. This is mostly because of the energy used to manufacture, transport and operate such equipment. Still, many experts say ICTs offer the best chance for reducing greenhouse gases.
The Global Information Society Watch reported last year that ICTs could help to cut total production of greenhouse gases by as much as fifteen percent by twenty twenty.
Alan Finlay is with the Association for Progressive Communications. He also helped to prepare the GISWatch report. He says the effect of using ICTs to build cleaner environments is far more powerful than their harmful effects.
ALAN FINLAY: “When you’re look at greening with ITs, you’re looking at the impact of ICTs on the environment but also what ICTs can be used in order to improve the impact of other industries on the environment. And I think the overwhelming consensus⁴ is that you can’t throw the baby out with the bath water. And ICTs can do more good in a sort of macro context.”
Mr. Finlay says the GISWatch report and events like the ITU’s Green Standards Week are meant to look at the ICT industry as a whole.
ALAN FINLAY: “To our mind you can’t really divorce issues like e-waste --- which you see the massive negative consequences in Asia for instance, and direct impact on poor people’s lives and well being --- from the equation. So, both need to be looked at the same time.
The ITU says a main goal of the conference is to set clear policies for measuring and improving the ICT industry’s effect on the environment. Another goal is to note the importance of green ICT standards and values.
The Rome meeting is taking place less than three months before the United Nations Climate Change Conference opens in Durban, South Africa.
And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. Transcripts⁵, MP3s and podcasts of our reports are at voanews.cn. I'm Steve Ember.

1 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 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。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句