VOA常速英语2008年-Danube Pollution Threatens Drinking Water for M

By Stefan Bos
Budapest
15 April 2008

The European Union and several key Danube organizations are urging countries along the river Danube to prevent "irreversible" damage to the waterway, warning the growing pollution could endanger drinking water for some 80 million people. Stefan Bos reports for VOA from Budapest.

 

In Johann Strauss's classic waltz, the Danube is blue. But in the real world at the beginning of the 21st century, it is a murky¹ waterway absorbing raw sewage from cities, pesticides² and chemicals from farmers' fields, waste from factories and bilge oil from ships.

Key Danube organizations and the European Union are growing increasingly concerned about the future of the EU's longest river, which originates in Germany and flows through 10 countries, before emptying into the Black Sea .

 

In Budapest, officials have urged all the riparian nations to prevent what they consider as irreversible damage to the river, by urgently tackling pollution.

 

The Policy Coordinator³ of the European Commission's Energy and Transport division, Cesare Bernabei, tells VOA that without radical⁴ steps to improve the Danube 's ecological⁵ system, drinking water supplies of some 80 million people would be in danger.

 

"You need certainly to regulate all this. We can not still think that water is something that we have (anyway)," he noted⁶. "Everywhere is growing concern about water supply, particularly in this area which is sufficiently⁷ densely⁸ populated."

 

Another unresolved issue is the pollution caused by NATO bombardment of Serbia in 1999, according to Milovan Bozinovic, president of the Budapest-based Danube Commission, which promotes free navigation on the river. He says chemicals released from bombed-out factories are still polluting the river.

 

"Part of the (current) pollution is the consequence of bombing these plants, without any taking in consideration the consequences for the countries after Serbia in the lower Danube (area). In Bulgaria , in Romania and the Black Sea," he said.

 

Adding to the pollution is a rapid growth of shipping⁹ on the Danube. EU figures show, with most of the countries along the Danube belonging to the European Union, water transport may double within 10 years.

 

The officials agree using modern shipping technology and curbing¹⁰ industrial pollution will help to restore the Danube's ecosystem¹¹. But they warn that effort would be hampered¹² by changes in the water flow aimed at flood control and power generation.

Philip Weller is executive secretary of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River.

 

"Human activities have tried to constrict¹³ and constraint¹⁴ the river, and it's clear that this strategy has lead to ecological problems and increased flooding," he said.

But Weller says he has not given up hope that the Danube will one day, be blue again.

1 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

2 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

4 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

5 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

8 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

10 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

11 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

12 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

13 constrict   

v.压缩，收缩，阻塞

参考例句：

• Men and women alike have been constricted by traditional sexual roles.男性和女性同样受到传统性别角色的束缚。
• Severe migraine can be treated with a drug which constricts the blood vessels.严重的偏头疼可以用一种收缩血管的药物进行治疗。

14 constraint   

n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物

参考例句：

• The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
• The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。