Unit 17 Saving the EnvironmentWord下载.docx

Unit 17 Saving the EnvironmentWord下载.docx

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比起消除真正的污染，当前加强对于环境保护重要性的认识，其意义还要深远得多。

我们太晚才认识到，当我们在生产﹑规模﹑速度和发展这些方面取得“成就”的时候，生活条件已大大恶化……

Theefforttosavetheenvironmentderivesmuchofitspoliticalpopularity（普及）fromtheimpactofimmediatepersonalinconveniences：

asewage（严重的）pollutedbeach,thesmogthatleavesone’seyeswatering,theblackgranules（小颗粒）ofsoot（煤烟）thatdriftinthroughanopenwindow,trafficjams（交通堵塞）,noise,thesmokingvehiclesandindustries.

Butthesignificanceofthecurrentconsciousnessfortheenvironmentprotectiongoesmuch,muchdeeperthannuisancereduction.Itisapostponedrecognitionthataswe“succeed”intermsofproduction,size,speed,growth,qualityoflifemaydeteriorateourlivingconditionsdisastrously.Itisadelayedrecognitionofourunitywithnature,aconcernformanhimselfandhisnaturalenvironment.Itisadelayedawarenessthatourfateasindividualsisinfellowshipwithourfateasaspeciesandthefutureoflifeinthisplanet.

Preciselybecausewehaverecognizedlate,wemustredouble（加倍）oureffortstogaincommandofthesituation,wemusttakeallthemeansatourdisposal—basicandappliedresearch,publiceducation,and,aboveall,thegovernmentalaction.

Wecouldhaveaproductive,prosperoussocietywithoutdestroyingtheecologicalbalanceofourenvironment.Whyshouldmancreatetheimpropriety（不适当的事物）ofmaterialplentyaroundpoisonedair,pollutedwaterandmountainsofsolidwastes?

RussiaiscurrentlyconcernedwiththefighttosaveLakeBaikal（贝加尔湖）,fourhundredsmileslongandsixthousandfeetdeep.Thebeautiful,woodedshorelineisbeinginhabiteduponbynewindustrialplants—andanewgenerationofRussiaconservationists（自然资源保护论者）israisingachallenge,theunitedstatescontainslessthan6percentoftheworld’spopulation—butitconsumes34percentoftheworld’sproductionandbringsaboutmuchmorethan5percentoftheworld’spollution.EachAmericaninhislifetimeusesanaverageof26millionsgallonsofwater,21000gallonsofgasoline,10000poundsofmeat,28000poundsofmilkandcream,$6000worthofclothingand$7000worthoffurniture.Eachyear,peopleintheUnitedStatesdiscard7millionsautomobilesand100millionstires,20milliontonsofpaper,28billionbottlesand48billionscans.Justtocollectthegarbagecost$2.8billionayear.TheUnitedStatesfactoriesgetridof165milliontonsofsolidwastesand172milliontonsofsmoke,vehicleemissionsandotherformsofatmospheric（大气的）pollution.Eighty-threemillionUnitedStatesautomobilescontribute60percentofairpollutioninurbandistricts.Eachyear,theUnitedStatespavesoveramillionacresoffield,forestsandruralgreenspaces.

Fortunately,savingtheenvironmenthasbecomeapopularcrusade（圣战）—aidedespeciallybytheenergyandconcernofyoungpeople,manisbeginningtorealizethathemustdrasticallyalterhispatternofshortsighted（无远见的）abuseofthenaturalresourcesifhewantstosurvive.

Largefirmsaremovingtocompetewiththesmallones;

specialistmakersofpollutioncontrolequipmentshavewatchedtheirownsalesincreasetenfold.

Wemustachieveinteractionofpopularpressuresandenthusiasm,thepreciseapplicationofsizable（相当大的）fundsandtechnologicalskills,andthewiseactionofgovernmentatallthelevelsofoursocio-economicsystem.Thatmeansfederal,stateandlocalgovernmentsshouldcoordinatetheireffortstosolvetheproblems.

Whilepollutedairalmostneverappearsonadeathcertificate,medicalresearchstronglyimplicates（暗示）itasacontributingcauseofmanydeaths.Pollutedairinfluenceshealthgradually,soitseffectsareextremelydifficulttopinpoint（查明）.However,mountingevidenceindicatesasteadyincreaseintheincidenceofsuchrespiratory（呼吸的）diseasesasasthma（哮喘）,bronchitis（支气管炎）,lungcancer,andemphysema（肺气肿）.Citieswithanabundanceofairpollutionhavethegreatestincidenceofthesediseases.

Thenumber-onecauseofatmosphericpollutionistheautomobile.Somefurtherobservationisneededonthissubject,buttheautomobileisindeedacrucialpolluterandkiller.Theaccidentdeathratefromautomobileiscurrentlyinexcessoffifty-fivethousandpeopleeveryyear.Theautomobilecreatestrafficjamsinthecitiesandjunkyards（旧汽车丢弃地）inthecountryside.Expertssaythefamilycarhasmadepossiblenotonlythespreadofthesuburbsbutalsotheabandonment（废弃）ofcentralcities.Theinternalcombustionengine（内燃机）maywellgiveplacetootherformsofpropulsion（推进）.However,researchworkontheelectricity,steamandhybridgasoline-naturalgaspowered（油气两用的）automobileshasnotproceededveryfar.Thefactisthatnoonehasyetinventedasubstitutewhichhasadequateperformance,reliability（可靠性）,andsafety,orwhichcanbeproducedatareasonablecostandrequiresaminimumofmaintenance.

Wehavemadeprogressincleaninguptheatmosphere,inpartbecausethepublicrecognizesthehealthdangersandiswillingtoaccepttheexpenditures.Buttherehaslittleprogress,nationallyspeaking,againstnoisepollution,becausesolittleisknownaboutthesubject.

Noisepollutionis,inface,athreattomillionsthatcouldbeasdangerousasthepollutionoftheatmosphere.Clinicians（临床医生）believethatprolongedexposuretonoise,especiallytosharp,sudden,surprisesounds,producessevereinvoluntaryresponseinthedigestive（消化的）nervoussystems.

Humanearscannotshutoutnoiseinsleepinthesamewayeyelids（眼皮）shutoutlight.Theconstriction（收缩）ofbloodvesselsbynoisepollutioncangoonallnightlong.Manypeoplearefatiguedbytheireffortstoremainasleepinthemidstofurbannoise.

Thelowestaudible（可听到的）soundisonedecibel（分贝）—andloudersoundsaremeasuredupwardonalogarithmic（对数的）scale.Twentydecibelsistentimes10decibels,and80decibelsisamilliontimeslouderthan20decibels—and30orsoifitisdroppedonawoodenlibraryfloor.Theordinaryconversationlevelinanaveragesizeroomrunsatapproximately60decibels.Soundsof80decibelsormoreareuncomfortabletohumanears.Decibellevelsof90ormoreareestimatedbydoctorstopresentahealthhazard.Decibellevelsof100ormoreareadefinitethreattohearing.

Heavycitytrafficismeasuredat90to95decibels,andacommonhouseholdfoodblenderat93decibels.Airhammers（气锤）andaircompressors（空气压缩机）alongcitysidewalks（人行道）eruptinsuddenblastsof95decibels.Thisisalsothereading,incidentally,ofasubwaytrainscreamingaroundacurve.Farmtractorscansoundat98decibels,roughlythesameasanewspaperprintingpress.Incredibleasitmayseem,therearemanyfamiliarimplementsofmodernlifethatmeasure100decibelsandabove.Theseincludeloudoutboard（舷外的）motors,poweringalongoff-shore（离岸）,102decibels;

textilelooms,106decibels;

rivetingguns（铆枪）,110decibelsonup,usuallywayup.

Therearepsychologicaleffectsofnoisepollution.Startingsoundscontributetooutburstsofangeramongnormallyplacid（平静的）people.Adroppertoy,ablaringtelevisionset,apolicesiren,atingling（叮当响的）telephone,asuddentrucknoise,mightpropelaneurotic（神经病患者）tominorviolence.Asforprolonged,steadysound,menandwomenexposedtoitaremoreinclinedtoquarreloractfoolishly.

ABritishstudyshowednotlongagothatpeoplewholivedneardeafening（震聋）Londonairportwereadmittedtomentalhospitalsatahigherratethanpeoplelivinginquietdistrictsinthesamepartofthecountry.Thenoisesofourdailylifehavebeenblamedvariouslyforthehighdivorcerate,socialconflict,indigestion（消化不良）,nervousbreakdown（神经失常）,highbloodpressure,heartfailure（心力衰竭）,andeveninsanity（精神错乱）.Thedamageisdonedeepintheinnerear,nearthebrain,tothedelicatecilia（纤毛），rowsofmicroscopic,hairlikeorganscapableofrespondingindividuallytothousandsoffrequenciesofsound,thefirstofthesetinyorganstobeinjuredbynoisearethose,whichrespondtothehigherfrequenciesabovethelevelofspeech.Butthehearinglosstakesplaceverygradually,anddeafnessisoftennotnoticeduntilitistoolatetotakecorrectivemeasures.

Infact,mostcitydwellers（居民）have“invented”theirownmethodsofwithstandingnoisepollution.Theyturnonalowdecibelproducer—afanoranairconditioner—tostrainoutanddistilltheloudernoisesandmakeindoorlifemorepreferable.Somestateshavepassedlawsagainstdefectivemotorcyclemufflers（消声器）,againstalarmsonotherthanemergencyvehicles,againstinadequate（不充足的）mufflersonautomobiles.

NewYorkCityprohibitstheuseofautomobilehornsonstationaryvehicles,exceptasadangersignal.Thecityalsobanstheuseofanyvehiclesoutofrepairtoavoidcreatingloudandunnecessarygrating（摩擦声）,clashing,orothernoises.Thecityforbidstheunnecessaryblowingofsteamwhistlesand,alongwiththestate,theuseofastationaryinternalcombustionenginewithoutaneffectivemuffler.Thesearecitylawsagainstexcessivenoisenearschoolsandhospitalsandintheloadingandunloadingofvehicles,theshoutingofstreethawkers（叫卖小贩）isforbidden,thedullhum（嗡嗡声）offansandairconditionerscontinuestobethecitizen’sprincipalweaponagainstneighbor’sconversations.Thedevelopmentofoff-site,prefabricated（预制的）housesbytheOfficeofHousingandUrbanDevelopmentinWashingtonhasofferednewhopeofeffectivenoisecontrols.Thehousedevisedissimplerandlesscostlytoinstall.Anotherpromisingnewconcertisthedevelopmentofportable,soundproofed（隔音的）roomsforinstallationinhomes,offices,orindustrialplants.

Noisecontroltechnologyintransportationisalsobeingdevised.GeneralMotors（美国通用汽车公司）hasdesignedquieterpublictrucks,conductingnewresearchintonoiseabatement（消除）featu