加拿大一公司向中国卖空气大受欢迎

 Is imported air the solution to China's smog problem?

进口空气是解决中国雾霾问题的方法吗？

A Canadian company selling air bottled in a ski resort says it's now seeing huge demand from Chinese customers.

一家加拿大公司正在销售滑雪场的空气，这一产品受到了中国消费者的大力欢迎。

Vitality¹ Air said that the first batch² of 500 canisters filled with fresh air from the Rocky Mountain town of Banff went on sale in China last month and sold out within two weeks. "Now we're taking lots of pre orders for our upcoming shipment. We're getting close to the 1,000 mark," said Harrison Wang, director of China operations. The air sells for $14 to $20, depending on the size of the canister.

这家名为Vitality Air的公司表示，上个月源自加拿大落基山脉Banff镇的500个罐装空气在中国非常畅销，半个月就售罄。该公司中国区销售运行经理Harrison表示：“现在我们已经接收到很多订单，订单数量将近1000单。” 该公司销售的瓶装空气根据容量大小，售价从14美元到20元美元不等。

Northern China is often cloaked in smog, especially during the cold winter months when homes and power plants burn coal to keep warm. Last week, Beijing issued its first ever red alert because of poor air quality, closing schools and restricting traffic.

中国北方城市经常被雾霾所笼罩，尤其是在寒冷的冬季，家庭和发电厂都是靠烧煤来取暖。上周，北京发布了雾霾红色预警，致使多所学校停课，交通限流。

Vitality Air co-founder Moses Lam says he came up with the business idea last year after listing a bag of ziplocked air on eBay, which sold for 99 cents. "We wanted to do something fun and disruptive so we decided³ to see if we could sell air."

Vitality Air公司联合创始人Moses Lam去年在网络交易平台eBay上看到了密封袋装空气，每袋售价99美分，于是他就想到了这个创业想法。“我们想做一些有趣的事情，想尝试下我们是否可以卖空气。”

Lam, who is based in the city of Edmonton, says he makes the four-hour journey to Banff once every couple of weeks and spends 10 hours bottling the air.

住在艾德蒙特市的Lam表示，他要花费4个小时的车程去班夫镇，用10个小时来包装那里的空气。

"It's time consuming because every one of these bottles is hand bottled. We're dealing⁴ with fresh air, we want it to be fresh and we don't want to run it through machines which are oiled and greased," said Lam.

“这很耗时间，因为每一瓶空气都是手工装瓶的。我们处理的是新鲜空气，希望空气能够保持新鲜，我们不想让空气从沾满了各种润滑油的机器中经过。” Lam说道。

Sales in Canada are mainly for novelty value, says Lam, but in China people believe it has a real functional⁵ purpose.

空气在加拿大的销售只是图个新奇，而中国的消费者却相信罐装空气有实际性的作用。

"In North America, we take our fresh air for granted but in China the situation is very different."Wallace Leung, a professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic⁶ University, told CNN that buying bottles of air was not a practical solution to China's air pollution.

“在北美，我们觉得呼吸新鲜空气是理所应当的事，然而在中国却不是这样的。”香港理工大学教授Wallace Leung告诉CNN的记者，进口新鲜空气不是治理中国空气污染的有效方法。

"One bottle of air wouldn't help. I would be very cautious." said Leung.

“一瓶空气并没有什么作用，我们需要谨慎地看待这个问题。”Leung说道，

But Lam says his company's products are more than a gimmick⁷. "If China can import food, water, why shouldn't they have the right to import air?"

但是Lam表示他们公司的空气产品并不是销售花招。“中国可以进口食物，水，为什么就不能进口空气呢？”

1 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

2 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

6 polytechnic   

adj.各种工艺的，综合技术的；n.工艺(专科)学校；理工(专科)学校

参考例句：

• She was trained as a teacher at Manchester Polytechnic.她在曼彻斯特工艺专科学校就读，准备毕业后做老师。
• When he was 17,Einstein entered the Polytechnic Zurich,Switzerland,where he studied mathematics and physics.17岁时，爱因斯坦进入了瑞士苏黎士的专科学院，学习数学和物理学。

7 gimmick   

n.(为引人注意而搞的)小革新，小发明

参考例句：

• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。
• It is just a public relations gimmick.这只不过是一种公关伎俩。