流利美国口语10.3

W: The air in the city is seriously polluted.

M: Yes. I can’t even breathe.

W: Air pollution endangers our health.

M: The government should take steps to solve it.

Dialogue 2.

W: I can’t bear the noise near my house any more.

M: Why? Is it that bad?

W: The road near my house has been being mended for more than half a year, and it is still not completed.

M: Do the other people from your neighborhood complain about it?

W: Yes, most of them do.

M: Why not hold a meeting. I am sure you can come up with some solutions.

Dialogue 3.

W: What a smell. Look at the dirty water in the river.

M: Many industries are polluting the river with waste and sewage.

W: What’s more fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides¹ used for lawn care can run off and contaminated the water.

M: If water contamination continues human beings will suffer severely².

Dialogue 4.

W: How to control environmental pollution for the sake of people’s health?

M: There are many methods adopted by the government. But it is pretty hard.

W: Why is that?

M: Some depurating devices are not so effective. Some effective devices are so expensive that manufacturers can even afford.

W: Then why not consider reducing some heavy industries?

M: Almost impossible. China is a developing country and needs heavy industries to increase its GDP.

Dialogue 5.

W: What technology will help with pollution control?

M: Well, for example I have recently read an article about using certain types of bacteria to help control some pollution problems.

W: How could that be? I thought bacteria just caused illness.

M: That’s not true. Bacteriologists have identified certain strains of bacteria that eat petroleum³ products such as oil and gasoline.

W: That sounds strange. How does it work?

M: They ingest the petroleum and excrete hydrogen and oxygen leaving a clean environment behind them.

Exercise.

1. Rivers are polluted with chemical waste from factories.

2. What does the government do to ensure that we live in a better world?

3. Infants and children may be especially sensitive to health risks.

4. The mission of environmental protection agency is to protect human health and the environment.

5. Air supplies us with oxygen which is essential for our bodies to live.

6. Environmental pollution is a serious issue.

7. Environmental pollution requires public concern.

8. We should take measures to tackle the problem of environmental pollution.

9. Environmental pollution can lead to a lot of disastrous⁴ results.

10. Environmental degradation⁵ can hinder the development of society.

11. I can’t bear the noise near my house any more.

12. If water contamination continues human beings will suffer severely.

1 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》

2 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

3 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

4 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

5 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。