全新版大学英语听说教程第二册 Unit15

2-15-A

The environment on our planet is a closed system: nothing new is ever added. Nature recycles its resources.

Today, the Earth is in trouble. Factories pour dirty water into our rivers. Many fish die and the water becomes unhealthy for people to drink. Cars and factories put poison into the air and cause plants, animals and people to get sick. People throw bottles and paper out of their car windows, and the roadside becomes covered with all sorts of wastes. Over the years, people have changed the environment, and we have pollution.

To continue to survive, we must learn how to use the Earth's resources wisely. We have to change our habits and stop dumping such enormous amounts of industrial waste into the water and air. We must cooperate with nature and learn better ways to use, not abuse, our environment.

2-15-B

Plastic Bags -- A Big Problem in Hong Kong

Every day people in Hong Kong get rid of 15 million plastic bags. They weigh about 600 tons. This is not including the tens of thousands of plastic bags people dump at the beaches and in local waters, which have caused serious pollution.

These bags cost taxpayers¹ over $70 million a year to deal with. Some of the bags are destroyed by burning. The problem with this is that, when they break down, they release poisonous chemicals, which can cause cancer. The chemical poisons penetrate² into the earth.

In order to attract the public's attention to the problem of plastic bags and to reduce the number of bags used at the same time, the Retail³ Management Association launched the Use Fewer Bags Campaign. In the first stage of the campaign, 1,500 retail stores aimed to reduce the number of plastic bags given away to customers by 10 per cent. This has been achieved. The second stage of campaign will focus on the number of plastic bags given away in markets.

"Ideally, people going to buy food in the markets should carry their own reusable bags, such as canvas bags, that can be washed," said a campaign coordinator⁴. She stressed that the campaign had two objectives. Besides reducing the number of plastic bags used, she hoped that the campaign would increase the public's overall awareness⁵ of environmental problems.

2-15-C

The Rhine River

The River Rhine is Western Europe's most important waterway. Rising in the Alps, it passes through Switzerland, Germany, France and Holland, before flowing into the North Sea.

But for decades, industrial and domestic waste flowed untreated into the river and, not surprisingly, the Rhine was seriously polluted from the 1950s to the 1970s. Fish disappeared and it was dangerous to swim in it. Then in 1986 a fire at a chemical plant in Basel caused tons of pesticides⁶ to leak into the river. Thousands of fish died. That was a wake-up call for the countries along the Rhine. They realized that they really had to get together and clean it up and keep it clean. Otherwise it could be the death of the Rhine. Switzerland, Germany and France now work together in Basel to keep the river clean. At various points, water is extracted and checked every six minutes, twenty-four hours a day. And industries that pollute the river can be traced and fined.

Thanks to international cooperation, the river is on the path to recovery. At Basel, in the evening summer sun, the river has a festive⁷ atmosphere. People walk leisurely⁸ along the river banks, listening to live music, and pause for a drink in one of the many open-air cafes. On the vast river itself, boats from Germany sail slowly past the old town of the city, towards the more modern structures of the chemical industries.

1 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

2 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 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？

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 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》

7 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

8 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。