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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
It’s like the publishing version of one of those scenes from a sci-fi movie where an alien invasion impels1 traditional adversaries2 to join together to face their larger, common threat. Today 56 newspapers, in Pakistan and India, in Israel and Lebanon, in Tawian and China, in Greece and Turkey, in Africa and in North, South and Central America are publishing an unprecedented3 joint5 editorial calling for meaningful action to face the threat posed by climate change. The editorial, published in 45 countries in 20 different languages, appears on this first day of the Copenhagen climate conference. The British paper the Guardian6 led the effort, which involved weeks of negotiations7 to reach a final version.
The editorial notes that “the science is complex but the facts are clear. The world needs to take steps to limit temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius8 a bigger rise of 3 to 4 degrees Celsius would parch9 continents, turning farmland into desert. Half of all species could become extinct, untold10 millions of people would be displaced, whole nations drowned by the sea. The controversy11 over emails by British researchers that suggest they tried to suppress inconvenient12 data has muddied the waters but failed to dent4 the mass of evidence on which these predictions are based.”
The editorial recognized that “the shift to a low-carbon society holds out the prospect13 of more opportunity than sacrifice. Already some countries have recognized that embracing the transformation14 can bring growth, jobs and better quality lives. The flow of capital tells its own story: last year for the first time more was invested in renewable forms of energy than producing electricity from fossil fuels.”
So while gleeful anarchists15 like Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe go to Copenhagen to try to sabotage16 the proceedings17, the worldwide array of newspapers attempts to remind the conference participants and the people they represent to keep their eye on the ball—the ball in this case being an oblate spheroid with almost seven billion human inhabitants and a fever that desperately18 needs to be treated. As the Guardian’s editor in chief, Alan Rusbridger, said, “Newspapers have never done anything like this before but they have never had to cover a story like this before.”
1 impels | |
v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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2 adversaries | |
n.对手,敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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3 unprecedented | |
adj.无前例的,新奇的 | |
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4 dent | |
n.凹痕,凹坑;初步进展 | |
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5 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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6 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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7 negotiations | |
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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8 Celsius | |
adj.摄氏温度计的,摄氏的 | |
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9 parch | |
v.烤干,焦干 | |
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10 untold | |
adj.数不清的,无数的 | |
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11 controversy | |
n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
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12 inconvenient | |
adj.不方便的,令人感到麻烦的 | |
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13 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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14 transformation | |
n.变化;改造;转变 | |
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15 anarchists | |
无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 ) | |
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16 sabotage | |
n.怠工,破坏活动,破坏;v.从事破坏活动,妨害,破坏 | |
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17 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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18 desperately | |
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地 | |
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