新奇事件簿 英国车内有儿童禁止吸烟

Britain will soon ban smoking¹ in cars with children. Britain's government wants to reduce the harm cigarette smoke does to children. New laws will cut the chances of children passive² smoking. This is when someonebreathes in the smoke from a cigarette. Many studies say passive smoking can almost be as harmful as actually smoking a cigarette. The British government said it looked at research that found children who sat in smoke-filled cars had health problems. Britain's leader David Cameron said the problem is particularly badin cars because there is so little space, so the car fills with smoke very quickly. The new law will make it illegal³ for anyone to smoke in a car that has a child in it.

英国将通过一项禁止车内有儿童时吸烟的法案。英国政府希望减轻吸烟对儿童的伤害。新法将将少儿童吸二手烟的机会。二手烟就是吸入香烟烟雾。多项研究表明二手烟与吸烟拥对身体的危害几乎相同。英国政府称研究表明儿童坐在车内吸二手烟对身体有害。英国首相戴维·卡梅伦称由于空间不够大，这样的问题发生在车内将更加严重，所以烟雾充满车内的速度将变快。任何人在坐有儿童的车内吸烟将被视为违法。

Not everyone agrees with the new law. Some lawmakers say it takes away the freedom for people to smoke in their own car. They believe people should be able to smoke in their car because there are so many public places where smoking is not allowed. A few lawmakers said they were worried the government might make the ban wider in the future, so no one could smoke in a car. However, Britain's health minister said the healthof children was more important than the freedom to smoke. He told reporters: "The liberty⁴ to smoke in yourcar in front of a child doesn't seem to me that important and protecting a child's health does seem to me to be incredibly important."

不是所有人都欣然接受。许多立法者称人们失去了在车内吸烟的自由。他们认为由于许多公共场合禁止吸烟，所以人们有权在自己的车内吸烟。少数立法者认为他们担心政府将来会扩大禁止范围，以后可能将禁止人们在车内吸烟。但是，英国卫生部部长称儿童的健康要比吸烟的自由更重要。他告诉记者：“在车内面对孩子吸烟的自由，我认为没什么重要，但是保护孩子的健康对我来说非常重要。”

1 smoking   

n.吸烟，抽烟；冒烟

参考例句：

• He was wise to give up smoking.他戒烟是明智的。
• He has decided to cut out smoking and drinking.他已决心戒烟、戒酒。

2 passive   

adj.被动的；消极的

参考例句：

• He has a passive expression on his face.他脸上有一种漠然的表情。
• It lands the manager in a passive position.它使经理处于被动地位。

3 illegal   

adj.不合法的，非法的，犯法的

参考例句：

• I don't want to get mixed up with any illegal organization.我不想与任何非法组织有牵连。
• It's illegal for people under 17 to drive a car in Britain.在英国，不满17岁的人驾驶车辆是违法的。

4 liberty   

n.自由，自由权；冒昧行为

参考例句：

• He stood for the cause of liberty and justice.他为自由和正义的事业而奋斗。
• You are at liberty to do as you please.你可以随意行事。