英国新闻听力 环保武器

这听起来有些讽刺，不过，炸弹的爆炸是否会造成严重的噪声污染呢？使用手榴弹是不是带来很大烟尘？含铅的子弹不可降解，这是不是很危险？在英国军工产品制造商BAE看来，答案是肯定的。

注释：

grenade n. 手榴弹

degradable adj. 可降解的

mechanism¹ n. 机械装置

munition² n. 军火，军需品

stringent³ adj. 迫切的，严格的，苛刻的

detonate v. 爆炸，爆发

collateral⁴ adj. 附带的，间接的，从属的

Environmentally Friendly Weapons

The host: Now this may sound like satire⁵ but does the bang of a bomb cause too much noise pollution? Are grenade explosions too smoky? Is the lead of a bullet dangerously non-degradable? According to the British arms manufacturer, BAE Systems, the answer is yes. So they are developing economically sound weaponry, what could be described as environmentally friendly fire. To discuss whether it's possible for soldiers to save the planet whilst killing⁶ people. I spoke⁷ to Deborah Allen, director of corporate⁸ responsibility for the company.

Deborah: We're looking across the range of all the platforms and areas we produce, obviously trying to improve all the mechanisms⁹. So everything from looking at making a fighter jet more fuel efficient to looking at the materials munitions¹⁰ are made of and what their impact on the environment would be.

The host: We have heard about lead-free bullets. That's true, is it?

Deborah: It's something we're working on and it's part of ensuring that munitions if they get lodged¹¹ in the environment, (they) don't create any additional harm.

The host: So is this partly a response to ever stringent health and safety regulations and ideas about noise pollution and so forth¹²?

Deborah: It's always part of a driver as people, as we all become more environmentally aware and take the responsibility. No company regardless of what they make can nowadays just make a product, bung it out there and forget about it. We all have a duty of care to ensure that from cradle to grave things are being actually used appropriately and won't do lasting¹³ harm.

The host: But one of the products I read about was the bang-free bomb or a bomb that wouldn't make so much of a noise when it exploded. What's the thinking behind that?

Deborah: That's reducing the fumes¹⁴ around it when it is detonated, so for the user there's less exposure. To ensure they are safe to use, they only go off when they are required to go off and they do the minimum of collateral damage.

The host: But bombs by the very nature of the thing are not safe to use though, are they?

Deborah: It depends which end you're on of course. What we have to do is ensure that the person deploying¹⁵ them is not put at extra risk from using them. These things are going to be used and that's unfortunately an aspect of the modern world. We just have to make sure that our customer who is defending the country is actually safe using these things.

The host: Ah, so you are saying that it is about the safety, the health of the soldier in the field?

Deborah: That's a key point but also reducing collateral damage, ensuring these things are as accurate as possible. And that's obviously a key point and something everybody gets concerned about.

环保武器

主持人：这听起来有些讽刺，不过，炸弹的爆炸是否会造成严重的噪声污染呢？使用手榴弹是不是带来很大烟尘？含铅的子弹不可降解，这是不是很危险？在英国军工产品制造商BAE看来，答案是肯定的。因此，他们正在发展经济型武器，我们可以称之为"环保军火"。士兵们能否在杀人的同时履行保护地球的职责？就此问题，我与该公司的法人代表，戴博拉·艾伦，展开讨论。

戴博拉：为了改进全部机械装置，我们检查了所有的生产环节，包括所有的操作台和其它地方。我们关注每一处细节，让喷气式战斗机更加节油，制造军火的原材料，以及它们对环境可能产生的影响。

主持人：我们听说过无铅子弹，那是真的么？

戴博拉：那是我们正在研制的东西，也是为了确保军火在使用过程中不会对环境造成额外的损害。

主持人：会有这种举措，是否是基于严格的健康与安全标准，以及降低噪声污染和其它相关的理念呢？

戴博拉：这些都是原因的一部分，毕竟人们对环境问题变得愈发敏感，认为应该对此承担责任。如今，没有哪家公司可以对自己的产品不管不顾，造出来，扔出去，然后忘得一干二净。我们都有责任，确保自己的产品从头到尾都被运用得恰到好处，而且不会造成持续性灾害。

主持人：但是，我听说有种产品，是一种爆炸时不会发出巨大响声的炸弹。怎们想到要造这样的产品？

戴博拉：是为了减少爆炸时激起的烟尘，这样对使用者来说爆炸就少了。为了确保这些炸弹在使用时的安全性，人们只要在需要的时候将它们扔下去就可以了，我们尽量将间接损害降到最低。

主持人：可炸弹这种东西，本身就不安全，不是么？

戴博拉：这当然取决于使用者的目的。我们必须做到的是确保使用者在行动时不会置身于额外的危险中。这些东西即将投入使用，很不幸，但这是当今世界的一个层面。我们的任务，是保障那些为国战斗的人，在使用这些武器时，自己是安全的。

主持人：也就是说，造这些武器，是为了战场上那些士兵的安全和健康？

戴博拉：这是关键的一点。但是同时，减少附带损害，保证这些武器尽量精确，显然也是很重要的，这是每个人都关心的问题。

1 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

2 munition   

n.军火；军需品；v.给某部门提供军火

参考例句：

• The rebels bombed the munition factory.叛军轰炸了兵工厂。
• The soldiers had plenty of arms and munition!士兵们有充足的武器和弹药！

3 stringent   

adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的

参考例句：

• Financiers are calling for a relaxation of these stringent measures.金融家呼吁对这些严厉的措施予以放宽。
• Some of the conditions in the contract are too stringent.合同中有几项条件太苛刻。

4 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

5 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

11 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

13 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

14 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。

15 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。