英语听力精选进阶版 14032

Hungary to call for stricter waste regulation

Summary

13 October 2010

Last week's serious accident at an aluminium¹ plant in Hungary could lead to tighter regulation of waste dumps across Europe. Eight people died and large areas of land were polluted by waste which escaped in the incident.

Reporter:

Nick Thorpe

Report

When the red sludge reservoir burst near Ajka in western Hungary, one of the first comments from the company was that this material is not classified as 'hazardous²' by the European Union.

"That is strictly³ true", Joe Hennon, the EU spokesman on the environment told the BBC, insofar as the sludge is not on the list of highly toxic⁴ materials in the EU hazardous waste directive. But it is included in another directive, on pollution prevention and control, under which the plant received its permission to operate in 2006.

The question of liability for accidents is currently under review by the European Commission. In the Hungarian case, the company can be held liable for damage to the environment, but not for harm to people. And if an accident on the scale of the massive oil spill in the Gulf⁵ of Mexico were to happen in European waters, the company would not be held responsible for some of the damage, as oil drilling is not mentioned in the Environmental Liability Directive.

The Hungarian government says it intends to call for a tightening⁶ of legislation, at EU level, when it takes over the presidency⁷ in January.

Nick Thorpe, BBC News, Budapest

1 aluminium   

n.铝 (=aluminum)

参考例句：

• Aluminium looks heavy but actually it is very light.铝看起来很重，实际上却很轻。
• If necessary, we can use aluminium instead of steel.如果必要，我们可用铝代钢。

2 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

3 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

4 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。