英语听力精选进阶版 14048

New airport approved for Mumbai

Summary

22 November 2010

Plans for a second airport in Mumbai have been approved. The new terminal will be built on a site just over an hour's drive from the city centre. The Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh insisted the development is environmentally friendly.

Reporter:

Nidhi Dutt

Report

For many years it's been a battleground between environmentalists and developers. But finally Navi or New Mumbai has officially been confirmed as the location for Mumbai's second airport. Announcing his ministry¹'s support for the development, the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said authorities had already met 32 ecological² conditions.

The government blocked the diversion of a local river and also sought agreement from developers that nearby mangroves will not be destroyed. But in other ways, the ministry has softened³ its stance. It's given authorities the all-clear to level a 90 metre-high hill for the construction of two parallel runways. Mr Ramesh insisted that the development needed to be environmentally friendly, ecologically sound and energy efficient. Areas like Navi Mumbai, he said, had to be protected as the green lungs of India's financial capital.

Once it's completed, the authorities hope the new airport will ease air traffic congestion⁴ and entice⁵ more people to do business in the Navi Mumbai area. Local reports say the airport will take four years to build and by 2030 it will be able to handle 40 million passengers a year.

Nidhi Dutt, BBC News, Mumbai

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

3 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

4 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

5 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。