中国领导人最近几个月发表的一系列声明，给北京及其他被烟雾笼罩的城市的居民带来了希望，他们可能会在几年之内，实现经常呼吸新鲜空气的梦想。例如，中国总理李克强在今年3月「向环境污染宣战」。

　　But China Daily, an official English-language newspaper, came in with a reality check on Wednesday in the form of an article published under the headline “Beijing Expects Healthy Air by 2030.”

　　但周三，官方英文报纸《中国日报》的一篇题为《北京空气质量有望在2030年达标》的报道，将人们拉回到现实中来。

　　The article went on to say that it would be 16 years before levels of dangerous fine particulate matter in the Chinese capital would drop to an “internationally recognized safe level.” The fine particulate matter is known as PM 2.5 because its diameter is less than 2.5 microns. It can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.

　　该报道称，北京地区的危险细颗粒物浓度降到「国际公认的安全水平」需要16年的时间。这种细颗粒物的直径不足2.5微米，因此被称为PM2.5。它能够深入肺部，并进入血液。

　　The 16-year time frame means that anyone born today in Beijing who grows up in the city will spend his or her entire childhood breathing unhealthy air. In recent years, parents in Beijing, a city of more than 21 million, have become increasingly anxious about the air quality and other forms of pollution. Many Chinese who can afford to do so are moving abroad or decamping to cleaner parts of China. Multinational companies are having a much harder time recruiting foreign workers for Beijing jobs. Beijing residents are stocking up on expensive air purifiers, and some international schools have even set up outdoor sports domes made of synthetic fabric (what some parents are calling “pollution domes”).

　　16 年的时间意味着，如今在北京出生、长大的儿童，在整个童年时期都将呼吸有害空气。最近几年，居住在北京的家长们日益担心空气质量及其他污染。北京人口已经 超过了2100万。很多有条件的中国人都已搬到国外，或逃到国内空气比较清洁的地区。如今，跨国公司要招聘外国人到北京工作比以前难了很多。北京居民采购 昂贵的空气凈化器，一些国际学校甚至还在室外运动场上搭起由混合纤维制成的顶篷（一些家长称之为「污染篷」）。

　　Recent scientific studies have shown that the type of air pollution in northern China can shave five years off the average life span, lead to permanent lung impairment in children and contribute to slow brain development and personality problems in children whose mothers were exposed to the bad air during pregnancy.

　　最近的科学研究发现，中国北部地区的空气污染类型能使平均寿命缩减五年，使儿童遭受永久性的肺损伤，母亲在怀孕期间呼吸有毒空气还会导致孩子大脑发育缓慢，存在性格问题。

　　Most of the air pollution in Beijing comes from coal-burning power plants and factories in nearby provinces. Emissions from vehicles, especially those using diesel gasoline, are also major contributors.

　　北京地区的空气污染主要源自周边省份的燃煤发电厂和工厂。汽车——特别是使用柴油、汽油的汽车排放的尾气也是主要因素。

　　“Improving air quality in the city is not going to be an easy task,” Pan Tao, head of the Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, said at a conference, according to China Daily. “It takes time and effort to turn the ship around.”

　　据《中国日报》报道，「改善北京空气质量不是一项简单的任务，」北京市环境保护科学研究院院长潘涛在参加会议时说。「改变现状需要时间和精力。」

　　The concentration level of PM 2.5 cited by China Daily as “healthy,” and supposedly attainable by 2030, was 35 micrograms per cubic meter. The article said the World Health Organization had stated that PM 2.5 levels should not exceed this.

　　《中国日报》报道称，PM2.5浓度的「健康」标准为35微克/立方米，北京有望在2030年达标。文章称，世界卫生组织（World Health Organization，简称WHO）已经说明，PM2.5浓度不应该超过这个标准。

　　Actually, the W.H.O. has said that PM 2.5 should not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic meter over a 24-hour period. By that standard, Beijing still might not have healthy air by 2030. The limit of 35 micrograms per cubic meter, mistakenly cited by China Daily as the W.H.O. standard, is actually just an interim target set by the W.H.O. for heavily polluted countries. For all nations, the W.H.O. recommends achieving the standard of 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

　　实 际上，WHO说的是PM2.5平均浓度要在24小时内不超过25微克/立方米。按照这个标准，北京的空气质量可能在2030年前无法达标。《中国日报》错 误地引用了WHO设定的35微克/立方米的标准，实际上那是WHO为污染严重的国家设定的过渡目标。WHO建议所有国家达到25微克/立方米的标准。

　　China Daily cited Mr. Pan as saying an average PM 2.5 concentration of 35 micrograms per cubic meter could be reached by 2030.

　　《中国日报》援引潘涛的话称，北京的PM2.5年均浓度有望在2030年达标。

　　The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau has said the average PM 2.5 concentration last year was 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter, which is more than 3.5 times the W.H.O. recommended exposure limit. On a particularly grim day in January 2013 that is now commonly called the “airpocalypse” by English speakers, parts of Beijing had PM 2.5 concentrations that were 40 times the W.H.O. recommended limit.

　　北 京市环保局曾表示，去年PM2.5年均浓度为89.5微克/立方米，是WHO建议的接触限度的三倍多。在2013年1月空气格外糟糕的一天——说英语的人 通常称之为「airpocalypse」（空气末日），北京部分地区的PM2.5浓度是WHO建议的接触限度的40倍。

　　On Tuesday, which happened to be the 93rd birthday of the Chinese Communist Party, the PM 2.5 concentration in Beijing hit 168 micrograms per cubic meter, almost seven times the W.H.O. exposure limit, according to the United States Embassy’s rooftop air monitor. The air was a dismal gray soup the entire day, and the embassy rated it as “very unhealthy” in the evening.

　　美国大使馆屋顶上的空气污染监测器显示，周二，北京的PM2.5浓度达到了168微克/立方米，几乎是WHO接触限度的七倍，这一天正好是中国共产党的93岁生日。天空一整天都非常阴沉，大使馆在晚上将空气质量评定为「非常不健康」。

　　“The current pollution emission is far beyond the environmental capacity in the city, and any adverse climate condition would easily result in smoggy days,” Mr. Pan said, according to China Daily. “The key to current air quality improvement lies in emission reduction.”

　　据《中国日报》报道，「当前北京的污染物排放量仍远超环境容量，任何恶劣的气候条件都容易产生雾霾天，」潘涛说。「目前，改善空气质量关键在于减排。」

　　An antipollution plan announced last September by the State Council, China’s cabinet, said the crowded and filthy Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area of northern China had to reduce PM 2.5 levels by 25 percent before 2017. But Mr. Pan said that even if Beijing and the nearby areas were to meet that target, the level of particulate matter would still be harmful to people’s health.

　　中国国务院（相当于中国的内阁）去年9月公布了大气污染防治计划，称北方的京津冀地区必须在2017年前将PM2.5浓度降低25%。但潘涛表示，即便北京及周边地区达到了该目标，颗粒物的浓度仍对健康有害。

　　In March, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced that only three of 74 Chinese cities whose air is monitored by the central government met minimum standards for air quality last year. The State Council said in February that it would offer a total of 10 billion renminbi, or $1.65 billion, to cities and regions that made “significant progress” this year in air pollution control.

　　今年3月，中国环境保护部宣布，去年中央政府监测的74个城市中，只有3个城市达到了最低空气质量标准。中国国务院在今年2月宣布，今年将为那些在空气污染治理方面取得「重大进步」的城市和地区提供总计100亿元人民币的奖励。