新奇事件簿 索尼向中国员工交“污染费”（在线收听）

Japanese electronics company Panasonic will pay its Japanese staff in China "pollution pay". The company wants to give its workers more money because of China's poor air quality. No one knows how many people willget the extra cash. Neither did the company say how much the additional pay would be. Panasonic did not announce any plans to give the payment to its Chinese staff. Workers who have to work in other countries usually get extra pay for phoning home, eating in restaurants or buying furniture. Panasonic is probably the first company in the world to give compensation to its workers because of pollution. Other companies in China may now follow Panasonic's example.

日本电子公司索尼将对在中国工作的日本员工支付“污染费”。由于中国的天气质量，索尼想多支付员工工资。没有人知道究竟有多少人会得到这些额外的费用。该公司也没有透露具体的费用数字。索尼还没有宣布支付费用的任何计划。通常，在国外工作的员工都会得到额外的费用，这些费用包括通讯费、餐饮费。或是购置家具的费用。索尼或许是全球首家因环境污染而给予员工费用的企业。其他在华驻场的公司也会紧随其后。

Air pollution is a serious problem in China. The World Health Organization said pollution levels there were 15 times higher than healthy levels. China's Premier, Li Keqiang, recently said his country would fight a "war on pollution". The Japan Times newspaper reported that: "Over the weekend, a top Chinese environment official said air quality was below national standards in almost every major city last year." There are several reasons why pollution in China has become so bad in recent years. The country's economic success means there are thousands more factories. China also uses coal as its main source of energy. In addition, there are hundreds of thousands more cars than before on China's roads.

在中国，空气污染是个很严重的问题。世界卫生组织称中国的污染水平超出了健康水平的15倍。中国总理李克强近日称中国将打一场“污染之战”。日本时报报道称：“在过去的一周，一位环境高级官员称去年，几乎每个大城市的空气质量都没有达到国家标准。”造成中国近些年环境污染的原因有多方面。中国的经济成就意味着中国又增加了上千个工厂。煤还是最主要的能源供应原料。此外，中国的马路上有增加了十几万辆汽车。