IN THE NEWS - Johannesburg Summit

IN THE NEWS -August 24, 2002: Johannesburg Summit¹

By Caty Weaver²
This is Steve Ember the VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS.

On Monday, the United Nations will open an important environmental conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.
At least twenty-thousand people plan to attend the ten-day event. They include more than one -hundred presidents
and prime³ ministers, fifty leaders of large businesses, and sixty high court judges. Conference organizers also
expect thousands of representatives of financial organizations, non-governmental organizations, community
leaders and activists⁴.

The official name of the conference is the World Summit on Sustainable
Development. Sustainable development permits people to meet their needs without
harming the environment. It means that people living today do not use up resources
needed in the future. U-N officials say sustainable development requires a new kind
of cooperation among nations. They say countries must realize that decisions they
make may affect people in other parts of the world.

Last week, the U-N released⁵ a report warning that current development activities
are harming humans and the Earth. “Global Challenge, Global Opportunity,”was
published by the U-N Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It examines a
number of issues considered central to the conference, including world water and

waste systems, energy, agriculture and human health.

The report says one-thousand-million people in the world lack safe drinking water. It says this number will
increase by more than two times by twenty-twenty-five. The report says northern Africa and western Asia will be
the most affected⁶ areas.

The U-N report also discusses the increase in the use of fuels such as oil and gas. The report notes increasing
signs that the pollution produced by burning these fossil⁷ fuels is causing climate changes.

Food demands are rising as the world population grows. But, the report says current methods of producing food
and getting it to people will not be able to meet the increasing needs. The U -N says in many areas land has been
damaged by too much farming for too many years.

The U-N report also warns about the effects of human activity on ecological⁸ systems. It notes that ninety-million
hectares of forest were destroyed in the nineteen-nineties. That is an area larger than Venezuela. The report says
this destruction⁹ kills more than trees. When forests are lost so are huge numbers of animals, birds and plants that
live in forests.

Nitin Desai is Secretary General of the World Summit. He says the goals of human progress and environmental
protection depend on each other. Mister¹⁰ Desai says the action plan developed ten years ago at the Earth Summit
in Brazil is based on that idea. He says the world conference in Johannesburg is a chance for governments,
businesses and citizens to expand on that plan.

This VOA Special English program In The News was written by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.

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1 summit   

n.最高点，峰顶；最高级会议；极点

参考例句：

• They climbed up the mountain and reached the summit.他们爬山，最终达到了山顶。
• The summit of the mountain is lost in the cloud and mist.山顶隐没在云雾之中。

2 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

3 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 fossil   

n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固

参考例句：

• At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.时间隔得这么久了，很难确定这化石的年代。
• The man is a fossil.那人是个老顽固。

8 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.

9 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。

10 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。