VOA慢速英语2014 让全世界的炉灶更安全

 

AS IT IS 2014-12-10 Making Cooking Stoves Safer Worldwide 让全世界的炉灶更安全

Smokey cook fires are a leading cause of indoor air pollution - poor air quality inside buildings. Indoor air pollution kills more than four million people each year. The problem is bigger than malaria¹, tuberculosis² or HIV, the virus that causes the disease AIDS.

Recently, people concerned about the issue met for two days of discussions in New York City. Their hope was to persuade private industry to build and sell better stoves.

Traditional open-fire cooking affects the health of both human beings and the world’s environment. Collecting wood for cooking fires is one of the main causes of deforestation. And the gases and soot³ that come from the fires pollute the air. They also are partly responsible for rising temperatures.

At the meeting, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted⁴ that almost three billion people use traditional stoves for heating and cooking. Because of their widespread use, she said, indoor air pollution is an international problem.

“But it also, if approached correctly, could be an economic opportunity. And that is the idea behind the alliance.”

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves supports companies that make and sell affordable⁵, efficient and less-polluting cookers. The alliance also supports research into developing better stoves.

Ms. Clinton helped launch the group in 2010. At the meeting, the United States promised $200 million in financial support and research money. But organizers wanted to raise $500 million.

Radha Muthiah is the executive director of the alliance. She says four years after the group was launched, 20 million more households are using clean cookstoves.

“We've proven that this market-based approach works. Twenty million stoves later, we know that this is a recipe that can be scaled up.”

Jim Jetter works as a researcher for the United States Environmental Protection Agency. He says it is not easy to build a low-cost device that people will use.   

“It's a big technical challenge to make a cookstove that has low emissions⁶ of air pollutants⁷, that is fuel efficient, and that is low-cost so that people can afford it -- and, most importantly, that it meets the user needs. If it doesn't meet the user’s needs, then people do not use the stoves and, and then there are no benefits.”

In 2012, improved stoves were tested at 15,000 homes in Orissa, India. Laboratory tests showed that the stoves lowered indoor air pollution. Harvard University economist⁸ Rema Hanna helped to write a report on the study.

“They slowly fell into disrepair, and households continued to use the traditional cooking stoves as well.”

The study found that homes with the new stoves were no healthier than those with traditional ones, and they did not use less fuel.

Radha Muthiah says members of the Alliance know that it is not easy to solve the cookstove problem. She says the group is studying how people use them.

“There have been a lot of failures. Success takes a little bit longer, you know, to show, but we're, we're seeing that. And that, that definitely inspires me.”

The Alliance says it wants 100 million more homes to have clean cookstoves by 2020. The group believes it will reach that goal early.

Words in This Story

smoky – adj. filled with smoke

tuberculosis – n. a disease that mainly affects the lungs

deforestation – n. the result of cutting down or burning all the trees in an area

soot – n. black particles that form when something (such as wood or coal) is burned

affordable – adj. to be something a person is able to pay for

market-based approach – n. a way of dealing⁹ with something based on economic forces; a way of doing or thinking about something

scaled-up – v. to increase something in size, amount or extent

disrepair – n. the state of needing to be repaired; bad condition

1 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

2 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

3 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

7 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。