VOA慢速英语2019--越南未来禁止摩托车吗？

Is a Motorbike Ban in Vietnam's Future?

Any traveler to Vietnam knows a trip to the country is not complete until the traveler tries to cross a road.

The streets are crowded with motorbikes moving at all different speeds, in both directions. It seems a major challenge for a walker. But one quickly learns that motorbike drivers will weave expertly around walkers. There is, in fact, some order to the seeming chaos¹ of the streets.

Vietnam is the land of the motorbike. Last year, Google Maps even created a feature for two-wheel commuters in the country. It provides trip times and road costs just for motorbikes.

So can Vietnam's two biggest cities really ban the transport that its 100 million people depend on every day?

City officials have proposed a motorbike ban in parts of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. It is not the first time such an idea has been suggested. Similar proposals have come up over the years. The idea has led to a debate about pollution, traffic problems, city planning, and the fairest way to get people where they need to go.

Supporters of motorbike restrictions³ argue that they are needed to cut pollution and traffic. But opponents say the public has no alternative. Cars, they say, are too costly⁴ and public transportation is limited.

Nguyen Ngoc Dong leads the country’s Ministry⁵ of Transport. Vietnam’s official newspaper reports he said, "Hanoi is just now in the process of developing the idea. There are still a lot of issues that need to be researched, assessed, and analyzed⁷ before making a final plan."

Traffic and pollution

The idea is to ban motorbikes during the busiest parts of the day, or in the busiest parts of the city. Ho Chi Minh City’s population has now grown to 13 million. Its air quality is worsening. Pollution levels sometimes go beyond those in China and India.

Supporters of a ban say if other countries can do it, so can Vietnam. Crowded cities from Beijing to Mexico City have in place restrictions on car use. Some cities, like Stockholm, have barred vehicles from pedestrian zones.

Unlike those places, however, Vietnamese cities do not have enough public transportation to replace motorbikes. Projects to build subway systems have been delayed repeatedly. Commuters do not want to take buses when motorbikes are faster and more convenient, and still low cost. Vespa maker⁸ Piaggio Vietnam said a motorbike ban could push people to use cars, which would not help solve the pollution and traffic problems.

"We believe that to meet those objectives, simply banning motorbikes is a radical⁹ and not effective solution," Enrico Bruni, the company's head of finance for Asia, said at a business conference last month.

He suggested it would be better to try to educate the public about traffic problems. He said the government should also place controls on vehicle pollution.

Others suggest that Vietnamese officials should try to experiment with ways to redirect traffic, including the use of sensors¹⁰ to measure traffic to permit the rerouting of drivers.

Restrictions would affect some more than others

Some Vietnamese are old enough to remember a time when they would have been lucky to own a bicycle. But today almost everyone has enough money for a motorbike, which costs as little as a few hundred dollars.

Vietnam is the fourth biggest market for motorbikes in the world. The top three, China, India, and Indonesia, each have populations at least double that of Vietnam.

An outright¹¹ ban of motorbikes seems unlikely if not impossible. The vehicle is deeply embedded¹² in Vietnamese urban life. It is hard to find a picture of a Vietnamese city that does not include a motorbike or two.

It is common to see a family of five riding together on the two-wheeled vehicles. People transport everything from giant pigs to dining tables on their motorbikes. War veterans turn their motorbikes into taxis. And visitors jump on the back of motorbikes for guided food tours of the cities.

Critics say a motorbike ban would hurt the poor, who depend on motorbikes, more than the wealthy, who favor cars.

That is not to say some restrictions do not work. Ho Chi Minh City started limiting motorbikes on the downtown street of Nguyen Hue¹³ several years ago. Its residents have since enjoyed walking the street, turning it into a popular public space.

I’m Caty Weaver¹⁴.

And I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

weave - v. to move from side to side while going forward especially in order to avoid the people or things that are in front of you?

chaos - n. complete confusion and disorder¹⁵ : a state in which behavior and events are not controlled by anything?

commuter² - n. to travel regularly to and from a place and especially between where you live and where you work?

alternative - n.something that can be chosen instead of something else : a choice or option?

convenient - adj. allowing you to do something easily or without trouble?

assess - v. to make a judgment¹⁶ about (something)?

analyze⁶ - v. to study (something) closely and carefully : to learn the nature and relationship of the parts of (something) by a close and careful examination?

pedestrian zone - n.an area in which people can walk safely and easily because cars are not permitted

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 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。

6 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

7 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

9 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

10 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

11 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

12 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

13 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

14 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。

15 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

16 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。