VOA标准英语2009年-Fires Spread Thick Haze Across Much of Sou

By Luke Hunt
Tawau, Malaysia
01 October 2009

Haze¹ has returned to Southeast Asia as fires set to clear farm land race out of control in Indonesia.
 
 
Haze covers Pontianak city on Indonesia's Borneo island, 09 Sep 2009 
The haze has enveloped² large swathes of the region, from peninsular Malaysia and Singapore and across Indonesia to Brunei.
 
On Borneo island, residents of the Malaysian border city of Tawau are hurting. They say the past four days have been the worst in years with the pollution index nearing unhealthy levels. The haze can be especially dangerous for those with respiratory diseases such as asthma³.
 
Chua Soon Bui is an opposition⁴ politician who represents Tawau in the national parliament. She says the Malaysian government must re-enter talks with Indonesia on fighting the haze.
 
"In the haze a lot of people are experiencing health hazard and it is not good in terms of social economy. It will create a lot of pollutants⁵ and maybe on the acid rain it will be very, very bad," said Chua.
 
She says the haze is starting to hurt tourism, with flight schedules interrupted and visibility drastically reduced. The sun often appears as a dark orange ball surrounded by dirty brown clouds of smog.
 
This, Chua says, is in stark⁶ contrast to the pristine⁷ beaches and rainforests that lie within easy reach of here.

Haze has been a frequent problem in Southeast Asia for a decade. Despite government bans, many farmers in Indonesia and Malaysia, both small landholders and big plantation⁸ companies, burn off grassland⁹ and jungle to clear space for planting.

Environmentalists complain the burning not only creates haze that can make people ill, it releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which many scientists say contributes to global warming. 

1 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

2 enveloped   

v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was enveloped in a huge white towel. 她裹在一条白色大毛巾里。
• Smoke from the burning house enveloped the whole street. 燃烧着的房子冒出的浓烟笼罩了整条街。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 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

6 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

7 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

8 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

9 grassland   

n.牧场，草地，草原

参考例句：

• There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
• The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。