美国有线新闻 CNN 2015-04-16

 This is CNN Student News. Ten minutes of current events for middle and high school students with no commercials. I'm Carl Azuz. 

 

Can you name the world capital with the worst air quality on earth? Here's a hint: it's not in China, it's in Southern Asia, the nation of India. It's New Delhi. Last year, the World Health Organization labeled New Delhi the most polluted capital city. This month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi instituted a new program. It will monitor air quality in ten Indian cities. It will track their pollution levels and label cities green for cleaner air and red for dirtier air. It's intended to help the public see and take action in response to high pollution levels. India's leader says he's trying to change the international view that India doesn't care about the environment.

 

Early morning, barely visible in the smog, Delhi's iconic India gate. For years, most people in this sprawling¹ city of 23 million never questioned the quality of the air. Just a mix of desert dust and winter fog was the urban myth. But in 2014, World Health Organization study of 1,600 cities found India's capital has the most toxic² air in the world, largely due to the highest concentrations of microscopic³ particles known as PM 2.5. 

 

We go on a rickshaw ride with American scientist Joshua Apte to test the air for ourselves. He's been monitoring Delhi's pollution since 2007. 

 

"We're looking at levels of PM 2.5 right now that are around 250 to 300 micrograms per cubic meter, so 25 to 30 times higher than that long-term standard that we might care about."

 

"But everyone keeps talking about how bad it is in Beijing, but not so much in Delhi."

 

"I think that's really just a function of awareness⁴. Levels in Delhi are about 45 or 50 percent higher than those levels in Beijing."

 

"Really?"

 

"So the standard from the World Health Organization is 10. Typical levels in Beijing are just about 100 precisely⁵. And in Delhi over the past years, the average has been more like 150."

 

Apte says to the naked eye, Delhi may not appear as bad as Beijing because PM 2.5s are practically invisible, but they're the most damaging to the lungs. As India makes economic development a priority, pollution levels are only set to increase. Studies show some 660 million Indians lose about three years of their lives because of the air they breathe.

 

Today's date is exactly one year after Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped almost 300 schoolgirls from a campus in Nigeria. Some of them escaped, the rest are still in captivity⁶. Malala Yousafzai is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was targeted herself for supporting women's education rights. She released an open letter yesterday to encourage the girls and to push the Nigerian government and other countries to do more to find them.

 

"To the girls," the letter reads, "remember that one day your tragic⁷ ordeal⁸ will end. You'll be reunited with your families and friends. You will have the chance to finish the education you courageously⁹ sought." Malala says she looks forward to the day when she can hug them, pray with them, and celebrate their freedom. She also calls the girls her "heroes."

1 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

2 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

3 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

4 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

5 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

6 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

7 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

8 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

9 courageously   

ad.勇敢地，无畏地

参考例句：

• Under the correct leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the army and civilians in flooded areas fought the floods courageously, reducing the losses to the minimum. 在中共中央、国务院的正确领导下，灾区广大军民奋勇抗洪，把灾害的损失减少到了最低限度。
• He fought death courageously though his life was draining away. 他虽然生命垂危，但仍然勇敢地与死亡作斗争。