【英语时差8,16】少吹冷气对大家都好

Less use of air conditioners would be better for us all A strict no-air-conditioning ban was enforced for 87,000 Taiwanese students taking the college entrance examinations this month despite temperatures in many areas reaching 34 to 36 degrees Celsius¹. Although this long-term practice is being promoted as a pragmatic means to ensure fairness, since air conditioning is not available at all exam locations, rather than for environmental reasons, it nevertheless offers a good opportunity for the country to reconsider its addiction² to air conditioning. If students can manage without A/C in the heat of examinations, could not the rest of the population go cold turkey once in a while? If not 'Off,' then 'Down,' since air conditioners consume energy and contribute to climate change in proportion to each degree they are set below ambient temperature. Vehicle A/C systems can be a cause of sinusitis in some people, while poorly maintained air conditioning may lead to the proliferation of micro-organisms such as Legionella pneumophila, the cause of Legionnaires' disease. The problem with new high-tech³ machines is that they present a sizable contribution to man-made climate change. Cooling agents such as CFCs and their modern replacements⁵ are greenhouse gases with far more global-warming potential than carbon dioxide should they leak into the atmosphere. It is everyone's responsibility to minimize his or her own contribution to the problem.

ban (n.) 禁令；禁止 The government has placed a ban on smoking in public places.

pragmatic (adj.) 務實的；實用的 Your proposal was intriguing⁶, but not very pragmatic.

addiction (n.) 成癮；入迷 Jim dropped out of school due to his addiction to online video games.

proportion (n.) 比例；比率 What is the proportion of boys to girls in this class?

ambient (adj.) 週遭的；環繞的 The ice cubes are melting because they are colder than the ambient room temperature.

proliferation (n.) （生物）增殖；激增 Our government must take action against the recent proliferation of violent crime.

replacement⁴ (n.) 取代；代替 Racecar teams make sure they have plenty of replacement parts on hand when they are racing⁷ at a track.

to go cold turkey 戒除壞習慣 After seeing how yellow the walls got from his years of smoking, my father quit cold turkey.

high-tech 高科技的 A decade ago, cell phones were considered high-tech gadgets⁸.

global-warming 全球暖化的 Do people who live in cold climates consider global-warming a bad thing?

1 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

2 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

3 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

4 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

5 replacements   

n.代替( replacement的名词复数 )；替换的人[物]；替代品；归还

参考例句：

• They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
• For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说，价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网

6 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

8 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史