新奇事件簿 污染成世界头号杀手

A new study has found that pollution is now the world's biggest killer¹. One in six deaths worldwide is because of pollution. This is 16 per cent of all global deaths. Most of these deaths were from non-infectious diseases caused by pollution. These include heart disease, lung cancer and stroke. The study was published in the medical journal 'The Lancet'. Researchers said most pollution-related deaths occurred in poorer countries. About 92 per cent of these deaths were in low-income nations, especially countries where there is a lot of economic development, such as India and China. Bangladesh and Somalia were the worst affected² countries. Brunei and Sweden had the lowest numbers of pollution-related deaths.

一项最新研究发现，污染现已成为世界头号杀手。全世界六分之一的死亡是由污染造成的，也就是全球所有死亡的16%。大部分死亡都是由于污染造成的非传染性疾病。包括心脏病，肺癌和中风。这项研究发表在医学期刊《柳叶刀》上。研究人员表示，大部分与污染相关的死亡发生在较贫困的国家。大约92%的这类死亡发生在低收入国家，尤其是经济发展比较快速的国家，比如印度和中国。孟加拉国和索马里是受影响最严重的地方。文莱和瑞典是污染造成死亡人数最少的国家。

Study co-author Karti Sandilya said: "Pollution, poverty, poor health, and social injustice³ are deeply intertwined." He added: "Pollution threatens fundamental human rights, such as the right to life, health, wellbeing, and safe work." He said air pollution was the biggest killer. Air pollution led to 6.5 million premature⁴ deaths. The second biggest killer was water pollution, which caused 1.8 million deaths. The next largest killer was pollution in the workplace, which was linked to 800,000 worldwide deaths. Scientist Dr Penny Woods said: "Air pollution is reaching crisis point." She said the people who pollution hit the hardest are those with breathing and lung problems, children and the elderly.

这项研究联合作者Karti Sandilya表示：“污染，贫困，健康状况不佳和社会不公等问题盘根错节。”他补充说：“污染威胁着根本的人权，比如生命，健康，幸福和安全工作的权利。”他说，空气污染是最大的杀手。空气污染造成650万人早亡。第二大杀手是水污染，造成180万人死亡。排在第三位的是工作场合污染，造成全世界80万人死亡。科学家Penny Woods博士表示：“空气污染已经到达危机点。”她说，受污染影响最严重的是有呼吸道和肺部问题的人，儿童和老年人。

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

4 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。