英闻天下——199 Beijing's Air Pollution Returns to 'Hazardous' Levels

 　　Smog levels in Beijing have hit the 'Hazardous¹' mark again just 2 weeks after recording² one of the worst cases of air pollution.

 

　　The PM 2.5 monitoring systems in the Chinese capital showed readings of around 400, which is considered hazardous.

 

　　That's 16 times worse than the World Health Organization's standard of a daily average of 25.

 

　　Earlier this month, the levels exceeded 900, with a number of people complaining of breathing problems.

 

　　Beijing residents such as Zhang Shuqing, aren't happy with the situation either.

 

　　"The air pollution is terrible. It's bad for citizens' health. They need to sort it out, the department responsible needs to sort out the environment."

 

　　Environment authorities in China have pledged to cover more cities in monitoring the PM 2.5 – a system which basically measures air particles 2.5 micrometres in diameter.

 

　　They have also promised to take high-polluting cars off the roads and improve the gasoline and diesel³ quality.

1 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。