04 Pollution 我们身边的环境污染

Today was Saturday. Lynn and Ron had looked forward to today. Mother will take them going somewhere to look out over the city. Mother and the children crossed the busy street. As they started to enter the bank, mother looked up. “See the elevator. It is going up on the outside of the bank, that is a glass elevator,” said mother. “We will go up over twenty floors.”

“Look this way,” said Mother. “If the air is clear, you might be able to see the electric plant near our house.”

The elevator began to move off the ground.

“Look,” said Ron. “What is all that dirty smoke in the air?”

“That’s smog,” said Mother. “Sometimes we call it pollution. It is called smog because it is smoke and fog together.”

“Where does the smog come from?” asked Ron. “I don’t see anything burning.”

“Smog in the air comes from many things,” said Mother. “See all those cars and trucks? All of them burn fuel that puts gases in the air. Sometimes there is no wind to blow the gases away. If there is a layer of warm air over cool air, it makes smog. It is not good to breathe air with smog. Sometimes it makes people sick.”

“I have heard the word pollution,” said Lynn. “But I thought it was trash.”

“Pollution can be caused by many things,” said mother. “On the way home we can talk about kinds of pollution.”

The family kept talking about pollution as they went home. They talked about how a clean environment would help living things stay healthy. Then they started talking about ways they could help to keep the environment clean.

“You are right, Lynn. Trash is pollution. Think about all the garbage our family throws away. Each city throes away some trash that could be used again,” said mother.

“Our church is collecting newspapers and old cans,” said Ron. “They take it someplace where they make it into new cans and paper.”

“Making old things into mew things is called recycling,” said mother. “Many old things can be used again.”

As the family got near their home, they heard a loud noise.

“I hear something,” said Ron.

“I think it is a fire engine,” said Lynn.

“I’ll turn down the radio. I can’t hear,” said mother.

“I see a flashing light,” said Ron.

As the fire engine passed, Mother said, “We have noise pollution, too. Remember yesterday when Dad was using the saw, the dog was barking, and you had on the radio? All of those things together made a lot of noise. When people work in noisy places for a few years, it hurts their hearing.”

One man made some animals listen to loud music. One ear of each animal was covered. The other ear was not. Then he tested the hearing in both ears. He found the animals had lost some hearing in the ear that was not covered. Some young people who play loud music have the hearing of old people.

Loud noises do other things. Sometimes people who work in noisy places have poor hearing and more accidents.

A law was passed that says people should get rid of noise wherever they can. Some machines don’t have to be so noisy. Sometimes people think that a noisy machine has more power. That statement is not true.

Mother explained again how important it is to use earth in a wise and careful way. When we pollute, we are just being selfish. We may be making others sick and causing them extra work. As children of God we should think of God and others.

Vocabulary 词汇

elevator ['eliveitə]　n.　电梯、升降机

electric [i'lektrik]　adj.　电动的、电的、使人震惊的

smog [smɔɡ]　n.　烟雾

fog [fɔɡ]　n.　雾；

vt.　雾气笼罩、使迷惑；

vt. & vi.　模糊不清

fuel [fjuəl]　n.　燃料、燃烧剂；

vt.　给……加燃料、激起；

vi.　补充燃料

gas [ɡæs]　n.　气体、煤气、汽油、毒气、空谈、有趣的事；

vt.　使……吸入毒气；

vi.　吹牛

layer ['leiə]　n.　层、层次

trash [træʃ]　n.　拙劣的材料（作品）、垃圾、废物、没出息的人；

vt.　捣坏、弄脏

garbage ['ɡɑ:bidʒ]　n.　〈美〉垃圾、废物；〈口〉废话

recycling [ri: 'saikliŋ]　n.　再循环

flashing ['flæʃiŋ]　n.　闪光、防水板、遮雨板

get rid of　除掉、去掉

selfish ['selfiʃ]　adj.　自私的、利己的

Practice

1．When water, air, or ground is not clean, we call it 　　　　　．

2．Lynn and Ron were looking at the city from a glass 　　　　　．

3．The dirty air Ron saw was called 　　　　　．

4．Smog is smoke and 　　　　　．

5．When people work in very noisy places for a few years, it hurts their 　　　　　．

6．Some young people who like loud music have the 　　　　　 of old people．

7．A law was passed that say you should get rid of as much 　　　　　 as possible．

8．Some people think a noisy machine has more 　　　　　．

译文

今天是星期六，琳和罗恩一直在期待今天，妈妈要带他们到某个地方去观察这个城市。妈妈和孩子们穿过繁忙的街道，当他们即将进入银行时，妈妈抬起头来：“看电梯，它在银行外面上升。这是一个玻璃电梯，我们将会到20楼。”

“看这边，”妈妈说：“如果空气很干净，你们可以看到电厂附近我们的房子。”

电梯开始离开地面。

“你看，”罗恩说：“空气中那些脏的烟是什么呢？”

“这是烟雾，”妈妈说：“有时候，我们称为污染。它被称为烟雾，是因为烟和雾在一起。”

“这些烟雾从何而来呢？”罗恩问道：“我没看到任何东西燃烧。”

“空气中的烟雾有许多来源。”妈妈说：“看到这些轿车和卡车了吗？这些车辆燃烧燃料，排放气体到空气中。有时候没有风来吹散这些烟雾，如果有一层暖空气在冷空气上面，就会产生烟雾。呼吸带有烟雾的空气是不好的，有时候它会使人们生病。”

“我听到过污染这个词。”琳说，“但我以为它是垃圾。”

“污染可能由许多因素引起。”妈妈说：“回家的路上，我们可以谈论各种污染。”

回家的路上，这家人一直在谈论污染。他们谈到了一个清洁的环境怎样有利于生物的健康，然后他们开始讨论怎样做可以有助于保持环境清洁。

“你说得对，琳。垃圾是污染。想想我们家扔出去的所有垃圾吧。每个城市都会丢弃一些可以再次被使用的垃圾。”妈妈说。

“我们的教堂收集报纸和旧罐，”罗恩说：“他们把这些垃圾带到某个地方，在那里可以让它们变成新的罐和纸。”

“把旧东西变为新东西称为回收。”母亲说：“有许多旧东西可以再次使用。”

当一家人快到家时，他们听到了一声巨响。

“我听到了什么。”罗恩说。

“我认为那是一辆消防车。”琳说。

“我来关掉收音机，我没有听到。”妈妈说。

“我看到了一道闪光。”罗恩说。

消防车过去之后，妈妈说：“还有噪音污染。还记得昨天吗？爸爸在使用锯，狗在叫，你们在听广播，所有这些声音混在一起形成了很大的噪音。当人们在嘈杂的地方工作几年之后，听力会受到伤害。”

一个人做了这样一个试验：他让一些动物听声音非常大的音乐，每只动物的一只耳朵被堵上，另一只耳朵则没有。然后，他测试这些动物两只耳朵的听力。结果他发现，这些动物没有被堵上的耳朵失去了部分听力。一些喜欢玩吵闹音乐的年轻人，听力水平如同老年人。

噪音还会带来其他影响。有时候，那些在嘈杂环境工作的人们，会有很差的听力和更多的意外事故。

我们已经通过了一项法律，规定人们应该在任何地方都要尽力摆脱噪音。某些机器原本不必那么吵的。只是有时人们认为一个噪音大的机器有更强的功率，这种观点是不正确的。

妈妈又一次解释了合理谨慎地利用地球是多么重要。当制造污染时，我们是自私的，我们会让其他人生病，给他们带来额外的工作。

练习

1．当水、空气或者地面不干净时，我们叫它　　　　　。

2．琳和罗恩从一个玻璃　　　　　中观察这个城市。

3．罗恩看到的脏空气叫做　　　　　。

4．烟雾是烟和　　　　　。

5．当人们在非常嘈杂的环境中工作几年之后，会伤害他们的　　　　　。

6．一些喜欢听大声音乐的年轻人有着老年人的　　　　　。

7．我们已经通过了一项让人们摆脱尽可能多　　　　　的法律。

8．一些人认为噪声大的机器　　　　　更强。

1．pollution 污染　　　　  2．elevator 电梯

3．smog 烟雾　　　　　　4．fog 雾

5．hearing 听力　　　　　6．hearing 听力

7．noise 噪音　　　　　　8．power 功率