听考研真题|2020年英二阅读3:城市空气治理:治标难治本

Madrid was hailed as a public health beacon last November when it rolled out ambitious restrictions on the most polluting cars. 

【生词】hail n.冰雹, 一阵; vi.下冰雹, 如冰雹般地降下; vt.致敬, 欢呼

【翻译】去年11月，马德里针对污染最严重的汽车实施了力度空前的限行措施，这一举措使其被誉为公共卫生领域的典范城市。。

Seven months and one election day later, a new conservative city council suspended enforcement of the clean air zone, a first step toward its possible demise.

【生词】demise n.死亡, （不动产的）转让, 让位

【翻译】在时隔七个月、恰逢一个选举日之后，当地新一届保守派市议会暂停了“清洁空气区”政策的实施，这标志着该政策可能被废止的第一步。

Mayor José Luis Martinez-Almeida made opposition to the zone a centrepiece of his election campaign, despite its success in improving air quality. 

【生词】centrepiece n.最引人注目的部分

【翻译】尽管该区域在改善空气质量方面成效显著，但何塞·路易斯·马丁内斯-阿尔梅达市长仍将反对该区域的立场作为其竞选活动的核心议题。

A judge has now overruled the city’s decision to stop levying fines, ordering them reinstated. But with legal battles ahead, the zone’s future looks uncertain at best.

【生词】overrule v.批驳，推翻，拒绝

levy v.征（兵）, 索取, 发动（战争）, 征税

Among other weaknesses, the measures cities must employ when left to tackle dirty air on their own are politically contentious, and therefore vulnerable. 

【生词】Among other  除...之外

That’s because they inevitably put the costs of cleaning the air on to individual drivers—who must pay fees or buy better vehicles—rather than on to the car manufacturers whose cheating is the real cause of our toxic pollution.

【生词】toxic adj.有毒的, 中毒的, 因中毒引起的

【翻译】这是因为，这些成本最终都转嫁给了个体驾驶员——他们要么支付相关费用，要么购买性能更优的车辆——而非转嫁给汽车制造商；而汽车制造商的违规行为才是导致我们面临有毒污染问题的真正原因。

It’s not hard to imagine a similar reversal happening in London. The new ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) is likely to be a big issue in next year's mayoral election. 

【生词】mayoral adj.市长的

And if Sadiq khan wins and extends it to the North and South Circular roads in 2021 as he intends, it is sure to spark intense opposition from the far larger number of motorists who will then be affected.

【生词】motorist n.汽车驾驶员

【翻译】倘若萨迪克·汗如其所愿于 2021 年成功将该政策扩展至南北环线公路，此举势必会引发广大受影响驾驶者的强烈反对。

It's not that measures such as London’s Ulez are useless. Far from it. Local officials are using the levers that are available to them to safeguard residents’health in the face of a serious threat. 

【生词】far from it 远非如此,恰恰相反

The zones do deliver some improvements to air quality, and the science tells us that means real health benefits—fewer heart attacks, strokes and premature births, less cancer, dementia and asthma. Fewer untimely deaths.

【生词】premature adj.过早的, 提前的, 早产的, 草率的; n.早产儿

dementia n.[医]痴呆

asthma n.<医>气喘，哮喘

But mayors and councilors can only do so much about a problem that is far bigger than any one city or town. 

【翻译】然而，市长和市议员在应对这一远超任何单一城市或城镇范畴的复杂问题时，所能采取的措施终究有限。

They are acting because national governments—Britain’s and others across Europe—have failed to do so.

Restrictions that keep highly polluting cars out of certain areas—city centres, “school streets”, even individual roads—are a response to the absence of a larger effort to properly enforce existing regulations and require auto companies to bring their vehicles into compliance.  

【生词】compliance n.遵守, 服从

【翻译】对高污染车辆实施的限行措施——例如禁止其驶入市中心、“学校周边道路”乃至特定路段——是针对当前缺乏更大规模举措来切实执行现有法规、并要求汽车制造商使其车辆符合环保标准这一现状所采取的应对之策。

Wales has introduced special low speed limits to minimise pollution. We’re doing everything but insist that manufacturers clean up their cars.

【翻译】威尔士已实施特殊的低速限速措施以减少污染；我们已采取一切必要措施，但同时坚持要求汽车制造商对旗下车辆进行清洁处理。