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托福词汇:雾霾用英语怎么说?

2017-02-08来源:互联网

  这两天相信大家又体验了一把to be or not to be

  ——不是被邪风冻死就是被雾霾毒死

  ——to be frozen to death by the heavy wind or not to be frozen but poisoned by the…WAIT!…雾霾咋说来着?

  雾霾的英语还要追根溯源,看看英语国家是如何表达的,因为雾霾不止中国有,其它国家也有…

  别看现在的BigApple,EmpireState Building和WorldTrade Center在清早的晨辉下交相呼应

  但在1966年11月24日感恩节,雾霾降临纽约,至当月末纽约共有169人因雾霾而死亡。“纽约雾霾”一度成为当时的专有名词。

  别看现在“天使之城”的CityHall沐浴在太平洋的暖暖海风和和煦阳光下

  1952和1955年,洛杉矶先后发生两次严重的雾霾,城市天空被嘲讽为“洗坏了的胶卷”,经历了数十年的抗霾斗争,至80年代末洛杉矶的天气状况才有了明显改善。

  那雾霾应该如何用英语地道表述呢?根据国外主流媒体,如TheGuardian(卫报),TheWall Street Journal(华尔街日报)和国内新华社的常用译法,雾霾一般有两种译法:haze和smog。

  Haze

  Haze的基本名词词义起初只有“薄雾、阴霾”,而工业革命改变了这个词的含义。自18世纪下半叶起,西方国家逐渐掀起工业革命,以及城市化的推进,导致出现了“烟雾缭绕”的城镇,尤其以“雾都”伦敦为甚。这就是当时的“雾霾”。

  有趣的是,haze这个词也有着“戏弄(新生、新人),对…施下马威”的意思。如:

  Don’t haze the new roommate,he’s my cousin. Take it easy on him.

  别欺负新室友,他是我表弟,悠着点好吧。

  再比如2016年11月12日那道Task2:

  Some are willing to own andmanage their own company, and some prefer to work in others’ company. Which doyou prefer and why?

  不就可以谈谈“相比创业,给别人打工,作为新人会被老员工欺负”:

  Well, working in others’ company means I’ll have todeal with the complicatedpersonalconnections(人际关系) with all those supervisors(主管) and senior colleagues(同事). And according to my ownexperience of the internship last summer, the so called “orientation(入职培训)” fornewcomers often ends up with being hazed by the senior co-workers, like running errands(跑腿、打杂) or buyingcoffee.

  给别人打工意味着要处理和主管和老员工们复杂的人际关系。根据我去年的实习经历,那些所谓的给新人的“入职培训”无外乎就是老员工给下马威,给他们跑腿打杂买咖啡。

  Smog

  Smog是个合成词,由smoke和fog合体构成,因为从工厂排放出的有毒有害烟尘就是smoke,而fog则是雾,有雾有霾那就是雾霾了。就是这么简单暴力,英文中类似的合成词还有brunch(=breakfast + lunch早午餐), 以及去年炒的沸沸扬扬的“英国脱欧”Brexit(=Britain + exit),但又以“悔脱”regrexit(=regret + exit)收场。

  按你胃(Anyway),这正应了那句“自己约得X,含着泪也要打完”

  PM2.5的PM又是什么?

  PM2.5指的是“可吸入肺部颗粒物”,PM的英文全称为particulatematter(微粒物质,悬浮微粒),PM2.5就是指大气中直径小于等于2.5微米的颗粒物,

  Father Christmas:“由于雾霾影响,包裹可能被延迟,请谅解”

  如何在托福口语里谈雾霾

  近来的预测机经里出来了这么几道题,引起了Capt.Jack老船长的注意:

  1. Do you agree with thestatement: it is easier for people today to lead a healthy life than people of100 years ago.

  这题就不妨祭出雾霾的论点:

  With the fast developing technologies, the airpollution caused by heavyindustry(重工业)and car emissions(汽车尾气) hasn’t been severer thanever before in the history, especially in the Northern China. And theparticular matters in the smog/haze are the mostly attributed causes for pneumonia(肺炎) and lung cancer.

  随着科技的发展,重工业和汽车尾气导致空气污染日益严重,特别是中国北部的雾霾,其中的颗粒物是导致肺炎和肺癌的主要原因之一

  2. Some people prefer to doexercises outdoors in a park or on the street, while others prefer to work outindoors in a gym or just at home. Which way do you prefer and why.

  我还就不出去锻炼,你问为啥?

  “大妈,您能给我讲讲雾霾给您造成了哪些不便?”“首先,我是你大爷!”

  Giventhat the air pollution has been uNPRecedentedly(前所未有地)severe in recent years, I will inhale considerable amount of particularmatters, which are the main causes for pneumonia and lung cancer, even when Ibreathe in the haze/smog, not to say doing intense(剧烈的) physicalactivities. I would be crazy if I do sports outdoors.

  考虑到近几年空气污染已爆表,在户外运动会吸入大量的颗粒物,这些都是导致肺炎和肺癌的主要原因,我要是明知如此还在户外运动那才是傻。

  最后说两句题外话,治理雾霾需要长期努力,为了自身健康,大家每天要记得戴上防雾霾口罩。希望以后一有雾霾就起风,没了雾霾就风停。Fingercrossed!