2007年7月11日 格林尼治标准时间11:07更新
Green Transport in London 伦敦绿色交通工具
Paul: Are you ready for our green city ride Yang Li?
Yang Li: I’m really excited! A green city ride on a pedi cab! 大家好我是杨莉我和洪刚一人登一人坐，三轮车上兜一圈儿，看看伦敦有哪些绿色交通工具。
Paul: Hi I’m Paul, welcome to this very special edition of On the Town from 大象传媒 Learning English. Let’s get onto the road with our pedi cab.
Yang Li: A pedi cab 人力三轮车。
Paul: Of course, you know that London is one of the great metropolitan cities of the world, but how green is its transport in terms of carbon emissions?
Yang Li: 都有哪些减少废气的交通工具呢？废弃排放就是 carbon emissions.
Paul: Why don't we start with the increasing number of pedi cabs in London?
Yang Li: 伦敦的三轮车数量不断增加。So what are the benefits of riding a pedi cab?
Paul: Well, why don’t we put that question to Friedel, who works with a pedi cab company in London.
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There are two benefits - the first is you get some exercise and you need to be little bit healthier than those chaps and two, you don't actually add pollutants to the environment and you are actually providing a service that is very, very welcome. And a lot of people who take a ride have exactly the same faces as you have now - big smiles.
Yang Li: I totally agree with Friedel there: you are healthier 更为健康；and you are not adding pollutants to the environment 同时也不污染环境。 污染物pollutants 环境 environment.
Paul: Another green vehicle that all the Chinese should be familiar with is, of course, the bicycle. Let’s ask a couple of students in London who are just parking their bikes.
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London’s getting much more cycle-friendly. So I think that that’s really, really excellent, but in another way I think the taxi drivers and the buses are actually…… they are not very nice to cyclists at all.
Given the choice, if you had enough money and could buy a car, would you still prefer to ride a bicycle?
Yeah, because it’s good exercise as well and you know, it’s nice to be outside even when it’s in the winter I carry on cycling.
Paul+Yang Li: Now there are a couple of expressions to learn: cycle-friendly: 便利骑自行车的 cyclist 骑自行车的人。 Now let’s listen to the next one.
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It gives me some exercise, so that’s good. And it saves – you know, I am not churning out loads of fumes like all these cars and taxies and buses. I think if everyone rode a bike in London it would be a lot better for the environment.
Paul: Apart from good exercise and saving money he said that he is not churning out loads of fumes.
Yang Li: 散发，排放 churning out；大量的废气 loads of fumes. But Paul, at least there are a lot more electric cars on the roads, aren’t there?
Paul: Well I certainly see more electric cars 电动车。That’s right, let’s ask Maggie why she has chosen one.
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So environmentally it’s nice to feel that you are doing something towards the environment. You know, it’s nice to feel that you are not upping the emissions.
So this is a zero emission …..
Technically it’s a zero emission car.
Tell me something, you are obviously very proud of it because you’ve got these sunflowers. When you pass a car like that one, Mercedes, Jaguar, Rolls Royce, do you feel superior or inferior, or does that not come into the equation?
I feel superior, I feel decidedly superior. I feel like I’m doing something for the environment and he is not doing anything for the environment.
Yang Li: Let’s look at some of the words we have just heard:
Paul: Upping the emissions 增添废气; a zero emission car 零排放机动车; superior 具有优越感的; inferior 自卑的。
Paul: So Maggie feels decidedly superior.
Yang Li: 一种坚定，不迟疑的自豪感。
Paul: Well electric cars, pedi cabs, bikes, are all very well but what’s made the biggest impact so far has got to be the congestion charge.
Yang Li+Paul: Congestion charge 机动车进城费 Charles 是绿色和平组织负责人，他高度赞扬了伦敦市长的勇气。
Listen out for these words: universally unpopular decision 人人都不赞成的决定；impose 强制实行；unconditional charge 无条件收费。
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The bravest thing that’s happened in London is the congestion charge. The mayor of London took what was described as a universally unpopular decision to impose an unconditional charge for driving into the centre of London. It has been absolutely fantastic, it’s improved air quality, it’s reduced traffic, and, much to everyone’s surprise – even without meaning to do it – it’s reduced carbon emissions in central London as well. And that was one single brave act – no equipment, no technology required, just courage.
Yang Li: 他说，伦敦的进城费真是高招：舒缓了交通；改进了空气质量同时还减少了废气。
Paul: So Yang Li, how green has London become in the past five years? Better than Beijing, Shanghai or worse?
Yang Li: Well I suppose you have to come to London and see for yourself.
Paul: Well, till another time then - goodbye
Yang Li: 下次节目再会。