考博英语2011年10passagethree

Passage three Next week the European parliament will debate stringent regulation of a number of effective pesticides If the regulation is passed the consequences will be devastating Parliament 议会 国会 Stringent 紧缩的 短缺的 Pesticide 杀虫剂 Devastate 彻底破坏 摧毁 毁灭 In the 1960s widespread use of the potent and safe insecticide DDT led to eradication of many insect borne diseases in Europe and North America But based on no scientific evidence of human health effects the U S Environmental Protection Agency banned DDT and its European counterparts followed suit Subsequently more than 1 million people died each year from malaria but not in America or Europe most of the victims were children and women in Africa and Asia Potent 效力大的 威力大的 Insecticide 杀虫剂 Eradication 连根拔除 根除 Insect 昆虫 Borne bear 的过去分词 Counterpart 与对方地位相当的人 与另一方作用相当的物 Suit 诉讼案件 法律程序 2 一套衣服 Subsequently 随后的 继 之后的 Malaria 疟疾 Today even while acknowledging that indoor spraying of small amounts of DDT would help prevent many deaths and million of illnesses nongovernmental organization continue with great success to pressure African governments not to allow its use In order to stave off such pressure African public health officials cave and their children die needlessly Yet rather than learning the tragic lesson of the DDT ban the European Union wants to extend this unscientific ban to other effective insecticides including pyrethroids and organophosphates further understanding anti malarial efforts Spray 喷 喷洒 向 喷洒 Stave off 避开 挡开 延迟 Cave 让步 屈服 屈从 Rather than 而不是 Insecticides 杀虫剂 Effort 努力 尽力 The currently debated regulation would engender a paradigm shift in the regulation of chemicals from a risk based approach based on real would exposures from agricultural applications to a hazard based standard derived from laboratory tests and having little or no basis in reality as far as human health is concerned Of course this is fine with anti chemical zealots Their concern is bringing down chemical companies in the name of the environment tough luck if African children have to be sacrificed to their agenda as was the case with DDT which is still banned in the EU and not under consideration in the current debate Engender 造成 引起 Paradigm 范例 样式 模范 danger risk hazard menace peril threat 这些名词均含有 危险 威胁 之意 danger 含义广 普通用词 指能够造成伤害 损害或不利的任何情况 In case of danger raise the electric alarm 如果有危险 就拉响电动警报器 risk 指有可能发生的危险 尤指主动进行某种活动或去碰运气而冒的危险 You are taking a big risk driving so fast 你开车这样快是在冒很大的危险 hazard 比 risk 正式 多指偶然发生的或无法控制的危险 常含较严重或有一定风险的意味 He climbed into the car at the hazard of his life 他冒着生命危险进了汽车 menace 所指的危险性最严重 表示使用暴力或造成破坏性的可能 The big hole outside the house is a menace to children s safety 房子外面的大窟窿对孩 子们的安全是个威胁 peril 指迫在眉睫很有可能发生的严重危险 Is the arms race the greatest peril now 军备竞赛是当今的最大危险吗 threat 普通用词 语气弱于 menace 指任何公开侵犯对方的言行 给对方构成危险或威胁 His threats are just talk Don t worry 他的威胁只不过是虚张声势的空话而已 不要担心 Exposure 暴露 Agricultural 农业的 农业化的 Zealot 热心者 狂热者 Tough 坚轫的 Tough luck 不幸 Sacrifice 向 祭献 Agenda 议事日程 会议的 议程表 Most poignantly the fight against malaria and other insect borne tropical would take another hit with resulting illness disability and death dis proportionally affecting children under five and pregnant women Poignant 伤心的 痛切的 深刻的 Tropical 热带的 炎热的 Take a hit 遭受重击 dis proportionally 不相称 And what after all is the danger of these chemicals being debated In fact there is no evidence to support the contention that insecticides pose a health threat to humans Even DDT one of the most studied chemicals of all time has been conclusively shown to safe for humans at all conceivable lev