美語情景對話 第807期:Katia's Green Concerns 卡蒂亞對環保的擔憂

Enam: Katia, what are the environmental problems in your country?

伊納姆：卡蒂亞，你們國家有什麼環境問題？

Katia: Well, I can think of three problems. One is water drought. The scarcity of water. Second, we have a lot of air pollution, and third a lot of deforestation.

卡蒂亞：我可以想到的有三個問題。第一個問題是乾旱。水資源短缺。第二個問題是空氣污染嚴重。第三個問題是砍伐森林。

Enam: OK, so can you tell me about deforestation in your country?

伊納姆：好，你能說一下你們國家砍伐森林的情況嗎？

Katia: Well, Mexico is big and we have areas that have a lot of trees, but unfortunately many factories have been moving into that area in particular and they take down the trees. That has been happening for so long that the areas have increased and because of that a lot of indigenous are displaced as well as a lot the animals have died or it has decreased so unfortunately that has been a big problem in certain parts of Mexico, but then of course there are some things that are being done. For example, the government has placed certain areas that are to remain untouched and also they are bringing more trees in certain areas and planting them and hopefully it will bring the green area back to where it was before.

卡蒂亞：墨西哥非常大，我們有樹木茂盛的地區，不過不幸的是，許多工廠搬到了那個地區，所以他們就把樹砍了。這種情況持續了很長時間，現在該地區的問題越來越嚴重，許多土著居民流離失所，大量動物死亡，所以很不幸，這是墨西哥特定地區一直存在的嚴重問題，不過當然這些問題正在被解決。舉例來說，政府規定特定地區要保持原貌，同時種了更多的樹，希望讓這些地區的綠化情況回到以前。

Enam: Really, that's good. But how bad is the water scarcity problem?

伊納姆：這很好。那水資源短缺的情況有多嚴重？

Katia: Well, water scarcity I think is one of the major problems Mexico has. For example, I can just talk about Mexico city. Mexico City was built on top of a lake and we Mexicans have been using the water from the lake to supply our water needs but this has been going on for so long that we basically use all the water that was left and now we trying to figure out where to bring water from. This is a big problem that Mexico faces. We don't have many wells that we can get water from. And unfortunately also a big problem is with the piping system a lot of lakes and actually a big percentage of our water is lost through leaks. What is being done about that problem? Well, first, they're fixing the pipes. That's a basic way to start. Also, we are only allowed to use water certain days of the week to water our garden or wash our trees or wash our cars and so yeah, and I think the Mexicans are becoming more conscious on how to use water, so I think hopefully that will help with the water scarcity problem.

卡蒂亞：我想水資源短缺是墨西哥面臨的重要問題之一。以墨西哥城爲例。墨西哥城坐落在一個湖上，我們墨西哥人一直用那座湖裏的水滿足我們的用水需求，我們這種做法持續了很長時間，所以我們幾乎用光了湖裏僅剩的水資源，現在我們正在努力尋找其他水資源。這是墨西哥面臨的一個嚴重問題。我們沒有太多可以取水的水井。不幸的是，大量湖泊的管道系統存在嚴重問題，所以我們的大部分水資源因滲漏而損失。這個問題要如何解決？首先，他們要修理管道。這是基本方法。另外，按規定，我們只能在一週內的特定日子中澆花和洗車，我認爲墨西哥人越來越關注如何使用水資源，我希望這能有助於緩解水資源短缺問題。

Enam: And what about air pollution?

伊納姆：那空氣污染問題呢？

Katia: Well, actually we also have the air pollution problem, and if you go to Mexico, if it's any day of the week, from Monday to Friday, it's very hard to see the sun. It's always very cloudy. Your skin becomes very dirty actually, and it's very hard to breathe because of the high contamination. There are many cars: too many cars that is really hard to breathe, and you can tell that also by sun. Saturday and Sunday. you can actually see the sun because a lot of the people are not driving since it's the weekend, and also it was said that you could measure the pollution of Mexico City by counting how many dead birds you can find on the streets because of the high contamination, but yeah unfortunately a very bad situation however Mexico has put some rules that if you have a car, you can only drive on certain days of the week, and that anytime so hopefully that has ... that will help in the future to prevent much more contamination and of course there are other things that have been done. There are more parks to help with the pollution, but yeah, I think this is the main thing they have done regarding the transportation. Just preventing people from driving as much as they want.

卡蒂亞：實際上我們也有空氣污染問題，如果你去墨西哥，每週的週一至週五，任何一天都很難見到太陽。每天都是陰陰的。這種情況下你的皮膚也會越來越暗淡，而且因爲污染嚴重人們很難呼吸。路上有很多車，因爲車太多了，所以很難呼吸，從陽光的情況就能看出來。週六和週日可以看到太陽，因爲週末有很多人都不開車，據說可以通過計算路上死鳥的數量來衡量墨西哥城的污染程度，這些鳥因污染致死，所以很不幸，污染情況很嚴重，不過墨西哥出臺了一系列措施，車主只能在一週的特定日子開車上路，希望這些措施可以預防未來更多的污染情況，當然還有其他治理污染的措施。爲了治理污染，建造了許多停車場，我認爲這是他們在交通問題上做出的主要舉措。只要讓人們減少開車次數就好了。

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重點講解：
1. in particular 尤其；特別；
例句：He studies in particular the fishes of the Indian Ocean.
他專門研究印度洋的魚類。
2. take down 拆掉；拆毀；
例句：Early in the morning they took down the tents.
一大早他們就把帳篷拆掉。
3. as well as 除…之外；也；還；
例句：Living things need air and light as well as water.
生命不僅需要水，還需要空氣和陽光。
4. for example 例如；比如；
例句：For example posters that show what can be recycled in school and explain how much carbon this can save.
比如，海報顯示出學校裏有什麼東西能被循環再用並且解釋從中能節省多少碳。
5. figure out 想出；理解；弄清；
例句：We must figure out how to solve the problem.
我們必須想出解決這個問題的辦法。
6. prevent sb. from doing sth. 阻止；制止；阻礙；
例句：They did not prevent him from expressing his views.
他們沒有阻止他發表自己的觀點。