新视野大学英语Book2.unit5

UNIT5 The villain in the atmosphere

1.Why is the world getting hotter?

global warming, greenhouse effect

2. What is the greenhouse effect?

the sun, radiation, warm the planet, natural source of heat, absorb, get trapped to the layer, escape, extra bit hotter, over and over again

3. Which gas is the most in the atmosphere?

carbon dioxide, 50%

4. Where CO2 comes from?

everyday lives，domesticating, power station, industry, transport

5. How could we reduce these gases? But what do people do then?

planting more trees, just do the opposite, cut them down, more polluting factories and roads 6. What can we do as individuals to help the effort to stop global warming.

With increased economic activity all over the world, people burn more and more coal, oil and gas every day, pouring an ever rising amount of carbon dioxide into the air. At the same time, due to the increase of population, more and more forests, which could absorb carbon dioxide, are turned into farming land, thus aggravating the greenhouse effect and causing the whole Earth to grow warmer and warmer.

T o stop this warming trend, every country must first try to find alternative energy sources, such as solar and atomic power, and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. Then effective measures must be taken to protect whatever trees are left uncut in the world. Furthermore, new trees should be planted every year so that forests will cover more and more areas of our globe.

As individuals, we can also contribute to the effort to stop global warming. In our homes, we can use energy efficient appliances, or use solar or wind power, which don’t emit carbon dioxide. While going out, we can use public transportation instead of driving a private car. We can even walk or bike to school or work. If we must drive, we can use a car that gets high mileage, or join a car pool when possible. With the joint effort of every country and every individual, we may hope to restore the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to its previous levels and prevent the disasters that threaten as a result of global weathe r change

Paraphrase:

1. It is not very poisonous and it is present in the atmosphere in so small a quantity —only 0.034 percent —that it does us no harm.

-------它毒性不大，在大气层中的含量极小——只占0.034％——不会对我们造成任何伤害。

2. But here is what this apparently harmless and certainly essential gas is doing to us:

--------It is an inversion. “here”is used at the beginning of the sentence. The subject of the sentence is a complex sentence, consisting of a subject clause “what this apparently harmless and certainly essential gas.”

--------然而，这一看上去无害而且无疑又必不可少的气体却正在对我们产生影响。

3. Where there are low-lying coastal areas (where a large fraction of the world’s population lives) the water will advance steadily, forcing people to retreat inland.

----------The water will move forward to the coastal areas that are not much above the land (in which a great number of people in the world live), as a result, many people have to move away and settle down inside their countries.

-----------在那些低洼的沿海地区(在这些地区居住着世界上很大一部分人口)，海水会稳步向前推进，迫使人们向内陆退居。

4. Florida will disappear beneath the waves, as will much of the British Isles, the crowded Nile valley, and the low-lying areas of China, India, and Russia.

---------佛罗里达将会沉没在海浪之下，英伦三岛的大部分，人口稠密的尼罗河流域，还有中国、印度和俄罗斯的低洼地区也都将遭到同样的命运。

“as”作为连接词引导了方式状语从句，为了保持句子平衡，使用倒装句。

e.g He traveled a great deal as did most of his friends.

He was exhausted, as were all the others in the team.

5. Sunlight, striking the top of the atmosphere, travels right through miles of it to warm the Earth’s surface.

-------太阳光照射大气层的顶部，径直透过数英里的大气层，温暖着地球的表面。

6. However, the atmosphere is not quite as transparent to infrared radiation as it is to visible light. -------The atmosphere is clearer to visible light than that to infrared radiation.

-------然而，大气层对红外线来说并不像它对可见光那样透明。

7. Less heat is lost at night, for that reason, than would be lost if carbon dioxide were not present in the atmosphere. ---------Subjunctive mood.

e.g If it weren’t too much trouble, I’d love a cup of tea.

8. We can be thankful that carbon dioxide is keeping us comfortably warm, but the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is going up steadily and that is where the villainy comes in

----------我们该感到欣慰，二氧化碳给我们温暖使我们舒舒服服，但是大气中二氧化碳的浓度正在稳步升高，其恶迹也就由此而生。

9.Each year since, the concentration has crept upward and it now stands at 0.0340 percent.

---------Since 1958, every year the gathering of carbon dioxide has increased and now it was about 0.0340 percent.

-----------此后每年，其浓度逐年悄悄攀升，而现在已达到0．0340％。

10.The carbon contained in these fuels, which has been safely buried underground for many millions of years, is now being burned to carbon dioxide and poured into the atmosphere at a rate of many tons per day.

-----------There are two attributives after the subject “carbon”. “contained in these fuels” — past participle phrase“which has been safely buried underground for many millions of years” —attributive clause

-----------这些燃料中所含的碳，在过去数百万年的岁月里一直安全地埋在地下，而现在正被烧成二氧化碳，并以每天数吨的速率大量排放到大气中。

11. Thus, not only is more carbon dioxide being added to the atmosphere through burning of fuel, but as the forests disappear, less carbon dioxide is being removed from the atmosphere by plants. ----------Inversion. Inversion must be used when a negative word is put at the beginning of a sentence.

e.g Never shall I forget that day when I was admitted into the school.

Hardly had he began to speak when the audience interrupted him.

-------------因此，不仅是通过燃料的燃烧使更多的二氧化碳被释放到大气中，而且，随着森林的消失，植物从大气中吸收的二氧化碳也减少了。

12. It is people who are burning the coal, oil, and gas. It is people who are cutting down the forests. It is people, then, who are the villains

---------Pattern: It is / was +被强调部分+ that / who / whom / which +句中其他部分

e.g It was a young scientist who / that solved this problem five years ago.

-----------是人在烧煤、烧油和烧气。是人在砍伐森林。所以，人才是真正的元凶。

Useful Expressions

Words and Expressions: 1.

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Translation:

1.If the rich countries spent more money on green industries,instead of on building up

military machines and nuclear weapons,many of today’s widespread pollution problems would gradually disappear.

2.The burning of coal not only consumes the oxygen in the house but also ging ive out

poisonous gases.

3.Apparently,find alternative energy sources is essential to the steady development of our

economy.

4.Solar cells can absorb sunlight and convert into electricity.

5.If the temperature on the earth continues to go up from year to year, the polar ice caps

will begin to melt and ,in all likelihood, half of the buildings in coastal cities will disappear beneath sea waves.

6.Because these creatures are small and tend to hide beneth leafy plants,they are not

always visible to the naked eye.

7.As a result of exposure to atomic radiation,he finally collapsed at work.

8.There is distinct evidence of the connection between heavy pressure of work and some

disorders of the body.