雅思阅读素材：北京城市环境告急_雅思
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2013年1月14日雅思阅读精选：北京遭遇雾霾天气 城市环境告急
From：TIME, Jan. 14, 2013
Beijing Warns Residents After Off-the-Charts Smog
(BEIJING) — Beijing schools kept childrenindoors and hospitals saw a spike
in respiratorycases Monday following a weekend of off-the charts pollution in
China's smoggy capital, theworst since the government began being more open
about air-quality data.
City authorities, who began releasing figures about some of the worst kinds
of pollutantsearly last year, ordered many factories to scale back emissions and
were spraying water atbuilding sites to try to tamp down dust and dirt worsening
the noxious haze hanging over thecity.
Demand spiked for face masks and air purifiers, and hospitals saw surges of
up to 30percent in residents seeking help for breathing problems, state-run
media outlets reported.Schools in several districts were ordered to cancel
outdoor activities such as flag-raisings andsports classes, and in an unusual
public announcement, Beijing authorities advised allresidents to "take measures
to protect their health."
"It's really terrible. I'm extremely upset, but there's really nothing much
I can do," said aBeijing resident out for a morning stroll. Like many Chinese,
the man would give only hissurname, Kang.
Another man, a 60-year-old retiree surnamed Chen, said his elderly
relatives had moved tostay with family members outside the city to avoid the
pollution.
"I'm in pretty good shape, but the older folks have a lot of problems with
their hearts,breathing, and high blood pressure," Chen said.
Levels of PM2.5 particle pollution over the weekend reached the highest
levels since theBeijing government began publicly releasing figures following a
public outcry. In separatemonitoring by the U.S. Embassy, level were at 886
micrograms per cubic meter in a reading thatwas labeled “beyond index.”
By Monday, levels had declined to about 350 micrograms on the Beijing
government scale— down from a high above 700 but still way above the level of 25
considered safe by the WorldHealth Organization.
PM2.5 are tiny particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in size, or
about 1/30th theaverage width of a human hair. They can penetrate deep into the
lungs, and measuring them isconsidered a more accurate reflection of air quality
than other methods.
The Beijing Shijitan Hospital received 20 percent more patients than usual
at itsrespiratory health department, Dr. Huang Aiben said. Most patients were
coughing and soughttreatment for chronic bronchitis, asthma and other
respiratory illnesses, Huang said.
“Because these dust particles are relatively fine, they can be directly
absorbed by the lung’stiny air sacs. The airway’s ability to block the fine dust
is relatively weak and so bacteria andviruses carried by the dust can directly
enter the airway,” Huang said.
Huang said exposure to such high levels ofpollution over the short term can
cause bacterialand viral infections, and prolonged exposure couldresult in
tumors.
Beijing’s air started to worsen on Thursday,and Beijing’s monitoring center
said the pollutionwas expected to linger until Tuesday.
Weather conditions are a factor, as a lack ofwind means pollutants can
easily accumulate and failto dissipate, said Pan Xiao Chuan, a professor
atPeking University’s public health department.
“Recent pollution doesn’t mean there is an increase in the discharge of
pollutants,” hesaid.
The government started publishing PM2.5 readings last year after public
demands for moredetailed air quality data, prompted in part by a Twitter feed
from the U.S. Embassy thatreported readings from the building’s roof. A growing
Chinese middle class has becomeincreasingly vocal about the quality of the
environment. Hourly air quality updates are nowavailable online for more than 70
cities.
Air pollution is a major problem in China due to the country’s rapid pace
ofindustrialization, reliance on coal power, explosive growth in car ownership
and disregardfor environmental laws. It typically gets worse in the winter
because of weather conditions andan increase in coal burning for heating
needs.
Several other cities, including Tianjin on the coast east of Beijing and
southern China’sWuhan city, also reported severe pollution over the last several
days.
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