2014年3月高级口译真题：下半场阅读理解第二篇

　　为了方便同学们的口译学习，新东方在线口译网为大家准备整理了2014年3月高级口译真题：下半场阅读理解第二篇，供大家阅读参考。更多有关口译的资讯，尽在新东方在线口译网!

　　本文是环保类话题，关键词是geo-engineering。全文如下：

　　A former Government chief scientist once told methat we should always have a Plan B ready in casePlan A doesn’t work – or doesn’t happen. He wasspeaking in relation to the possibility of “geo-engineering” the climate if it becomes obvious thatglobal warming is beginning to tip irrevocablytowards a potentially dangerous state.

　　He could only say this once he was out of office ofcourse because the official Government view at thetime – as it is now – was that “there is no Plan B” in relation to climate change, that the onlyconceivable way of avoiding dangerous global temperature increases in the future is to curbthe production of greenhouse gas emissions now.

　　Geo-engineering is defined as the deliberate, large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climatesystem in order to limit undesirable climate change, but it is seen by many as a technical fixtoo far. At its most outlandish, geo-engineering envisages putting giant mirrors in space todeflect incoming solar radiation, but it also includes more benign interventions, such as solarpowered “artificial trees” in the desert for soaking up carbon dioxide in the air.

　　Despite the official view of there being no Plan B, however, last week’s fifth report by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has placed geo-engineering firmly on theagenda – even if the scientific panel rather denigrates the idea as probably unworkable andpotentially dangerous. Nevertheless, for some critics of geo-engineering the mere mention ofthe concept in such an official and high-profile publication is enough to see red.

　　Indeed, the Canadian-based ETC Group of environmentalists, perceived a Russian-ledconspiracy to subvert the IPCC process. Russia had insisted on the addition of geo-engineering to the report and it is Russia where many geo-engineering projects are beingtested, the ETC Group claims.

　　Before getting carried away with the inclusion for the first time of geo-engineering in an IPCCreport, it is worth pointing out that the panel emphasises the inherent flaws of the proposalsto counter rising temperatures. Deflecting sunlight with artificially created white clouds over theoceans, for instance, would do nothing to prevent the acidification of the oceans and, if it hadto be stopped for any reason, global surface temperatures would soon rise again even higherthan before.

　　In short, if we rely on a technical fix to combat climate change, rather than addressing theroot problem, we could become addicted to the illusion that all is well when, in fact, all that weare doing is delaying the inevitable, while increasing the risk of some serious unintendedconsequences, which history tells us are never far away from big engineering proposals of thiskind.

　　Take for instance the relatively small-scale geo-engineering project to divert the rivers runninginto the Aral Sea of the former Soviet Union. Half a century ago the Aral Sea was the fourthlargest lake in the world with a thriving commercial fishery, but by 2007 it had declined toabout 10 per cent of its original size, with fishing boats stranded in the middle of a toxic saltpan.

　　Soviet scientists diverted water from two rivers running into the Aral Sea to irrigate fields ofcotton and other crops. But in the end they created a barren, dusty landscape where oncethere was a sea filled with wildlife. Toxins and salt blown from the Aral’s parched basementeven threatened the very crops that the project was meant to generate.

　　So when some people talk about the possibility of “fixing” the climate with technologicalinterventions rather than cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, let’s not forget history. Perhaps HMGovernment is right: there is no Plan B.

　　Talking of carbon dioxide, I have just returned from an interesting visit to the Czech Republicwhere health tourism, rather than being frowned upon, is positively encouraged.

　　What has this got to do with carbon dioxide, you may ask? Well one of the more curious, ifnot bizarre “medical” treatments you can buy is a dip in a dry bath of carbon dioxide. For 20minutes or so you bathe everything below your waist (fully clothed) in an atmosphere of“natural” carbon dioxide pumped from underground sources.

　　It is said by those who sell it to cure a range of conditions and even acts like a dose of Viagra.Strictly in the interests of science I volunteered. I intend to publish my findings in a peer-reviewed scientific journal – that is if I can find one prepared to overlook my limited set ofdata points.

　　本文后附上三个题目：

　　1. What is geo-engineering? What are the possible international measures of geo-engineering?

　　2. What are the views of the critics of geo-engineering?

　　3. Why does the author introduce the small scale geo-engineering project?

　　从题目中可以看出，本文的中心词是geo-engineering，文章对geo-engineering还提出了相当的质疑，并提出可以实验小型geo-engineering。从文章第三段开始，可以找到geo-engineering的定义。接着正好是各国可以采用的手段和人们提出的质疑。文章后三段相熟了小型的geo-engineering。