Giáo trình Traslation_5_2 docx

29 - to be dealt with : đ-ợc giải quyết - collection : sự thu gom - municipal : thuộc thành phố * municipal transport system : hệ thống giao thông thành phố - magnet : nam châm - ferrous : thuộc về sắt * ferrous and non-ferrous metals : kim loại đen và kim loại màu - to scrap : loại bỏ - compost : phân hữu cơ - composting plant : nhà máy phân hữu cơ - awkward : bất tiện, khó sử dụng,gây khó khăn * awkward shape/door * You put me in an awkward position : bạn đặt tôi vào một tình trạng khó xử. - to process sth into sth : chế biến cái gì thành cái gì. - to sort sth into sth : phân loại cái gì thành cái gì. - to deliver : giao, phân phối - to subsidize : bao cấp, trợ cấp * subsidized industries : các ngành công nghiệp đ-ợc bao cấp Lesson 14: GETTING RID OF LITTER April 22nd being Earth Day, my wife and I decided to clean up the valley behind our village. With the help of a couple of neighbors, we pulled out all of the litter from the bushes and piled it up beside the road. There were dozens of used tires, proving my theory that most of the litter was left by drivers. Other items of note included several bicycles, a toaster and eight fashionable shoes, none matching. The most numerous category, however, was empty drink cans, of which there were enough to build a jumbo jet. I personally feel that litterbugs should be thrown into prison and made to chew old car tires and empty cans for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, however, they are very hard to catch, as most of them sneak out under cover of darkness to do their evil deeds. A more practical solution would be to put the burden of collection on dealers. If, for example, tire retailers were obliged by law to collect one used tire for every new one they sold, very few would be dumped. The used tires could either be recycled or used as fuel to generate electricity. In Britain, there is a power station which is fueled solely by used tires. Alternatively, the government could introduce a penalty tax on dispos- 30 able items such as tires and drink containers, which would be refunded to whoever returned the items for recycling. Most of the discarded cans littering the countryside were bought from vending machines. The most effective solution, therefore, is to ban such machines. This would also help reduce demand for energy, since the average vending machine consumes 600 watts of electricity 24 hours a day, 365 days every year, and it would cut consumption of antisocial products such as cigarettes, beer and bubble gum. Recycling enthusiasts often propose that drinks be sold in glass bottles instead of cans, since bottles can be washed and used again. Having injured myself several times on broken bottles when hiking, I am inclined to disagree. Glass, unlike plastic or metal, does not decay. If you leave a glass bottle, a plastic bottle, an aluminum can and a paper container outside in the sunshine and rain, the paper container will decompose within three months, the aluminum can and plastic bottle will last 500 years, but the glass bottle will remain forever. Recycling is an excellent idea, but it is not a solution to the problem of litter. The answer, in fact, is to use biodegradable materials for all disposable products. One such material, made from cornstarch, is as tough as plastic but decomposes and disappears within a year of exposure to the elements, with no jagged edges to harm the unwary hiker and no toxins to pollute the river. Moreover, it is nutritious, and could be used to feed imprisoned litterbugs, thus saving taxpayers a lot of money. Notes: - used tire : vỏ lốp xe đã dùng rồi - to prove : chứng minh, chứng tỏ * They prove that they are right. Họ chứng minh là mình đúng. * He proves hímelf to be an expert on English. Ông ta chứng tỏ mình rất lão luyện tiếng Anh. - fashionable : hợp thời trang * fashionable clothes : áo quần hợp thời trang - litterbug : ng-ời xả rác - to be thrown into prison : bỏ tù - to sneak out to do sth : lén lút làm cái gì, trốn chui trốn lũi làm cái gì. - retailer : ng-ời bán lẻ - to be obliged to do sth: bị bắt buộc làm cái gì - practical solution : giải pháp thực tế - vending machine : máy bán hàng tự động 31 - to be inclined to do sth : có chiều h-ớng làm cái gì - to decompose : phân huỷ - biodegradable material : chất có thể phân huỷ bằng sinh học - cornstarch : bột ngô - jagged edge : có cạnh lởm chởm * a piece of glass with jagged edges một mảnh thuỷ tinh có cạnh lởm chởm - unwary: không thận trọng, không cảnh giác - nutritious : bổ d-ỡng Lesson 15: DON'T FORGET YOUR SMOG MASK Situated on a basin surrounded by snow-capped mountains, Mexico City might be one of the world's most beautiful capitals. Instead, it is the most polluted. Toxic smoke from 35,000 factories and exhaust gas from three million motor vehicles frequently get trapped over the city by a natural phenomenon known as thermal inversion, forcing 16 million residents to breathe a cocktail of toxic gases. In 1986 it was so bad that dead birds dropped out of the sky. Mexico City may be the worst, but cities throughout the world suffer similar problems. In 1953, a deadly smog killed more than 4,000 Londoners and led to the world's first legislation aimed at reducing air pollution. The situation improved greatly with the construction of higher factory chimneys and a ban on domestic coal fires. Urban air pollution consists of five main ingredients: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, ozone and suspended particulate matter. These are accompanied by various other toxic gases, depending on what local factories are producing. Approximately 1.3 million tons of toxic chemicals are released into American skies every year. Only seven of the 320 chemicals are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. In some areas, air pollution is so severe that one in 10 residents is likely to suffer from cancer sooner or later. Elsewhere, over a 100 million Americans breathe air which is certain to harm them over the long term. Sulfur dioxide is emitted mainly by coal-fired power stations, oil refineries, factories and foundries. In the 1960s it was a serious problem in Japanese cit5 ies. Since the introduction of strict controls in 1972, however, sulfur dioxide has become less of a problem. On the other hand, there has been a drastic increase in the emission of nitrogen oxides. These are also given off when coal, oil and gas are burned, but the main source is motor vehicles. The relentless increase in the number of cars and trucks on the roads has cancelled out any benefits from the decrease in sulfur emissions. 32 Auto exhaust gas also contains carbon monoxide - another poison - and reacts with sunlight to form ozone, another harmful gas. The fifth member of the evil toxic quintet is suspended particulate matter, small particles of a tarlike substance containing over 400 different harmful ingredients. The biggest 5 cause of SPM is exhaust gas from diesel engines, and trucks in particular. These five gases, alone or together, cause lung cancer, asthma, chronic bronchitis, eye diseases and many other ailments familiar to city dwellers. Notes: - smog = smoke + fog : mồ hóng - mask : mặt nạ * gas mask : mặt nạ phòng hơi độc - to be situated # to be located : nằm, toạ lạc, chiếm cứ - snow-capped mountain : núi có tuyết phủ - exhaust gas : khí thải từ ô tô- phenomenon : hiện tợng - similar : tơng tự * to be similar to : tơng tự với - thermal : thuộc về nhiệt * thermal spring : suối néơc nóng - to lead to : dẫn đến, gây ra * The road leads to my school. Con đờng dẫn đến trờng tôi. - legislation : luật, đạo luật - to be aimed at : nhằm để làm gì * My project is aimed at helping poor people. Dự án của tôi nhằm giúp dân nghèo. - chimney : ống khói - domestic : thuộc về trong nhà * domestic animals : vật nuôi * Horses, cows and sheep are domestic animals. Ngựa, bò, và cừu là những vật nuôi. - to consist of # to be made up of : gồm có, bao gồm * The committee consists of 10 members. Uỷ ban gồm 10 ngời. - suspended : treo lơ lững 33 * to be suspended in air : lơ lững trong không khí - to be accompanied by : cùng với - to be released : thải ra * Toxic chemicals are released into the sky. Hoá chất độc hại bị thải ra trong khí quyển. * to release a man from prison : thả một ngời ra khỏi tù - severe : nghiêm trọng, dữ dội, nghiêm nghị * a severe pain : cơn đau dữ dội * a severe look : cái nhìn nghiêm nghị - a drastic increase : một sự gia tăng đáng kể - a relentless increase : một sự gia tăng nhảy vọt - chronic bronchitis : bệnh viêm phổi mãn tính. Lesson 16: REDUCING HARMFUL EMISSIONS When a cloud of toxic gas escaped from a U.S. factory in Bhopal, India, in 1984, killing thousands of people, Americans said it couldn't happen at home. They are wrong. The same gas, methyl isocyanate, is emitted every day from chemical plants in the U.S.A., along with more than 300 other kinds of chemical, many of which are known to cause cancer. A study by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1989 revealed that 205 factories were emitting dangerous quantities of harmful chemicals into the air, threatening the health of nearby residents. Factories are by no means the only source of air pollution. Power stations, oil refineries and metal foundries also emit large quantities of pollutants. Citizens have no right to complain about air pollution, however, if they drive an automobile: cars and trucks are the biggest source of toxic carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and suspended particulate matter. In 1990, U.S. legislators made a brave attempt to reduce harmful emissions by introducing strict new controls. In order to comply with the new Clean Air Act, power stations, factories, smelters, oil refineries and large bakeries had to install expensive new antipollution equipment and automobile manufacturers had to design cleaner engines or fit efficient catalytic converters to tailpipes. The new law was expected to cost Americans about $25 billion a year, but was nevertheless widely supported by both manufacturers and consumers. Air pollution authorities in California have had to go far beyond the limits of federal law in order to tackle the haze in Los Angeles, North America's most polluted city. Regulations on auto emissions - already the world's strictest - will become even stricter in the year 2003, when 10% of all new vehicles sold in California must be zero-emission vehicles. Emission limits have been imposed not only on the major sources of pollution but also on bakeries, lawn mowers, chain saws, gas water heaters and even floor polish. 34 Clean air has begun to take priority over corporate profits in the West, thanks to the growing power of the environmental lobby. Elsewhere, however, economic development still takes precedence over the environment. In Benxi, China, the smog is so thick that for six months a year, maximum visibility is only 50 meters. Factories in Cracow, Poland, pump an estimated 10,000 tons of toxic gases into the air every day. India's most famous monument, the Taj Mahal, is cracked and yellow after years of exposure to pollutants from nearby iron foundries in and around Agra. These cities, and thousands like them, can afford neither to clean up their factories and foundries nor to close them down. Unless they receive technological and financial help from rich industrialized nations, their residents may never breathe pure air. Notes: - Environmental Protection Agency : Cơ Quan Bảo Vệ Môi tr-ờng - to threaten : đe doạ * to threaten to do sth : đe doạ làm cái gì - to make an attempt : cố gắng - strict : nghiêm túc, nghiêm ngặt - to go far beyond the limit : v-ợt quá giới hạn - to be imposed on : gây tác động cho, gây ảnh h-ởng cho - monument : di tích Lesson 17: DEADLY SECRETS The production of plastics, drugs and farm chemicals results in a number of dangerous by-products: poisonous gases which cause air pollution, acid rain and global warming, deadly liquids which pollute nearby rivers and underground water resources, and toxic solid waste which has to be burned or dumped at great risk to the environment. Mines and oil refineries also produce hazardous waste, but the chemical industry is the worst culprit. Some years ago, a huge quantity of toxic waste was found in Love Canal, a residential area near Niagara Falls. This discovery was followed by an investi- gation which revealed over 35,000 toxic waste dumps all over the U.S.A. Many people were found to be suffering from serious illnesses related to the poisonous chemicals in their neighborhoods and even beneath their homes, but no- body was prepared to accept responsibility until public opinion and a series of lawsuits forced the federal government to take action. A "Superfund" was set up to pay for the cleaning up of toxic waste sites. The huge costs were to be born by the companies which produced and dumped the waste, and by taxes on newly produced waste. Toxic waste dumps contain PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), cadmium, chromium, arsenic, lead, dioxin and many other dangerous substances. PCBs 20 cause cancer and reproductive disorders. The Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation illegally dumped them in 89 different locations near 35 their gas pipelines, contaminating local drinking water. The penalty? A $15-million fine, in a year when the company earned $1,300 million in profits. "Itai Itai" Disease was caused by cadmium dumped in the Jinzu River in Japan. When people ate rice grown in nearby paddy fields, their bones became brittle and they suffered extreme pain. More than a hundred people died. Problems like these occur because of inadequate control by the authorities. Factory managers offer waste disposal contracts to the lowest bidder, with no concern as to where the waste is dumped. Truck drivers merely follow orders, collecting their deadly cargoes and dumping them as instructed, often late at night. Waste disposal companies make huge profits without having to pro- vide any details to the authorities. The situation will not improve until governments introduce strict controls on the disposal of hazardous waste. Both producers and disposers must be required to inform local authorities and residents about every kilogram of toxic waste: where it was produced, who transported it and where it ended up. Operators who do not disclose such information, make false reports or dump waste illegally must be severely punished. Notes: - deadly secret : bí mật chết ng-ời - by-product : phó phẩm - oil-refinery : nhà máy lọc dầu - hazardous : nguy hiểm - culprit : tội phạm - residential area : vùng dân c- - investigation : cuộc điều tra - to be related to : có liên quan đến - to be prepared to # to be ready to : sẵn sàng - responsibility : trách nhiệm * to take full responsibility for : chịu hoàn toàn trách nhiệm về - public opinion : d- luận, ý kiến công chúng - to make huge profit : kiếm đ-ợc nhiều tền lời, thu đ-ợc khoản lợi khổng lồ - bidder : ng-ời đấu thầu, nhà thầu - to be punished : bị phạt Lesson 18: GETTING RID OF TOXIC WASTE 36 The disposal of toxic waste used to be easy. It was put in big steel drums, transported by truck to isolated places and then dumped. When this method was finally banned, companies began to buy up old mines and other convenient sites in which to dump their waste. When there were no more cheap sites and local residents began to sue them for polluting their water resources, companies began to load their waste on ships and dump it in the sea. Soon, this practice was banned, and the waste was instead burned in special incinerator ships. The highly toxic ash which remained was then illegally dumped in the sea or taken to the Third World, where government officials agreed to accept the waste in exchange for desperately needed foreign money and large bribes. In 1987 and 1988, toxic waste from Italy was illegally dumped in Koko, Nigeria. It was falsely classified as harmless, but when the drums leaked and many people became ill, the Nigerian government demanded that it be removed. It was eventually returned to Italy on a ship named the Karin B. As a result of this incident - just one of many - the United Nations Environment Program drafted an international agreement on waste disposal which was adopted at the Basel Convention in 1989. The agreement lists 47 dangerous chemicals which cannot be exported or imported by any of the 60-plus nations which have so far accepted it. The European Union ratified the agreement in 1992. The U.S.A. and Japan have accepted it on principle but not yet ratified it. As the possibilities for waste disposal in local and foreign landfills decrease, chemical companies are having to consider more creative alternatives. The obvious solution would be to eliminate the waste at source, with new production techniques. This might be possible for many, but not all of the millions of chemicals produced by modern industry; it would, however, be very costly. Another possibility is to treat the waste with chemicals or bacteria in order to make it harmless. Scientists at Stanford University have already succeeded in using bacteria to break down two dangerous chemicals, trichloroethylene and w vinyl chloride, and are hopeful that many more can be treated in this way. The suggestion that toxic waste might be recycled was not taken seriously until 1993, when a small American company named Molten Metal Technology began testing its Catalytic Extraction Processing technology for commercial use. Toxic waste is injected into a pool of molten iron and breaks down into the elements of which it is composed. These can be recovered and used again. Notes: - steel drum : thùng chứa bằng thép - isolated : cô lập * an isolated place : nơi biệt lập, nơi hoang vắng, nơi bỏ hoang - mine : hầm mỏ * a coal mine : mỏ than - site : bãi 37 - to sue : th-a kiện - to dump : đổ (rác ) - in exchange for : trao đổi, giao l-u - bribe : khoản tiền hối lộ * to receive a bribe : nhận tiền hối lộ - to be classified : đ-ợc phân loại - to leak : rò rĩ - to draft : soạn thảo - international agreement : hiệp định quốc tế - to eliminate : huỷ bỏ - landfill : đất đắp - to treat waste by bacteria : xử lý rác thải bằng vi khuẩn - to be recycled : đ-ợc tái chế, đ-ợc tái sinh - Molten Metal Technology : công nghệ nóng chảy kim loại 38 Lesson 19: THE CONSEQUENCES OF ACID RAIN Many of Europe's power stations and factories burn coal or oil. This results in the emission of large quantities of sulfur dioxide and smaller amounts of nitrogen oxides. These gases are released through tall chimneys into the sky, where they mix with water vapor in clouds to form sulfuric and nitric acid. After being blown great distances by prevailing winds, these clouds condense into acid rain and fall on land and sea, causing considerable harm. Many of Scandinavia's beautiful lakes have become too acidic to support life. Trees throughout Germany are dying because of the acidity of the soil. Church bells in Belgium and the Netherlands have lost their purity of sound and the magnificent stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral have lost their luster, owing to corrosion from acid rain. It also corrodes bridges, statues, rails, almost anything made of metal, including, ironically, the motor vehicles which are partly responsible for it through their emissions of nitrogen oxides. It dissolves stone, bricks and mortar too. Many of Europe's finest historical buildings have been irreparably damaged by acid rain and smog. Acid rain is a problem not only for Europe. In Quebec, 100,000 square kilometers of valuable maple forests have been damaged, resulting in serious losses for the maple syrup industry. Acid rain does not respect international frontiers. Much of the sulfur which killed thousands of lakes in Canada came from power plants in the U.S.A.; and forest damage in Japan has been blamed to some extent on Chinese factories and power stations. Acid rain is also dangerous to humans. People who exercise outdoors when there is acid vapor in the air they breathe may suffer lung and kidney disease, 5 sore eyes and skin irritation. Five million Britons are exposed to lead poisoning from their tap water because lead in their water pipes is being dissolved by acid in the water supply. Moreover, alpine regions in which forests have been decimated by acid rain are prone to suffer sudden floods and avalanches capable of destroying entire villages. Over 150 years ago, the world's first air pollution official wrote the following comments in his book Air and Rain: "when the air has so much acid there is no hope for vegetation galvanized iron is useless stone and bricks of buildings crumble." Scientists have learned a lot about acid rain since Robert Angus Smith's far-sighted comments on air pollution in Britain were first pub- lished; but governments have been very slow to take remedial action. Notes: - consequence : hËu qu¶ * environmental consequence: hËu qu¶ m«i tr-êng - to mix : trén lÉn, hoµ trén * to mix with : trén víi - water vapor : h¬i n-íc - to form : t¹o ra [...]... quá nhiều ng-ời Họ nói rằng giáo dục tốt cho tất cả mọi ng-ời thì không thể đ-ợc Họ nghĩ rằng nền giáo dục Mỹ nền giáo dục chỉ nên dạy cho những ng-ời thông minh nhất trong xã hội Thay vì đó thì nền giáo dục Mỹ lại dành cho tất cả mọi ng-ời Tuy nhiên, đa số ng-ời Mỹ muốn mọi ng-ời phải có cơ hội đi học Giáo dục cho mọi ng-ời trong một n-ớc dân chủ là rất quan trọng Trong một n-ớc dân chủ, ng-ời dân... cần phải làm theo lời khuyên hay là sự chỉ đạo của chính phủ Nhiều ng-ời ủng hộ điều này là vì lý do tôn giáo 52 Những ng-ời khác thì lạ phản đối việc can thiệp của chính phủ hay một tổ chức tôn giáo nào và họ muốn tự do quyết định lấy những việc của mình Tại sao chính phủ nên kiểm soát ch-ơng trình kế hoạch hóa gia đình? Nhiều ng-ời cho rằng không có một giải pháp khả thi nào khác vì ng-ời dân sẽ... hội h-ởng giáo dục miễn phí Chính phủ liên bang, bang và chính quyền địa ph-ơng trả tiền cho các tr-ờng công Mọi công dân dù giàu hay nghèo đều có thể đi học Cũng có các tr-ờng t- thục Học sinh ở tr-ờng tthục phải đóng học phí Nhà n-ớc không trả tiền cho các học sinh học ở các tr-ờng t- thục Một vài ng-ời cho rằng tr-ờng học ở Mỹ cố gắng làm quá nhiều điều cho quá nhiều ng-ời Họ nói rằng giáo dục tốt... họ kế hoạch bảo đảm an sinh cho tuổi già Chính phủ phải bảo đảm cho họ vấn đề an sinh xã hội và trợ cấp y tế Từ đó họ có thể chỉ sinh ít con Passage 2 : Nhân dân thế giới dánh giá cao nền giáo dục bởi lẽ một nền giáo dục tốt mang lại một cuộc sống tốt hơn Mọi ng-ời đều đồng ý với điều này Tuy nhiên dân ở các n-ớc khác nhau muốn tr-ờng học phải dạy các điều khác nhau Mỗi nền văn hóa có những giá trị... Bằng chứng là sự thất bại của công nghiệp sản xuất đồng hồ Thuỵ Sĩ trong 2 năm vừa qua do bị đồng hồ điện tử cạnh tranh nên đã thất thu 200 triệu đô la mỗi năm 49 Cùng với việc cơ giới hoá ở một số qui trình sản xuất, b-ớc đầu đã gây ra nạn thất nghiệp với số l-ợng lớn Những nghệ nhân lành nghề trong ngành tiểu thủ công nghiệp vốn khan hiếm tr-ớc đây, nay bỗng d-ng tự họ cảm thấy thừa d- và thiếu kỹ... năng lựa chọn sáng suốt Họ cần phải đ-ợc đào tạo kỹ l-ỡng để trở thành những công dân tốt trong n-ớc dân chủ Tr-ờng Tiểu học : Đa số trẻ con ở Mỹ bắt đầu đi học lúc 5 tuổi Chúng học ở lớp vở lòng ( mẫu giáo) một năm và sau đó bắt đầu học lớp 1 lúc 6 tuổi Cấp học đầu tiên là tr-ờng tiểu học hay còn gọi là tr-ờng cấp 1 Trẻ con Mỹ th-ờng bắt đầu học đọc khi các em học lớp 1 và lớp 2 Các em cũng bắt đầu... tr-ờng phổ thông trung học khác chuẩn bị cho học sinh các nghề khác nhau ( tr-ờng trung học dạy nghề) Nhiều tr-ờng trung học phổ thông cả dạy nghề lẫn chuẩn bị kiến thức cho học sinh vào các tr-ờng đại học Giáo dục đại học : Sau khi học sinh tốt nghiệp phổ thông trung học các em có thể học tiếp ở các tr-ờng cao đẳng hoặc đại học Có hơn 3000 tr-ờng cao đẳng và đại học ở Mỹ Tr-ờng cao đẳng và đại học t- ở... Mỹ có mức học phí rất cao, nh-ng đa số tr-ờng đại học công lập thì mức học phí rất thấp Việc hổ trợ về mặt tài chính (do chính phủ hổ trợ ) th-ờng nhằm giúp sinh viên trả một phần học phí Các hình thức giáo dục đại học luôn đáp ứng nguyện vọng cho học sinh tốt nghiệp phổ thông trung học Suggested Translation : Passage 1: Most people admit that overpopulation is a big problem At least, it is going to . increasing. In 1 850 , it was about 28 0 parts per million. By 1990, it had risen to 3 75 ppm. If this trend continues at the present rate, the figure will have risen to 56 0 ppm by the year 42 20 30. This,. manufacturer. It has been estimated that a 50 % cut in sulfur dioxide emissions could be paid for by a mere 0 .5% increase in electricity charges. So far, 21 nations have become members of the "30%. temperatures exceed 26 C, will become more common and more severe. Along with other diseases, malaria, a disease carried by mosquitoes which are unable to breed at temperatures below 22 C, will spread