Millions Celebrating Earth Day Around the World

     Millions of people around the world celebrated¹ Earth Day Friday by pledging to commit personal “acts of green” to improve the environment(环境).

    This is the 41st anniversary of the first Earth Day, observed in the United States in the aftermath of a disastrous² oil spill off the country's West Coast. Earth Day is now celebrated in one form or another in nearly 200 countries.

    This year, Earth Day organizers called on people worldwide to pledge “a billion acts of green” to improve the planet's environmental health.

    As Friday began, organizers calculated that more than 100 million people had already made promises to improve the environment. Those pledges ranged from individuals' plans to reduce the use of toxic³ chemicals, to switching to compact fluorescent⁴ lights at home, to using mass transit⁵ for travel to work and eating locally grown food.

    U.S. President Barack Obama said the day is a chance to “renew America's commitment” to environmental protection, and to ensure that American leadership “will continue to be pivotal” in confronting global environmental challenges.

    U.S. first lady Michelle Obama had planned to help work on the habitat at an urban park in Washington, but the event was canceled as rain fell in the capital city. Public officials around the U.S. planned other events, such as in Baltimore, where the governor of the state of Maryland opened an electric-vehicle charging station at an airport.

    Much has changed in the U.S. since the first Earth Day in 1970 – a time when many factories still were allowed to belch⁶ smoke and pollutants⁸ into the air, and all cars burned fuel containing lead, a dangerous automobile-exhaust pollutant⁷. Over the following decades the nation's Environmental Protection Agency was established, and federal and local jurisdictions⁹ enacted¹⁰ many laws protecting air and water supplies and endangered species of animals and plants.

    Environmental regulations nevertheless still cause controversy¹¹ in some parts of the U.S. The two main political parties, Democrats¹² and Republicans, frequently contest each other's claims about the effect of greenhouse-gas emissions¹³ on the warming of the planet. As the nation has struggled to recover from the worst economic downturn in 70 years, some have questioned whether environmental laws contributed to the loss of jobs and whether the resulting rise in energy costs is worthwhile.

    With more than 13 million Americans still jobless, many U.S. consumers have hesitated to purchase higher-priced “environmentally friendly” products. A recent survey has shown that consumers are not buying as many “green” products, such as cleaning supplies for household use, as they did several years ago.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

3 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

4 fluorescent   

adj.荧光的，发出荧光的

参考例句：

• They observed the deflections of the particles by allowing them to fall on a fluorescent screen.他们让粒子落在荧光屏上以观察他们的偏移。
• This fluorescent lighting certainly gives the food a peculiar color.这萤光灯当然增添了食物特别的色彩。

5 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

6 belch   

v.打嗝，喷出

参考例句：

• Cucumber makes me belch.黃瓜吃得我打嗝。
• Plant chimneys belch out dense smoke.工厂的烟囱冒出滚滚浓烟。

7 pollutant   

n.污染物质，散布污染物质者

参考例句：

• Coal itself is a heavy pollutant.煤本身就是一种严重的污染物。
• Carbon dioxide may not be a typical air pollutant.二氧化碳可能不是一种典型的污染物。

8 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

10 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

11 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。