2007年VOA标准英语-College Tour Warns of Global Warming Threat

By Jim Bertel
Washington
25 April 2007
 

The release last year of former Vice¹ President Al Gore's award-winning film "An Inconvenient² Truth" has turned global warming into a hot topic of concern in the United States.  One of the film's producers, Laurie David, has become a leading advocate for environmental issues.  David and singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow have just completed a two-week U.S. tour, raising the alarm about global warming with their music and their message.  VOA's Jim Bertel had a chance to sit down with the two activists³ to talk about their "Stop Global Warming College Tour."

Sheryl Crow and Laurie David during their concert tour stop in Washington, D.C.

Change.  That was the message of the "Stop Global Warming College Tour."  Grammy Award-winning musician Sheryl Crow and Laurie David, a producer of the Oscar-winning environmental film "An Inconvenient Truth," headlined the tour, aimed at inspiring college students to make a personal change to stop global warming.

In an interview with VOA, Sheryl Crow said the two environmental activists hatched the tour idea over lunch while discussing how they could make a difference.

Sheryl Crow

Crow told us, "My answer to everything is let's get a bus, so we got a biodiesel bus [a bus fueled by vegetable oil], and Laurie had the excellent idea of going to college campuses -- because, as we all know, throughout history the greatest social changes, I believe, have started at the college level."

The 90-minute shows were a mix of Crow's music and David's environmental message.

"The environment is a beautiful spring day,” explains David. “It is a shady tree, it's the air you breathe and the water you drink.  And the environmentalism is the protection of those basic things.  That's the accurate definition.  And that makes us all environmentalists who still face the most urgent challenge of our lifetime -- global warming."

Scientists say carbon dioxide emissions⁴ from vehicles, factories and power plants cause global warming, and if efforts to curb⁵ this man-made environmental hazard do not increase soon, the results could be disastrous⁶ for the planet.

University of Maryland student Andrew Nazdin believes college students have an important role to play in saving the environment. "I see global warming as the threat to my generation.  It's the defining challenge of my generation.  If we don't step up and solve this climate crisis, my college degree, everything I worked for so far is not really going to be worth anything, because I am going to be living in such a dramatically altered world."

For many, the problem seems too big to make a personal difference.  But David says cutting carbon emissions starts at home, by using energy-efficient light bulbs and appliances.  She also says individuals can be the catalyst⁷ for change in government policy.

"People.  Government doesn't change until people demand it.  People have to demand it.  And that is one of the reasons we are out here trying to ignite this movement.  It is not going to happen until people demand it," says David.

The 11-city tour wrapped up on Earth Day (April 22) with a large show in Washington.  But the effort to bring about environmental change continues online, with a virtual march on Washington at stopglobalwarming.org.

"Instead of marching for just one day, let's march every single day until we are a million strong,” suggests David. “And we want to count every single person who says, 'I demand solutions now to global warming.'  And we started with one marcher, and now we're getting close to a million."

"And what everyone has to know is that this is not a political issue,” adds Crow. “This is a human-rights issue, and we have to demand change.  And the way change happens is for the movement to become so loud they can't block it out."

More than 700,000 people have enrolled⁸ in the "virtual march" so far.  Crow and David promise the campaign will continue until the number of marchers is great enough to make government leaders realize the time to address the global warming crisis is now.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 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。

7 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

8 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》