VOA标准英语2009年-Haze Blankets Parts of Southeast Asia

Smoke from forest fires, largely in Indonesia, has shrouded¹ parts of Southeast Asia in thick haze². It is a seasonal³ problem in the region that will not go away.
　
Putrajaya's landmark⁴ Putra Mosque⁵ (l) and Prime Minister's building seen covered by haze in Putrajaya, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 06 Aug 2009

The Singapore Meteorological Services reported Thursday moderate to dense⁶ smoke from "large clusters of hotspots" in West Kalimantan in Indonesia and Sarawak in Malaysia. It also detected moderate smoke in the southern half of Sumatra island in Indonesia, as well as scattered⁷ hotspots in the provinces of East and Central Kalimantan.

Smoke from the fires has shrouded parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore this week, causing airport disruptions and health complaints among residents. Visibility dropped so low Wednesday on the Indonesian island of Riau that flights had to be delayed or diverted because of safety concerns.

Aswin Usup heads the Research Center of Forest Fire Prevention and Rehabilitation⁸ at the University of Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan province. He says using fire to clear the land is a traditional farming method on Borneo, the third largest island in the world.

"Unfortunately, in the dry season from July, August to September, wind direction is mainly coming from south to north. Therefore Singapore and Malaysia would have an impact on [from] the smoke," he explained.

Air quality has deteriorated⁹ in Malaysia this week. On Thursday morning, the Department of Environment said parts of Sarawak on Malaysian Borneo recorded "unhealthy" air pollution levels.

Malaysia's environment minister and his Indonesian counterpart will meet Saturday to address the issue. Haze has been a source of friction¹⁰ between Indonesia and its neighbors in recent years. Under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, these countries have agreed to cooperate to reduce forest fires but haze continues to be a seasonal occurrence.

In Central Kalimantan, Aswin says his team has been teaching farmers to control fires, for example by not burning the entire land area at a single time to reduce smoke accumulation. But he says funding to sustain the campaign is a problem.

Fires release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Some scientists say increasing carbon dioxide levels contributes to climate change.

In addition, environmentalists say the fires destroy the habitat of some of the world's rarest animals, such as the orangutan and eastern Sumatran rhinoceros¹¹.

1 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

3 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

4 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

5 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

6 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

7 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

8 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

9 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

10 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

11 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。