VOA标准英语2010-'Cleaning-Climbers' Promote Green Tourism

Locals joke that Yemeni trees are actually blue and red, the color of the plastic bags that you get when you buy qat, a mildly narcotic¹ leaf, and the Yemeni national past time.

Heather Murdock | Sana'a, Yemen 01 April 2010

A view of the Sana'a seen from one of the mountains surrounding and overlooking the capital of Yemen (file photo)

As Yemeni scientists watch with horror, major cities are running out of water, and pollution and erratic² weather patterns are destroying farmlands.  And while permanent solutions are nowhere to be found, a new style of tourism offers a small comfort: a "cleaning climb." Hundreds of tourists, students and professional climbers gathered this morning to rock-climb in the Yemeni mountains, while picking up the trash that pollutes the local water and soil.

 

In Yemen's ancient villages, where most of the people in the country live, there is often not a lot- not a lot of money, not a lot of water, and not a lot to do.

There is, however, and abundance of garbage. In this village tucked into a rocky mountainside, piles of household refuse tumble down the winding³ streets and pollute the otherwise picturesque⁴ gardens and terrace farms.

Locals joke that Yemeni trees are actually blue and red, the color of the plastic bags that you get when you buy qat, a mildly narcotic leaf, and the Yemeni national past time. But this morning, for the first time in a long time, a few of the trees were green.

Some of the people rappelling down this mountain have never rock-climbed before and the crowd cheers as they land. They came to the village to clean up the trash, climb the massive rocks atop the mountain, and later have a picnic.

Cleaning and climbing

Addie Byrum, a NGO worker from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania says the idea is to gather adventure/travelers looking for good times, and combine the event with good works. Before hitting the rocks, climbers donned plastic gloves and garbage bags and sent trucks, loaded with about 400 bags to the local dump.

"I think the climbing thing is good to bring people here and get them interested. But the cleaning is probably the most useful part of this whole thing," said Byrum.

In Yemen, when you finish your soda⁵, it is customary to toss the can onto the street. And while much of the countryside in the remote, largely undeveloped country remains⁶ pristine⁷, garbage in the villages piles up almost unchecked.

Environmental awareness⁸

Joshua Maricich, the head of the Yemen Adventure Club, the organization that ran this event, said that by bringing tourists, expats and villagers to clean it up together, he hopes the event will begin to foster a culture of environmental awareness.

"We need education in these villages. They don't like having their villages being filthy⁹. Someone just needs to give them a little spark," he said.

More than 50,000 children die each year in Yemen because of diseases caused by water pollution. Malaria¹⁰, diarrhea, and typhoid- water-related diseases that are not fatal in First World countries- cause half of the child deaths in Yemen.

Pollution, drought and erratic weather patterns caused by climate change have already decimated much of Yemen's farmlands. And many say the beleaguered¹¹ nation is soon to have the first capital city without any clean drinking water. Yet despite these pending¹² and ongoing¹³ disasters, environmental awareness remains rare in a country where half the people live on less than $2 a day.

Sixteen-year-old Mota, like many of the school children who live in the village, came to help visitors clean. Mota says if the village is clean, more tourists will come, and bring income to the desperately¹⁴ poor area.

When the targeted area was cleaned up Thursday morning and the first truck was loaded, village children suggested they take more bags into other neighborhoods. But the suggestion was lost on the older teenage cleaners, who raced up the mountain to start rock climbing and repelling¹⁵.

But in their enthusiasm, it became apparent that Yemen's habit of dropping trash could not be broken with one event. Many of the teens dropped their plastic gloves on the mountainside along the way.
 

1 narcotic   

n.麻醉药，镇静剂；adj.麻醉的，催眠的

参考例句：

• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
• No medical worker is allowed to prescribe any narcotic drug for herself.医务人员不得为自己开处方使用麻醉药品。

2 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

3 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

4 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

5 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

10 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

11 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

15 repelling   

v.击退( repel的现在分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开

参考例句：

• He saw himself standing up and repelling a charge. 他仿佛看见自己挺身而起，打退了敌人的进攻。 来自辞典例句
• Promote the healthy entertainment styles. Repelling the superstition, gambling, drugs and obscenity. 提倡健康娱乐。抵制封建迷信活动，拒绝黄、赌、毒。 来自互联网