VOA标准英语2010年-Study Shows Air Pollution Poses Greate

Airborne particles produced by automobile¹ exhaust, industry and coal or oil fired power plants can cause blood pressure to rise to dangerous levels

 

Medical researchers are finding out more about the health risks of air pollution. They say the world's dependence² on fossil fuels is largely responsible for increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Doctors warn patients with lung and heart disease to stay indoors during hot weather. Dr. Kausalya Pendyal tells her patients in Richmond, Virginia before they go outside to check the Air Quality Index - a U.S. government assessment³ of pollutants⁴ in the air.

"Avoid outdoor activities if you can, especially in the late afternoons and the evenings," she said.

 

Medical science, bolstered⁵ by research from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, shows a strong link between air pollution and heart disease and stroke.

"Because cardiovascular death is the number one cause of death in the world, not just in developed countries, but throughout the world, the role that air pollutants play on this has a tremendous effect on overall world mortality," said Dr. Robert Brook⁶, a specialist in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Michigan.

 

Dr. Robert Brook
Dr. Brook says just one to two hours of breathing automobile exhaust in traffic can be deadly.

"And that short, few-hour exposure is able to trigger a heart attack where they might not have had it for days or months, or never," he said. 

The long term effects of breathing polluted air are even more alarming.

"Over a few years of exposure, the increase for your risk of developing cardiovascular disease...heart attacks, strokes, heart failure…increases probably five to 10 times greater than it does over just a few hours of exposure," said Dr. Brook, who chaired group that produced a scientific statement on air pollution and cardiovascular disease for the American Heart Association.

He also led a study that showed that airborne particles produced by automobile exhaust, industry and coal or oil fired power plants can cause blood pressure to rise to dangerous levels.

The study shows the risk is greater for the elderly, people with existing heart disease, and people, generally in poor neighborhoods, who live along major roads and highways.

The American Heart Association recommends reducing time spent in heavy traffic or jogging during rush hour, or near busy roadways and better treatment for cardiovascular risk factors.

 

1 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

2 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 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

5 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

6 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。