“天堂”马尔代夫烦恼.docVIP

“天堂”马尔代夫烦恼 　　在香港动画片《麦兜故事》中,马尔代夫被描述为“椰林树影,水清沙幼,蓝天白云,是位于印度洋上的世外桃源”。然而,随着全球气候变暖引发海平面不断上升,马尔代夫这座被誉为“度假天堂”的群岛之国却正面临着可能被海水淹没的危险。似乎有些难以置信?但正如马尔代夫现任总统穆罕默德?纳希德所说:“马尔代夫是世界这座煤矿中的金丝雀。”(17世纪,英国煤矿工人发现金丝雀对于瓦斯浓度的敏感性远远高于人类。于是,煤矿工人下井时,常常携带一个装有金丝雀的鸟笼。“煤矿中的金丝雀”常用以比喻危险警报。)马尔代夫所面临的环境“棒喝”应当引发我们的深入思考,同时我们也要力求找到解决之道,因为我们同住“地球村”! 　　 　　It is 1990 and a young writer sits in solitary confinement. He is repeatedly beaten―he has dared to openly criticize his country’s political elite. Through a 2)slit in the metal walls he can see 3)a sliver of ocean on the horizon. This is his only comfort. It is, he says, what opened his imagination, led him to think about a better future for his country. 　　Just a short distance from the small prison island where he is held, a paradise is being carefully 4)crafted. The small 5)knots of low-lying islands and 6)coral reef 7)atolls that make up the Maldives are being 8)engineered into one of the world’s most romantic tourist destinations. 9)Stilted luxury villas snake across translucent waters 10)teeming with exotic marine life. And the guest books fill with the signatures of world-famous leaders and celebrities in the years to come. The daily 11)grind for most Maldivians―prohibited from visiting these resorts to prevent what the government calls“12)cultural contamination”―was different. 　　In 1989, 13)Gayoom’s government hosted the first-ever conference of small island states threatened by sea-level rises. The serious threat of global warming was only just coming 14)onto the public’s radar. Now, 20 years later, a new 15)menace threatens the Maldives―the battle against the force of nature is just beginning. 　　The young writer repeatedly tortured and imprisoned 20 years ago now sits beside me. His name is Mohamed Nasheed and he was elected president of the Maldives in October 2008. “All you have to do when you are in prison is think, and even then I knew we were going to need dramatic solutions to the problems my country faces,” says Nasheed, a slightly 16)bu