选修六unit4reading逐句翻译.docxVIP

Unit 4 THE EARTH IS BECOMIG WARMER-BUT DOES IT MATTER? 全球在变暖 —— 这会带来什么影响吗？ During the 20 th century the temperature of the earth rose about one degree Fahrenheit. 在 20 世纪期间，地球温度大约升了华氏 1 度。 That probably does not seem much to you or me, but it is a rapid increase when compared to other natural changes. 这个数值 对你我来说很可能是无所谓的，但是，跟多数自然变化相比较而言，这却是种快速的增长。 So how has this come about and does it matter? 这种温度的增长是怎么产生的呢，它要紧吗？ Earth care ’ s Sophie Armstrong explores these questions. “关爱地球 ”组织的索菲 ·阿姆斯特朗就在探究这些问题。 There is no doubt that the earth is becoming warmer(see Graph 1) and that it is human activity that has caused this global warming rather than a random but natural phenomenon. 毫无疑问，地球是在变暖。但是全球变暖的原因是人为的呢，或者仅仅是 一种自然现象呢？ All scientists subscribe to the view that the increase i n the earth ’ s temperaturedueis to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil to produce energy.所有的科学家认为，人们为了生产能量而燃烧化石燃料（如煤、天然气和石油等） ，从而引起 了地球温度的升高。 Some byproducts of this process are called “greenhouse” gases,the most important one of which is carbon dioxide. 这个升温过程的副产品就叫做 “温室 ”气体，其中最重要的就是二氧化碳。Dr Janice Foster explains: “ Thereis a natural phenomenon that scientists call the “ greenhouse effect . 贾”尼.丝 ·福斯特博士解释说： “你知道，有一种科学称之为 ‘温室效应 ’的自然 现象。This is when small amounts of gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour, trap heat from the sun and therefore warm the earth. 这种现象发生在大气层中少量的气体（如二氧化碳、甲烷、水蒸气等）吸收太阳的热量，因而，使地球 变暖。 Without the ‘ greenhouse effect，the earth would be about thirty-three degrees Celsciu cooler than it is. 如果没有这种 ‘温室效应 ’， 地球的温度将比现在的温度还要低 33 摄氏度左右。So, we need those gases. 因此，我们需要这些气体。 The problem begins when we add huge quantities of extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 而当我们因为燃烧化石燃料而使大气层中增加了大量额外的二氧 化碳时，问题就来了。 It means that more heat energy tends to be trapped in the atmosphere causing the global temperature to go up. 二氧化碳含量的增加意味着更多的热量被困在大气层中，从而引起了全球温度上升。 We know that the levels of carbon dioxide have increased great