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2013年1月14日雅思阅读精选：北京遭遇雾霾天气 城市环境告急

From：TIME, Jan. 14, 2013

Beijing Warns Residents After Off-the-Charts Smog

(BEIJING) — Beijing schools kept childrenindoors and hospitals saw a spike in respiratorycases Monday following a weekend of off-the charts pollution in China's smoggy capital, theworst since the government began being more open about air-quality data.

City authorities, who began releasing figures about some of the worst kinds of pollutantsearly last year, ordered many factories to scale back emissions and were spraying water atbuilding sites to try to tamp down dust and dirt worsening the noxious haze hanging over thecity.

Demand spiked for face masks and air purifiers, and hospitals saw surges of up to 30percent in residents seeking help for breathing problems, state-run media outlets reported.Schools in several districts were ordered to cancel outdoor activities such as flag-raisings andsports classes, and in an unusual public announcement, Beijing authorities advised allresidents to "take measures to protect their health."

"It's really terrible. I'm extremely upset, but there's really nothing much I can do," said aBeijing resident out for a morning stroll. Like many Chinese, the man would give only hissurname, Kang.

Another man, a 60-year-old retiree surnamed Chen, said his elderly relatives had moved tostay with family members outside the city to avoid the pollution.

"I'm in pretty good shape, but the older folks have a lot of problems with their hearts,breathing, and high blood pressure," Chen said.

Levels of PM2.5 particle pollution over the weekend reached the highest levels since theBeijing government began publicly releasing figures following a public outcry. In separatemonitoring by the U.S. Embassy, level were at 886 micrograms per cubic meter in a reading thatwas labeled “beyond index.”

By Monday, levels had declined to about 350 micrograms on the Beijing government scale— down from a high above 700 but still way above the level of 25 considered safe by the WorldHealth Organization.

PM2.5 are tiny particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in size, or about 1/30th theaverage width of a human hair. They can penetrate deep into the lungs, and measuring them isconsidered a more accurate rlection of air quality than other methods.

The Beijing Shijitan Hospital received 20 percent more patients than usual at itsrespiratory health department, Dr. Huang Aiben said. Most patients were coughing and soughttreatment for chronic bronchitis, asthma and other respiratory illnesses, Huang said.

“Because these dust particles are relatively fine, they can be directly absorbed by the lung’stiny air sacs. The airway’s ability to block the fine dust is relatively weak and so bacteria andviruses carried by the dust can directly enter the airway,” Huang said.

Huang said exposure to such high levels ofpollution over the short term can cause bacterialand viral infections, and prolonged exposure couldresult in tumors.

Beijing’s air started to worsen on Thursday,and Beijing’s monitoring center said the pollutionwas expected to linger until Tuesday.

Weather conditions are a factor, as a lack ofwind means pollutants can easily accumulate and failto dissipate, said Pan Xiao Chuan, a professor atPeking University’s public health department.

“Recent pollution doesn’t mean there is an increase in the discharge of pollutants,” hesaid.

The government started publishing PM2.5 readings last year after public demands for moredetailed air quality data, prompted in part by a Twitter feed from the U.S. Embassy thatreported readings from the building’s roof. A growing Chinese middle class has becomeincreasingly vocal about the quality of the environment. Hourly air quality updates are nowavailable online for more than 70 cities.

Air pollution is a major problem in China due to the country’s rapid pace ofindustrialization, reliance on coal power, explosive growth in car ownership and disregardfor environmental laws. It typically gets worse in the winter because of weather conditions andan increase in coal burning for heating needs.

Several other cities, including Tianjin on the coast east of Beijing and southern China’sWuhan city, also reported severe pollution over the last several days.

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