考博英语外刊阅读：Urban poor hit hardest as the planet heat

Urban poor hit hardest as the planet heats up

by Ian Round, etc.

Heat radiates from the asphalt(柏油) and concrete that cover the streets, the sidewalks, the alleys(小巷), even the tiny yards behind the homes in the East Baltimore neighborhood of McElderry Park. Trees are scarce. And air doesn't move much when it comes up against block after block of rowhouses.

radiate / rv. 辐射、发射

concrete / n. 混凝土

sidewalk / n. 人行道(由side和walk组成)

Baltimore / n. 巴尔的摩(美国东北部城市)

neighborhood /  n. 住宅区

scarce /adj. 稀少的、稀有的

come up against 面临、面对

rowhouse / n. 连排房屋(由row和house组成)

So as a dangerous 11-day heat wave tormented(折磨) the city in July, the hottest month ever recorded on the planet, fewer and fewer residents were going outside. "This is the quietest the block has ever been," said Tammy Jackson, 48. "I can't believe it."

record / v. 记录、记载

resident /  n. 居民

But it is going to get worse. In McElderry Park and around the world, in communities rich and poor, downtown and in the suburbs, weather disasters loom. More and more people, including Delegate Robbyn Lewis, who represents parts of East Baltimore, are replacing the words "climate change" with stronger language. "We are," she said, "in an emergency."

community /n. 社区

downtown / adv. 在市中心

suburb / n. 郊区

disaster /n. 灾害、灾难

loom /v. (不好的东西)逼近

delegate / n. 代表(这里指州一级的众议员)

represent / v. 代表

emergency / n. 紧急情况

Certain neighborhoods will continue to feel the effects of extreme temperatures more than others. Researchers at Portland State University in Oregon and the Science Museum of Virginia have mapped these areas, called urban heat islands, and data shows that temperatures here and in surrounding neighborhoods can run 4.5 degrees Celsius hotter than in communities that have more trees and less pavement. McElderry Park, which offers little green space despite its lyrical name, is one of these.

extreme / adj. 极端的

researcher /n. 研究者(由research加上表示人的后缀-er)

Oregon /n. 俄勒冈(美国西北部的州)

Virginia / n. 弗吉尼亚(美国东部的州)

map / v. 绘制…的地图

urban / adj. 城市的

data / n. 数据

surrounding /adj. 周围的

degree Celsius  摄氏度

pavement / n. (铺平的)路面

lyrical / adj. 歌词般好听的

Residents in the hottest areas have higher rates of chronic illnesses affected by heat, including asthma(哮喘) and COPD(慢性阻塞性肺病). In hot weather, emergency medical calls for some chronic conditions increase. The rate of emergency medical calls for cardiac arrest and congestive heart failure, for example, nearly double when the heat index hits 39.5 degrees.

rate /n. 率、比率

chronic / adj. 慢性的、长期的

affect /v. 影响

medical / adj. 医疗的

condition /n. 疾病

cardiac / arrest /rest/ 心跳停止

congestive / heart failure 充血性心衰

index / n. 指数(heat index指体感温度)

hit /v. 达到

Reporters from the University of Maryland's Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and Capital News Service placed sensors that record heat and humidity inside several homes in McElderry Park and nearby neighborhoods. Those sensors recorded temperatures that reached as high as 36 degrees and heat index values of 48 degrees. In some homes, those readings showed that it was hotter inside than outside.

Maryland / n. 马里兰(美国东部的州)

investigative / adj. 调查性的(由investigate加后缀-ive变成形容词)

journalism /  n. 新闻学

place /v. 放置

sensor / n. 传感器

humidity / n. 湿度(由humid加后缀-ity变成名词)

reading / n. (仪表的)读数

Households in the city's hottest areas have lower incomes, which means the residents don't have the resources to move out. This is true across the country. In a majority of the country's most populous(人口众多的) cities, people with lower incomes typically lived in the hottest areas, an investigation by journalists from NPR and the University of Maryland found.

household /  n. 家庭

income /n. 收入

resource / n. 资源

majority / n. 大多数(由major加后缀-ity变成名词)

typically /  adv. 往往、常常

investigation / n. 调查研究(由investigate加后缀-ion变成名词)

journalist / n. 记者

NPR =National Public Radio (美国)公共广播电台

Sacoby Wilson, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, says people in low-income neighborhoods walk more, ride more buses and drive fewer cars, so they contribute less to climate change. And yet they are more vulnerable to dying in extreme heat. "Environmental justice and climate change," he said, "are inextricably(密不可分地) linked."

contribute /v. 做贡献、出力

yet /jet/ conj. 但是、然而

vulnerable / adj. 易受伤害的

environmental / adj. 环境的(由environment加后缀-al变成形容词)

justice /  n. 公平

link / v. 连接、联系

英文原文节选自ABC New