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On Earth Day, 175 world leaders met at the United Nations to sign the Paris
Agreement, a historic pactto curb the carbon emissions behind climate change.
Several speakers kicked off the ceremony by describing what's at stake,
culminating with an urgent, cogent plea from new Academy Award-winner Leonardo
DiCaprio.
4月22日地球日当天，175位世界各国领导人齐聚联合国签署《巴黎协定》——一份抑制气候变化背后的碳排放问题的历史性条约。仪式开场，几位主讲人描述了危在旦夕的气候状况，奥斯卡新晋影帝莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥压轴登场，向大家发出急切有力的呼吁。
"Yes, we have achieved the Paris Agreement. More countries have come
together to sign this agreement today than for any other cause in the history of
humankind, and that is reason for hope," DiCaprio said, praising the first
international treaty that commits both developed and developing nations to cut
greenhouse gas emissions. "But unfortunately the evidence shows us that it will
not be enough. Our planet cannot be saved unless we leave fossil fuels in the
ground where they belong."
“是的，我们已经成功签署了《巴黎协定》，今天来到这里签署协定的国家数量超过了人类历史上任何一次事件，而这就是希望的曙光”，迪卡普里奥说道，他称赞这是第一份由发达国家和发展中国家共同承诺减少温室气体排放的国际条约。“然而，不幸的是，事实情况告诉我们，只有条约仍然不够。除非我们能让化石燃料留存在地下它们所属的地方，否则我们无法拯救地球。”
reason for hope:希望的原因，希望的缘由，希望的曙光。非常好用的词组，下次想表达“……有希望，因为……”时，就可以用这个词组了。
cut greenhouse gas emissions:减少温室气体排放。文章中还有一个类似表达是上一段的“curb the carbon
emissions”。在这里，cut和curb都表示“减少”，同类的词还有reduce、lessen、decrease等。
fossil fuels:化石燃料，是指古代生物遗体在特定地质条件下形成的矿产，包括煤、石油、天然气等。
"An upheaval, a massive change, is required right now," he added.
他补充道：“现在我们需要一次彻底的巨大的改变。”
upheaval:突变，剧变，up向上+heav=heave举起+al状态,性质→n.动乱,大变动，如：social upheaval
社会动乱。
massive：大的，重的，大块的。同样可以表达“大的”的近义词还有huge、enormous、giant、vast、tremendous等。
"You know that climate change is happening faster than even the most
pessimistic of scientists warned us decades ago. It has become a runaway freight
train bringing with it an impending disaster for all living things," DiCaprio
said. "Think about the shame each of us will carry when our children and
grandchildren look back and realize we had the means of stopping this
devastation, but simply lacked the political will."
“你们知道，气候变化速度之快，甚至超过了数十年前最悲观的科学家对我们的警告。它已经变成一列失控的货车，使得所有生物大难临头”，迪卡普里奥说，“想象一下，当我们的子孙回顾这段历史时，发现我们本来有办法阻止这场灾难，却简单地止步于政治意愿之前，我们每个人会感到多么羞耻。”
pessimistic：悲观的，反义词：optimistic 乐观的
impending：即将发生的，迫在眉睫的。如：impending death 垂死，impending doom 末日。
"We can congratulate each other today, but it will mean absolutely nothing
if you return to your countries and fail to push beyond the promises of this
historic agreement. Now is the time for bold,unprecedented action. My friends,
look at the delegates around you. It's time to ask yourselves which side of
history you will be on."
“今天我们可以在这里向彼此表示祝贺，但是如果你们回到自己的国家后，不能推动执行在这份历史性协定里许下的承诺，一切都是枉然。现在，是时候采取无畏而空前的行动了。我的朋友们，看看你们身边的各国代表们。此刻你们应该问问自己，到底愿意站在历史的哪一边。”
mean nothing：很好用的一个短语，表示“没有意义，枉然”，如：A name, as such, means
nothing.姓名本身并无意义。再如：money means nothing to her.她视金钱如粪土。
fail to do sth：未能做某事，不能做某事。小伙伴们下次想表达“不能”时，如果不能做的事不完全是能力差造成的，就可以抛弃“I
can't”和“I am not able to”了，试试fail to吧。 |
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发表于 2016-7-12 21:29:58