百年新征程——生态保护谱新篇

A new chapter of ecological protection in China 

刘立军 供稿

TRANSCRIPT

I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn and here’s what I’m watching:

The critical importance of environmental protection in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and in the country’s long-range, 15-year roadmap to 2035, when China intends to become, basically, a fully modernized, socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

But a country cannot claim to be “beautiful” if its air, water, and soil is severely polluted. No amount of economic development is worth the cost of environmental degradation. Sustainable development is an absolute requirement for China to achieve its national goals.

But when actual enterprises were polluted, there were obstacles in making them stop: local officials were more concerned about GDP growth rates to bolster their careers, and corruption and bribery could divert or halt the enforcement.

Moreover, when enterprises were caught polluting, even when egregious, the fines were extremely low, a small fraction of what it would cost to stop the polluting. In fact, the fines were so tiny that they were, in essence, a financial incentive to continue to pollute!

No longer.

Officials at all levels, along with enterprise executives, now know that the new costs of polluting far outweigh the old benefits: financial fines will be punitive and painful, and careers can be put in immediate jeopardy.

It takes only a few expensive examples for everyone to get the message. Credit President Xi for making the cost-prohibitive and the message unambiguous.

One lens through which to view China’s environmental protection is that of the New Development Concepts, which drives the 14th Five-year Plan. Of the five Concepts, “green development”, at number three, is right in the middle. Government directives call for breakthroughs.

By 2025, a marked rise in green industries, a continued drop in major pollutants, and a slashed carbon emission intensity; the industrial, energy, and transportation structures significantly optimized; the proportion of green industries increased significantly, and the quality of green infrastructure enhanced. By 2035, energy and resource utilization efficiency in key industries and for key products reaching world-class standards.

The directives also include: 

l promoting wind and solar power, and natural gas infrastructure;

l limiting new coal power capacity;

l mandatory clean production audits;

l controlling highly polluting and energy-intensive products;

l local subsidies to stimulate green consumption;

l reducing food waste; and improved waste classification.

But specific targets are not yet specified. They need to be - and I expect they will be. But I’m keeping watch. I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

VOCABULARY

1. degradation n. (technical 术语) the process of sth. being damaged or made worse 毁坏，恶化（过程）。例如：environmental degradation 环境恶化

2. enterprise n. a company or business企业单位；事业单位。例如：state-owned / public enterprises 国有企业；公共事业单位

3. bolster v. to improve sth. or make it stronger 改善；加强。例如：to bolster sb.'s confidence/courage/morale 增加某人的信心 / 勇气 / 士气

4. divert v. to make sb./sth. change direction 使转向；使绕道；转移

5. halt v. to stop; to make sb./sth. stop （使）停止，停下。例如：She walked towards him and then halted. 她向他走去，然后停下。

6. egregious adj. (formal) extremely bad 极糟的；极坏的

7. incentive n. something that encourages you to do sth. 激励；刺激；鼓励。例如：tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施

8. punitive adj. very severe and that people find very difficult to pay （租税等）苛刻的。例如：punitive taxes  惩罚性征税

9. in jeopardy: in a dangerous position or situation and likely to be lost or harmed 处于危险境地；受到威胁

10. unambiguous adj. clear in meaning; that can only be understood in one way 明确的；毫不含糊的。例如：an unambiguous statement 明确的陈述

11. slash v. （常用被动态） (often used in newspapers 常用于报章) to reduce sth. by a large amount 大幅度削减。例如：to slash costs/prices/fares, etc. 大幅度降低成本、价格、车费等

12. mandatory adj. (formal) required by law 强制的；法定的；义务的。例如：The offence carries a mandatory life sentence. 这种罪行依照法律要判无期徒刑。

QUESTIONS

Read the passage. Then listen to the news and fill in the blanks with the information (words, phrases or sentences) you hear.

I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn and here’s what I’m watching:

The critical importance of (Q1) _____________ in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and in the country’s long-range, 15-year roadmap to 2035, when China intends to become, basically, a fully modernized, socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

But a country cannot claim to be “beautiful” if its air, water, and soil is severely polluted. No amount of economic development is worth the cost of environmental degradation. (Q2) __________ is an absolute requirement for China to achieve its national goals.

But when actual enterprises were polluted, there were (Q3) ___________ in making them stop: local officials were more concerned about GDP growth rates to bolster their careers, and (Q4) __________________ could divert or halt the enforcement.

Moreover, when enterprises were caught polluting, even when egregious, the fines were extremely low, a small fraction of what it would cost to stop the polluting. In fact, the fines were so tiny that they were, in essence, a financial (Q5) ______________ to continue to pollute!

No longer.

Officials at all levels, along with enterprise executives, now know that the new costs of polluting far outweigh the old benefits: financial fines will be punitive and painful, and careers can be put (Q6) ________________________.

It takes only a few expensive examples for everyone to get the message. Credit President Xi for making the cost-prohibitive and the message unambiguous.

One lens through which to view China’s environmental protection is that of the New Development Concepts, which drives the 14th Five-year Plan. Of the five Concepts, “green development”, at number three, is right in the middle. Government directives call for (Q7) ________________.

By 2025, a marked rise in (Q8) _______________________, a continued drop in major pollutants, and a slashed carbon emission intensity; the industrial, energy, and transportation structures significantly optimized; the proportion of green industries increased significantly, and the quality of green infrastructure enhanced. By 2035, energy and resource utilization efficiency in key industries and for key products reaching world-class standards.

The directives also include: 

promoting wind and solar power, and (Q9) _________________;

limiting new coal power capacity;

mandatory clean production audits;

controlling highly polluting and energy-intensive products;

local subsidies to stimulate green consumption;

reducing food waste; and improved (Q10) _____________________.

But specific targets are not yet specified. They need to be - and I expect they will be. But I’m keeping watch. I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

KEY

Read the passage. Then listen to the news and fill in the blanks with the information (words, phrases or sentences) you hear.

I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn and here’s what I’m watching:

The critical importance of (Q1) environmental protection in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and in the country’s long-range, 15-year roadmap to 2035, when China intends to become, basically, a fully modernized, socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

But a country cannot claim to be “beautiful” if its air, water, and soil is severely polluted. No amount of economic development is worth the cost of environmental degradation. (Q2) Sustainable development is an absolute requirement for China to achieve its national goals.

But when actual enterprises were polluted, there were (Q3) obstacles in making them stop: local officials were more concerned about GDP growth rates to bolster their careers, and (Q4) corruption and bribery could divert or halt the enforcement.

Moreover, when enterprises were caught polluting, even when egregious, the fines were extremely low, a small fraction of what it would cost to stop the polluting. In fact, the fines were so tiny that they were, in essence, a financial (Q5) incentive to continue to pollute!

No longer.

Officials at all levels, along with enterprise executives, now know that the new costs of polluting far outweigh the old benefits: financial fines will be punitive and painful, and careers can be put (Q6) in immediate jeopardy.

It takes only a few expensive examples for everyone to get the message. Credit President Xi for making the cost-prohibitive and the message unambiguous.

One lens through which to view China’s environmental protection is that of the New Development Concepts, which drives the 14th Five-year Plan. Of the five Concepts, “green development”, at number three, is right in the middle. Government directives call for (Q7) breakthroughs.

By 2025, a marked rise in (Q8) green industries, a continued drop in major pollutants, and a slashed carbon emission intensity; the industrial, energy, and transportation structures significantly optimized; the proportion of green industries increased significantly, and the quality of green infrastructure enhanced. By 2035, energy and resource utilization efficiency in key industries and for key products reaching world-class standards.

The directives also include: 

promoting wind and solar power, and (Q9) natural gas infrastructure;

limiting new coal power capacity;

mandatory clean production audits;

controlling highly polluting and energy-intensive products;

local subsidies to stimulate green consumption;

reducing food waste; and improved (Q10) waste classification.

But specific targets are not yet specified. They need to be - and I expect they will be. But I’m keeping watch. I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

改编自CGTN

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