English 中文网 漫画网 爱新闻iNews 翻译论坛
中国网站品牌栏目(频道)
当前位置: Language Tips> 天天读报> 每日播报

Earth Hour success 'vote for action'

[ 2009-03-30 14:10]     字号 [] [] []  
免费订阅30天China Daily双语新闻手机报:移动用户编辑短信CD至106580009009

进入英语学习论坛下载音频

For environmental activists, the message was clear: Earth Hour was a huge success.

Now they say nations have a mandate to tackle climate change.

"The world said 'yes' to climate action, now governments must follow," the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said a day after hundreds of millions of people worldwide followed its call to turn off lights for a full hour.

From an Antarctic research base and the Great Pyramids of Egypt, from the Colosseum in Rome to the Empire State building in New York, illuminated patches of the globe went dark Saturday night to highlight the threat of climate change.

Time zone by time zone, nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries dimmed nonessential lights from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

WWF called the event, which began in Australia in 2007 and grew last year to 400 cities worldwide, "the world's first-ever global vote about the future of our planet".

"Last night's message from the masses was loud and clear: Delay no more, real action now!" Kim Carstensen, the leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative, said in a statement yesterday.

Negotiators from 175 countries gathered yesterday in Bonn for the latest round in an effort to craft a deal to control emissions of the heat-trapping gases responsible for global warming.

German boy and girl scouts yesterday presented the top UN climate official, Yvo de Boer, with a blue "ballot box" symbolically representing the world's vote the night before to save the earth.

"If the world keeps polluting ... we will lose our future," a young Girl Scout told de Boer.

The climate chief thanked the young people as well as the WWF for mobilizing the massive show of support.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually the largest public demonstration that there has ever been on an issue like this," he said.

Earth Hour officially began when the Chatham Islands, 800 km east of New Zealand, switched off its diesel generators. At Scott Base in Antarctica, New Zealand's 26-member winter team resorted to minimum safety lighting and switched off appliances and computers.

In Australia, Sydney's glittering harbor was bathed in shadows as lights dimmed on the steel arch of the city's iconic Harbour Bridge and the nearby Opera House.

Landmarks across China joined in.

Beijing's Olympic icons - the Bird's Nest and Water Cube - went dark for an hour.

More than 1,800 buildings in Hong Kong joined, including the International Finance Center and Tsing Ma Bridge. Tourist attraction Symphony of Lights, a Guinness-record winning daily light show in Victoria Harbor, was suspended to show support.

Zhou Teng, 28, an employee of an education consultancy firm, had a candlelight dinner with her husband at a restaurant along Shanghai's Huangpu River.

"We are here not for romance, but to support the campaign," she said.

As the sun moved west, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt darkened. So did the Acropolis in Athens and the Colosseum in Rome.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral were among 200 monuments and buildings that went dark. The Eiffel Tower, however, only extinguished its lights for five minutes for security reasons because visitors were on the tower.

The celebration then crossed the Atlantic, where crowds at New York's Times Square watched as many of the massive billboards, including the giant Coca-Cola display, darkened. The Majestic Theater marquee at the home of The Phantom of the Opera went dark, along with the marquees at other Broadway shows.

Mikel Rouse, 52, a composer who lives and works nearby came to watch.

"C'mon, is it really necessary? ... All this ridiculous advertising ... all this corporate advertising taking up all that energy seems to be a waste," Rouse said.

Hundreds of other cities also joined in, from Chicago to San Francisco to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue that watches over the city was darkened, along with the beachfront of the famed Copacabana.

Questions:

1. How many cities and towns participated in Earth Hour this year?

2. Which Beijing buildings turned off their lights?

3. What did the UN’s top climate change official say about this year’s Earth Hour?

Answers:

1. Almost 4,000.

2. The Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.

3. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if this was the largest public demonstration ever about climate change.

(英语点津 Helen 编辑)

Earth Hour success 'vote for action'

About the broadcaster:

Earth Hour success 'vote for action'Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.

 
中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
 

关注和订阅

人气排行

翻译服务

中国日报网翻译工作室

我们提供:媒体、文化、财经法律等专业领域的中英互译服务
电话:010-84883468
邮件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn