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(单词翻译)
By Mil Arcega
Washington, D.C.
24 August 2006
watch Seaport1 report
Cruise ships bring tourists and inject millions of dollars into port cities around the world. But they also bring a more dangerous cargo2 -- pollution. VOA's Mil Arcega reports one port has partnered with cruise ship operators to reduce the level of airborne pollutants3.
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A cruise ship sails past Seattle's famous Space Needle
Cruise ships can evoke4 images of luxury and comfort. But take a closer look and a different picture emerges. Global environmental groups say, in just one day, a single smokestack can generate the same amount of pollution as 12,000 cars.
Dennis McLerran heads Puget Sound's Clean Air Agency. "Those fine particles in diesel5 exhaust lodge6 deeply into the lungs. They affect kids with asthma7."
Cruise ship operator Holland America hopes to reduce the harmful emissions9 by plugging into the power grid10 of the northwestern U.S. city of Seattle. Company president Stein Kruse says the port's giant transformers will allow the company's ships to run on electricity instead of diesel fuel when they dock.
Stein Kruse
"The ships of today and the size of our engines and the power requirements are so substantial and to bring something like this into the city's electrical grid requires a lot of technology," said Mr. Kruse.
It also requires a lot of money. Princess Cruises spent more than $1 million last year to install the new electrical system at the Seattle port. And it cost another million dollars to retrofit each ship.
Enormous and multiple electrical connections are needed to power a cruise ship
Holland America is also spending big money. Kruse says the company is testing a new, million-dollar seawater scrubber to clean ship exhaust before it reaches the smokestack. "The seawater will scrub these emissions so the particulate11 matters will go back into the ship and ultimately blended with the sludge and off-loaded."
Experts say the new initiatives will help reduce air pollution by 30 percent. But environmentalists warn the new technologies will have little impact unless all ships comply. Emission8 standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency apply only to domestic ships, even though foreign-flagged vessels12 account for 90 percent of the pollution at U.S. ports.
1 seaport | |
n.海港,港口,港市 | |
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2 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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3 pollutants | |
污染物质(尤指工业废物)( pollutant的名词复数 ) | |
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4 evoke | |
vt.唤起,引起,使人想起 | |
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5 diesel | |
n.柴油发动机,内燃机 | |
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6 lodge | |
v.临时住宿,寄宿,寄存,容纳;n.传达室,小旅馆 | |
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7 asthma | |
n.气喘病,哮喘病 | |
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8 emission | |
n.发出物,散发物;发出,散发 | |
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9 emissions | |
排放物( emission的名词复数 ); 散发物(尤指气体) | |
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10 grid | |
n.高压输电线路网;地图坐标方格;格栅 | |
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11 particulate | |
adj.微小的;n.微粒,粒子 | |
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12 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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