题目内容
SECTION B INTERVIEW
Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview.
听力原文:Interviewer: Hello, everyone. Welcome to our programme Worldly Wise. Today our attention turns to pollution. We are lucky to have with us here our guest, Miss Catherine White, the youngest woman director of the Environmental Protection Agency. Good morning, Miss White.
Catherine: Good morning.
Interviewer: Well, Miss White, nowadays, most people believe it is the air outdoors that presents us, particularly those most sensitive to unhealthy air, with the greatest risk. But according to your group’s recent research, there seems to be something different.
Catherine: Yes, our research shows that it is not the air outdoors that takes us the risk. However, it is actually the air in side our homes, schools, and other buildings that is most harmful.
Interviewer: Really?
Catherine: Really! According to a recent report made by my colleague, 50% of all illnesses is aggravated or caused by polluted indoor air. The indoor air is anywhere from 2 to 10 times more hazardous than the outdoor air. And the indoor air quality epidemic has become the nation’s number one environmental health problem.
Interviewer: Why is such a big problem not noticed before?
Catherine: Because it was not as serious as today. As a result of the energy crisis of the 1970s, with energy-efficiency in mind, today's homes and buildings are built air-tight. Their air-tight construction keeps airborne pollutants trapped inside, and nature’s air-cleansing agents outside. Statistics for asthma problems began rising sharply around the same time that homes and buildings began to be built his way. In fact, a recent study found that the allergen level in super-insulated homes is 200% higher than it is in ordinary homes.
Interviewer: Besides the insulation of homes, is there anything else that worsens the indoor air?
Catherine: Yes, carpets, molds, mildews, fungi, dust mites, and many many others. A baby crawling on the floor in hales the equivalent of 4 cigarettes a day!
Interviewer: But most people spend most of their time inside.
Catherine: Yeah. Some are over 90%. In this case, the indoor air is going to affect our health far more than the outdoor air. Virtually everyone is affected, especially asthmatics and others who are particularly sensitive to allergens and dirty particles in the air. Keep in mind that no home or building is immune to the indoor air quality epidemic. 6 out of 10 homes and buildings are "sick".
Interviewer: Sick? Do you mean the air in the house is in bad quality?
Catherine: Not only bad, but it is hazardous to your health. And even the Environmental Protection Agency’s very own headquarters, constructed a few years ago, was determined to be "sick". Many EPA employees could not work inside the building without becoming sick. If the headquarters of the EPA can fall victim to the indoor air quality epidemic, the very government agency that is charged with finding solutions to this problem, then any home or building can be afflicted. In fact, every home and building is affected by the indoor air quality epidemic to one degree or another, regardless of how clean it may appear.
Interviewer: But if my house looks really clean, how did it become that way?
Catherine: Did you use aerosols, floor or furniture polish, bleach, bathroom cleaners, etc. ? If so, these products give off harmful chemical vapors into the air. Most homes or buildings also have carpets, painted walls, chemically treated furnishings, dust, insects, moist or damp things, food, people, and...
Interviewer: People?!
Catherine: Yes, humans shed more than just about any other animal, but our skin flakes are
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