研究生英语泛读翻译第八单元.doc

A convenient truth, sadly ignored IF ALL goes well, in 2011, a year before the Kyoto protocol expires, a new opera will open at La Scala in Milan. It will be based on “An Inconvenient Truth”, the book and film about global warming by Al Gore, the former vice-president. It is easy to see the drama in the story of the failed American presidential candidate turned green crusader (although not in the thickets of statistics into which he sometimes strays). But whether the opera in Milan will end happily or tragically, the composer has not yet revealed. Does Mr Gore, armed with a PowerPoint presentation and mounted on a rickety mechanical ladder, put the sceptics and recalcitrants of climate change to rout? Or do the worlds politicians ignore his song and allow timidity, suspicion and recrimination to vanquish the greater good? In real life, the answer to those questions is being debated, amid negotiations over a replacement for the Kyoto treaty. Discussions are under way in Bonn and Americas Congress right now (see article). The talks are due to culminate in a summit in Denmark next year. But already, the protagonists are blocking out their positions. Most developing countries are as one: almost all the greenhouse gases that have accumulated over the past two centuries, and are now heating up the planet, came from the chimneys and exhaust pipes of the rich world. What is more, each person in a rich country adds far more to the build-up than someone from a poorer country does. So, the likes of China and India conclude, the rich world must shoulder its responsibility for fixing the climate. Meanwhile, in America in particular, a chorus of leery politicians points out that China is now churning out greenhouse gases faster than any other country, even if its cumulative tally remains relatively low. Indonesia, India and Brazil are also prolific polluters. Emissions from developing countries are growing so fast that they are likely to swamp any reductions made by the rich worl