The climate crisis could overwhelm subway systems
氣候危機可能會令地鐵系統(tǒng)不堪重負
Terrified passengers trapped in flooded subway cars in Zhengzhou, China. Water cascading down stairways into the London Underground. A woman wading through murky, waist-deep water to reach a New York City subway platform.
在中國鄭州，驚恐的乘客困在被淹沒的地鐵車廂內(nèi)；在倫敦，水順著樓梯瀑布般地涌入地鐵；而在紐約，一位女士蹚過齊腰深的渾水，才到達地鐵站臺。
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Subway systems around the world are struggling to adapt to extreme weather brought on by climate change. Their designs, many based on the expectations of another era, are being overwhelmed, and investment in upgrades could be squeezed by a drop in ridership brought on by the pandemic.***
世界各地的地鐵系統(tǒng)都在努力適應氣候變化帶來的極端天氣的影響。很多地鐵設計都是基于另一個時代的考量，而它們?nèi)缃褚呀?jīng)不堪重負；同時，新冠疫情導致地鐵客流量下降，用于系統(tǒng)升級的投資也可能會被擠壓。
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Retrofitting subways against flooding is "an enormous undertaking," said Robert Puentes, CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a nonprofit think tank with a focus on improving transportation policy. "But when you compare it to the cost of doing nothing, it starts to make much more sense." he said.
對地鐵進行防洪改造是“一項巨大的工程”，艾諾交通中心的首席執(zhí)行官羅伯特·普恩特斯這樣說道；該中心是一個致力于改善交通政策的非營利性智庫。他還說：“但是，當你把翻新地鐵與什么都不做的代價相比，翻新地鐵也就變得更加合乎情理了。”
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Mass transit advocates in the United States are calling for pandemic relief funds to be put toward public transportation. Some experts suggest another approach. With more extreme flooding down the line, protecting subways all of the time will be impossible, they say.
在美國，那些倡導公共交通的人呼吁，要將疫情救援資金用于公共交通。而一些專家則提出了另一種方法。他們認為，未來，隨著更多極端洪水的到來，要一直保護地鐵是不可能的。
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Instead, investment is needed in buses and bike lanes that can serve as alternative modes of public transportation when subways are flooded. Some experts question why public transportation needs to be underground in the first place and say that public transit should reclaim the street.
相反，人們需要在公交以及自行車專用道上進行投資，當?shù)罔F被淹沒時，它們可以用作替代的公共交通方式。還有些專家質(zhì)疑，為什么公共交通一開始就得建在地下；他們認為公共交通應該回到路面上來。
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"We have this inertia from the last century to give so much of the available space above ground to cars," said Bernardo Baranda Sepúlveda, a Mexico City-based researcher at the Institute for Transport Development, a transportation nonprofit. "But one bus lane carries more people than three lanes of cars."
非營利性交通機構交通發(fā)展研究所駐墨西哥城的研究員貝爾納多·巴蘭達·塞普爾韋達說：“上個世紀以來，我們就一直存在這種慣性：把地面上的大部分可用空間給了汽車。但是，一條公交車道的載客量要比三條汽車道的還要多?！?/p>
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主編：尹嵐、Seika
品控：Felicity、桃子
審核：木子
重點詞匯
overwhelm
/?o?.v??welm/
v. 壓垮，使應接不暇；淹沒；（感情上）不知所措
例句：The embankment was overwhelmed.
例句：They were overwhelmed by the number of applications.
例句：Grief overwhelmed me.
cascade
/k?s?ke?d/
v. 瀑布似地落下，大量傾瀉
詞性拓展：cascade（n. 瀑布）
詞義辨析：cascade，waterfall
cascade 指的一般是順著巖石一級一級往下流的小瀑布，而 waterfall 則一般指河水流經(jīng)陡坡或懸崖處形成的大瀑布。
例句：Her hair cascaded down her back.
wade
/we?d/
v. 蹚水，跋涉
英文釋義：to walk through water with difficulty
搭配短語：wade through sth.
搭配短語：to wade through the river
例句：Scientists have to wade through tons of data.
murky
/?m??.ki/
adj. 渾濁的；陰暗的；曖昧不清的
相關詞匯：murk（n. 昏暗，陰沉）
英文釋義：darkness caused by smoke, fog, etc.
搭配短語：a murky night（陰暗的，昏暗的）
搭配短語：a murky pond（渾濁的）
搭配短語：a murky conspiracy（曖昧不清的）
bring on
引起，導致
近義詞：cause
例句：The crisis was brought on by many factors.
squeeze
/skwi?z/
v. 限制、削減（資金）；擠壓
搭配短語：to squeeze her hand
搭配短語：to squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto the fish
例句：The government is squeezing the railway's investment budget.
ridership
/?ra?.d?.??p/
n.（某種公共交通工具的）客流量
相關詞匯：rider（n. 乘客）
詞根詞綴：-ship（某種性質(zhì)或狀態(tài)）
retrofit
/?ret.r??.f?t/
v. 翻新；加裝新部件
搭配短語：to retrofit the factory
搭配短語：to retrofit my car with the new fuel system
undertaking
/??n.d??te?.k??/
n. 任務，工作
相關詞匯：undertake（v. 承擔，接受）
搭配短語：to undertake a task
搭配短語：to undertake a project
例句：Starting a new business can be a risky undertaking.
make sense
有道理，合情理
搭配短語：it makes sense for sb. to do sth.
例句：It makes sense for the government to take social distancing measures.
mass transit
公共交通
相關詞匯：mass（adj. 民眾的，大規(guī)模的）
相關詞匯：transit（n. 交通運輸系統(tǒng)；運輸）
近義短語：public transportation
advocate
/??d.v?.ke?t/
n. 倡導者，擁護者
詞性拓展：advocate（v. 主張，提倡）
例句：He advocates raising taxes on the wealthy.
call for
號召，呼吁；要求，需求
例句：The press has called for an investigation.
例句：The job calls for English skills.
relief
/r??li?f/
n. 救濟，救援物資；寬慰，解脫；免除痛苦
例句：I breathed a sigh of relief.
搭配短語：tablets for the relief of pain
搭配短語：the flood relief
down the line
以后，往后
近義詞：later
例句：We will have to correct these problems down the line.
reclaim
/r??kle?m/
v. 恢復，收回
英文釋義：to get sth. back after it has been lost or taken away
例句：I reclaimed my suitcase from the lost luggage office.
inertia
/??n???.??/
n. 慣性；惰性
搭配短語：bureaucratic inertia
