英文每周一文，長話短說的評論，From the New York Times紐約時報的文章來觀摩一下

英文每周一文，本來是給托福寫作班同學參考用的，不過對於任何一個想要寫好英文的人，多閱讀好文章絕對是好處多多。之前我一直噴口水強調，好的文章不用詞藻華麗，不需要堆砌文字，重點是把訊息很清楚地表達出來，本周我們來閱讀紐約時報的評論。評論不能又臭又長，因為寫太多字一來氣勢弱、不俐落，再者讓人讀著讀著失去耐性，甚至迷失方向都有可能。

西方人寫文章，都是開門見山、直搗核心。強調單一主張single-mindedness，而不像亞洲人那樣東評西論，開枝散葉，最後搞到主題模糊。論述性的文章寫成了敘述型文章。這篇討論北京汽車問題的評論，只有四百多字，值得大家下載參考。課堂上討論時，我會把觀點論述講解清楚，這我作簡單的提示，方便各位消化吸收。

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From the New York Times

Beijing’s Car Problem

第一段表達現況與觀點

一語道出北京空氣汙染嚴重的問題 

Beijing has a new plan to tackle處理 its air pollution: require fewer conventional cars and more hybrid and electric vehicles. The effort is an admirable attempt 值得稱許的嘗試to deal with因應/解決 a major problem in the Chinese capital, but it will not make a big difference without other, more significant interventions介入/干預.

第二段進一步說明現況並舉例佐證

討論了北京當局目前採行的方案(電動車/油電車)

The local government says it will reduce the number of license plates it issues over the next four years by 40 percent, to 150,000 a year by 2017. At the same time, it says it will slowly increase the share of plates that are reserved for electric cars and other hybrid vehicles to 40 percent of the total by the end of four years, according to Reuters路透社.

第三段更多現況與範例支撐論點

不能空口說白話，舉了美國環保局的數據來佐證

Beijing’s air has been bad for years. The city is surrounded by smoke-belching factories吐黑煙的工廠, its streets are choked by被嗆到 a growing number of cars and it sits on a plain that is surrounded by hills that trap pollution. Early this year, the United States Embassy reported that Beijing’s air had hit a record bad reading 空氣汙染程度已創下史上最糟記錄on an Air Quality Index空氣品質指數 developed by the American Environmental Protection Agency.美國環境保護局

第四段提供北京當局過去的因應策略

2008北京奧運時北京當局的因應策略

Chinese officials have used various tactics策略 to improve the air in Beijing. During the 2008 Olympics, they shut down factories around the city. In October, local authorities announced that they would ban阻止 half the city’s cars from the roads whenever they expected serious pollution.

第五段對當局的策略提供批評

Reducing the number of new cars on the roads and making sure more of them burn less or no fuel should help limit future pollution. It should also give the makers of hybrid油電車 and electric電動車 cars a boost幫助推動 by creating more demand創造更多需求 for their products. (China recently unveiled subsidies of as much as $10,000 to buy electric and hybrid cars.)

最後一段提出作者建言

結論呼應第一段的opener，大家可以參考這種寫法

1. 限制氮氧化物排放，控制空氣汙染

2. 室外煮飯的排氣汙染也要改善

3. 最後一點也是最重要的一點，中國的能源不能再仰賴燃煤，這個最棘手的問其實最需要當局有魄力改變。

But to reduce the smog that blankets the city覆蓋整個城市的煙霧 now, China’s leaders will have to restrict emissions of nitrogen oxides限制氮氧化物排放(氮氧化物是大氣中主要的污染物之一，是造成酸雨及人類呼吸道疾病的重要原因，因此控制廢氣中氮氧化物的排放相當重要。), particulate matter and other airborne pollutants空中的污染物 from surrounding areas, which account for 對…負責much of the city’s foul air髒空氣. And it will have to cut down on outdoor fires used for cooking. Ultimately, China will have to rethink how it powers itself. After all, zero-emission vehicles 零排放電動車need electricity, and most of the country’s power is generated by burning coal. 燃煤That, too, needs to change.