首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The day this small town told its residents to stop drinking the water, life on Glendale Boulevard turned from quiet to alarm
The day this small town told its residents to stop drinking the water, life on Glendale Boulevard turned from quiet to alarm
admin
2022-08-22
40
问题
The day this small town told its residents to stop drinking the water, life on Glendale
Boulevard turned from quiet to alarming. One couple decided to immediately put their house up for sale. Another
fretted over
their young son and the baby who would soon arrive. And up the street, one mom felt a rising indignation that would turn her into an activist determined to restrict the chemicals contaminating her family’s drinking water—and that of millions of other Americans.
That late July day, this town along the banks of the Kalamazoo River became the latest community affected by a ubiquitous class of compounds known as polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. For years, calls for the federal government to regulate the chemicals have been unsuccessful, and last year the Trump administration tried to block publication of a study urging a much lower threshold of exposure.
The man-made chemicals have long been used in a wide range of consumer products, including nonstick cookware, water-repellent fabrics and grease-resistant paper products, as well as in firefighting foams. But exposures have been associated with an array of health problems, among them thyroid disease, weakened immunity, infertility risks and certain cancers. The compounds do not break down in the environment.
In Parchment, where they were once used by a long-shuttered paper mill, tests found PFAS levels in the water system in excess of 1,500 parts per trillion—more than 20 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended lifetime exposure limit of 70 parts per trillion. Local officials promptly alerted residents. Michigan officials declared a state of emergency. People started picking up free cases of bottled water at the high school. Within weeks, the town abandoned the municipal wells that had served 3,000 people and began getting water from nearby Kalamazoo. "This is not a problem you can run away from," said Parchment resident Tammy Cooper, who has become an outspoken advocate for better regulation. "
There are Parchments across the country
."
Harvard University researchers say public drinking-water supplies serving more than 6 million Americans have tested for the chemicals at or above the EPA’s threshold—which many experts argue should be far lower to safeguard public health. The level is only an agency guideline; the federal government does not regulate PFAS. The compounds’ presence has
rattled
communities from Hoosick Falls, N.Y., to Tucson. They have been particularly prevalent on or near military bases, which have long used PFAS-laden foams in training exercises.
Both houses of Congress held hearings on the problem last year, and lawmakers introduced bills to compel the government to test for PFAS chemicals nationwide and to respond wherever water and soil polluted by them are found. In late November, the head of the EPA vowed that the agency would soon unveil a "national strategy" to address the situation. Affected communities are still waiting. "There are some very real human impacts from this stuff," said Erik Olson, a drinking-water expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Most people have no idea they are being exposed."
Michigan is one of the few states where officials are trying to determine the extent of PFAS contamination. Health officials undertook statewide tests this year across 1,380 public water supplies and at more than 400 schools that operate their own wells. "When we look for it, we tend to find it," said Eden Wells, the state’s chief medical executive. Yet detection raises difficult questions, given the lack of regulation involving PFAS in water and the evolving research on its long-term health effects. "Many of our responses are outstripping the scientific knowledge we need," Wells said.
More is known about two particular types of the chemicals, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which companies phased out years ago amid growing evidence that both were ending up in the blood of nearly every American. But thousands of other PFAS chemicals remain in use—among the many threats, including arsenic and lead, to drinking water nationwide.
(选自《华盛顿邮报》2019年1月5日)
The author’s attitude toward EPA seems to be________.
选项
A、confident
B、supportive
C、doubtful
D、objective
答案
C
解析
态度题。第6段第2句提到美国环保署署长发誓会很快出台“国家战略”,但许多受感染的社区仍在等待,其中的双引号是对这种承诺的怀疑和讽刺,故正确答案为C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/890O777K
本试题收录于:
CATTI二级笔译综合能力题库翻译专业资格(CATTI)分类
0
CATTI二级笔译综合能力
翻译专业资格(CATTI)
相关试题推荐
HRVreadingsremainthesameregardlessofthegender,bodyshapeandhealthconditionsoftheusers.
Atarecenttrial,Tyas’sHRVreadingwas44.
Gunsturnedinwillbecrushedbeforebeingthrownaway.
Whenahurricaneisabouttooccur,theNationalWeatherBureauissuesawarning.
Watermakesupsome70percentagepointsofthebody,anddrinkingenoughwater—eithertapwaterorexpensivemineralwater—wil
Watermakesupsome70percentagepointsofthebody,anddrinkingenoughwater—eithertapwaterorexpensivemineralwater—
Whenahurricaneisabouttooccur,theNationalWeatherBureauissuesawarning.
Whenshereturnedbackbyabroad,shetoldusallaboutherexperienceasanillegalimmigrant.
BritainoccupiedJavaduringtheNapoleonicWars.BoththeBritishandlatertheDutchtriedtocentralizeandreformJava’sadm
Walkingthroughmytrainyesterday,staggeringfrommyseattothebuffetandback,IcountedfivepeoplereadingHarryPottern
随机试题
小儿出生后生长发育最迅速的时期是()
19世纪美国浪漫主义作家霍桑的代表作是
通常经济周期变动与股价变动的关系是()。
在影响人的身心发展的诸因素中,教育,尤其是学校教育在人的身心发展中起()。
多在安静休息或睡眠时发病的是()。
有理数是正整数、负整数、正分数、负分数和零的统称,此有理数概念的定义方法是().
根据《中华人民共和国民族区域自治法》的规定,下列哪一机关不享有自治条例、单行条例的制定权?()
保障食品安全、延长保质期的巴氏杀菌法是一种利用较低的温度既可杀死病菌又能保持物品中营养物质风味不变的消毒法。巴氏杀菌法可在稍高于病原体适宜生存的温度下杀死病菌,因此巴氏杀菌法被广泛用于乳制品和啤酒行业。以下哪项是上述论证的假设?
AgoodexampleofagroupofnationsworkingtogetherforthecommongoodistheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,orthe"CommonMar
A.hungryB.cookC.buyD.fillE.againF.poorG.beforeneedingsth.toeat
最新回复
(
0
)