编者按：雾霾一直是中国人心头的痛。读完本文你将了解到普通民众对于空气污染问题深切的关注和切实的行动。“天下雾霾，匹夫有责”，正如文中所说，雾霾问题已经变成了“a personal issue”。关注污染，不仅是出于社会责任，更是出于对自己、对亲人、对子孙后代的爱。
本文摘自《经济学人》3月4日刊，由精进小组成员追梦心翻译，七呵夫编辑校对。

无声的抗议

Anti-smog activism

Choking with fury

带着愤怒窒息

Citizens are complaining more loudly about polluted air.
市民更加大声地抱怨被污染的空气。

1. THIS time of year can be a tough one for factories in areas surrounding Beijing. To keep the capital’s sky clear of smog during the annual session of China’s parliament, which begins on March 5th, officials often order polluting firms to close down for several days. This year many are reported to have done so. Such measures, however, do little to calm an anxious public. In recent months, amid persistent dense smog in Beijing and many other cities, alarm and anger have been growing. A few brave citizens are beginning to protest.

2. 每年的这个时候对北京周边地区的工厂来说是一个艰难的时期。为保持从三月五日起召开的中国一年一度的两会期间首都的天空没有雾霾，官员们经常命令有污染物排放的公司关闭数天。据报道，今年有许多单位这样做。然而，这些措施无助于安抚焦虑的公众。最近几个月，在北京和许多其他城市持续重度雾霾的笼罩之下，警报和怨愤不断增加。一些勇敢的市民开始抗议。

3. It has taken many years for public anxiety to reach this level. A decade or more ago, censors kept talk of smog to a minimum in state-owned media. Worrying about air pollution was largely the preserve of foreigners. Many Chinese netizens scoffed at athletes who turned up in Beijing for the Olympic Games in 2008 wearing air-filtering masks. But the government is now far more open about the hazard, and the public far less blasé. At a children’s hospital in Beijing, parents carry toddlers wearing child-sized pollution masks. They fret about their children’s lingering coughs—could the smog be the cause? A balloon-seller outside the hospital is sure of the answer. “It is always busiest in the winter since the freezing, dirty air is so hard on the young ones,” she says.

keep/reduce sth to a minimum: 将某事物保持在[减少至]最低限度
e.g. She had reduced her consumption of fat and sugar to an absolute minimum.
preserve: an activity that is only suitable or allowed for a particular group of people
e.g. Banking used to be a male preserve .
e.g. The civil service became the preserve of the educated middle class.
blasé: not worried or excited about things that most people think are important, impressive etc
e.g. He's very blasé about money now that he's got that job.

2）公众的焦虑持续了多年才达到这个程度。十多年前，检查人员将国有媒体上对于雾霾的谈论保持在最低限度。对空气污染的担忧很大程度上是外国人才有的行为。许多中国网民嘲笑那些戴着空气过滤口罩出现在2008年北京奥运会上的运动员。但现在政府对（雾霾的）危害公开得多，而公众则远没有以前那样漠不关心。在北京的一家儿童医院，父母们带着戴儿童尺寸防污染口罩的孩子。他们对孩子持续不断的咳嗽很担心——是雾霾惹的祸吗？医院外面卖气球的小贩对此深以为然。“冬天在医院外面卖气球的生意总是最忙啦，因为寒冷而污浊的空气对孩子们如此有害，（所以小病人更多），”她说。

3. The government takes a dim view of any organised effort to put pressure on it. But in recent months parents in several cities have been posting demands online for the installation of air-filtration systems in their children’s schools. Officials in the capital agreed to do so, but only in some of them. The failure of other cities to respond at all has enraged many parents. “Are the lives of children in Beijing worth more?” asked a Chinese microblogger. In December residents of some cities attached masks to public statues to show their anger (sculptures thus adorned are pictured at Beijing Zoo). In Chengdu, in the south-west, police dispersed a small crowd taking part in such a protest and detained several participants.

take a dim view of sth: to disapprove of something, have a poor opinion of sth
e.g. She took a dim view of my suggestion.
e.g. My mother takes a pretty dim view of my cooking skills.

3）政府不赞同任何给它施压的有组织的尝试。但近几个月来，有几座城市的家长们一直在网上发布要求，要求在他们孩子的学校安装空气过滤系统。首都的官员同意这样做了，但只给其中的一些安装。其他城市根本就没有回应的失败激怒了许多家长。“北京孩子的命更值钱吗？“一位中国微博博主问。十二月，一些城市的居民将口罩挂在公共雕像上以示愤怒（因此被装饰的塑像在北京动物园被拍了下来）。在西南部城市成都，警察驱散了一小群参加这种抗议活动的人，并拘留了几个参与者。

4. Last month discontent erupted in the north-eastern city of Daqing over plans to build an aluminium factory (such factories are big emitters of particles that cause smog). Thousands gathered outside the city government’s headquarters, many holding up signs saying “refuse pollution”—even though the authorities had already agreed to suspend the project. Citizens of Daqing have cause to be sceptical: in November state media said officials there had failed to issue a red alert when lung-invading particles, known as PM2.5, exceeded a particularly hazardous level. Such alerts annoy local officials because they require the closure of factories and schools, and measures to curb traffic.
   4）上个月在东北城市大庆人们针对新建铝厂的计划爆发了不满（这些工厂是引起雾霾的微粒的排放大户）。数千人聚集在市政府大楼门外，许多人举着“拒绝污染”的标语——尽管当局已经同意暂停该项目。大庆市民有理由怀疑：国有媒体十一月份说，官员们在发现肺部入侵颗粒（被称为PM2.5）超过了特别危险的水平时没有发出红色警报。这些警报让当地官员心烦，因为他们需要关闭工厂和学校，并采取措施遏制交通。

5. Some anti-smog activists are turning to the courts. The first known attempt to do so was in 2014, when a man in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, demanded compensation for smog-related costs such as air-purifying machines, face masks and the purchase of exercise equipment for use indoors because of the foul air outside. The case was unsuccessful, but it attracted sympathetic coverage in state media. Recently a group of lawyers filed a suit against the city government in Beijing, alleging it was not doing enough to keep the air clean. The plaintiffs say officials have been warning them to withdraw it. The court has not yet responded. “All of us living in northern China are victims. This is a personal issue,” says one of the lawyers.

6. 有些反雾霾活跃分子正在转而诉诸公堂。首次为人所知的诉讼是在2014年，一位河北省（环绕北京的省份）市民要求赔偿与雾霾相关的花费，如空气净化器、面罩，以及因室外空气污浊所购买的室内使用的健身器材的费用。此案起诉失败了，但它博取了国家媒体的同情报道。最近，一群律师起诉北京市政府，指控政府对保持空气清洁不作为。原告说有官员警告他们撤销诉讼。法院尚未作出回应。“生活在中国北方的我们都是受害者。这是一个（涉及到切身利益的）私人问题，”其中一位律师说。

7. As state media admit, smog is likely to be a topic that is much discussed at the 12-day parliamentary session. The forecast for its start: haze.

8. 正如国家媒体承认的那样，雾霾很可能是为期12天的两会上讨论很多的话题。而两会开始那天的天气预报正是：阴霾。

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原文出处：经济学人杂志

译者：七呵夫

本译文仅供个人研习、欣赏语言之用，谢绝任何转载及用于任何商业用途。本译文所涉法律后果均由本人承担。本人同意简书平台在接获有关著作权人的通知后，删除文章。