2014年高考英语全国卷2 - 阅读理解B

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment. “We didn’t know at that time that there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it,” says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.
自1970年第一个地球日以来，美国人对环境的态度变得更加“绿色”。美国地球日主席布鲁斯·安德森说：“那时候我们甚至都不知道有环境一说，更不用说它有问题了。”。

But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement. Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many, many times,” says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin,who thought up the first Earth Day.
不过这一开始在公共事务中并不重要的事已经发展成为一场社会运动。商界人士、政治领袖、大学教授，尤其是数百万美国基层民众都在参与这场运动。第一个提出地球日的前威斯康星州州长盖洛德·纳尔逊说，“这种理解已经增加了很多很多倍”。

According to US government reports, emissions from cars and trucks have dropped from 10.3 million tons a year to 5.5 million tons. The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9. Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with, the world is a safer and healthier place. A kind of “green thinking” has become part of practices.
根据美国政府的报告，来自轿车和卡车的排放量从每年1030万吨下降至550万吨，一氧化碳超标的城市数量已从40个减少至9个。尽管依然存在严重问题，需要解决，但世界已变得更安全、更健康。“绿色思维”已成为实践的一部分。

Great improvement has been achieved. In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs; today in 1995 there are about 6,600. Advanced lights, motors, and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution.
取得的进步令人瞩目。1988年，只有600个回收项目；1995年的今天已有大约有6600个。先进的照明、电机和建筑设计有助于节约大量能源，从而防止污染。

Twenty-five years ago, there were hardly any education programs for environment. Today, it’s hard to find a public school, university, or law school that does not have such a kind of program. “Until we do that, nothing else will change!” says Bruce Anderson.
25年前，几乎没有任何环境教育课程。如今已经很难找到一所没有开设这些课程的公立学校、大学或法学院。“不这样做，一切都不会改变！”布鲁斯·安德森说。