Traffic police in Tokyo have to wear gas masks and take “oxygen breaks”—breathing occasionally from tanks of oxygen. Smog in Athens at times has forced factory closings and traffic restrictions. Acid rain in Canada is caused by air pollution in the United States, contributing to strained relationships between the two countries. Sydney, Rome, Tehran, Ankara, Mexico City, and most other major cities in the world have had frightening experiences of air pollution.
One of the two major types of smog—consisting of smoke, fog, sulfur dioxide, sulfuring acid (H2SO4), ash and soot—is called London smog. Indeed, the word smog is thought to have originated in England in 1905 as a contraction of the words “smoke” and “fog”.
Probably the worst case of smog in history started in London on Thursday, 4 December, 1952. A large cold air mass moved into the valley of the Thames River. A temperature inversion placed a blanket of warm air over the cold air. With nightfall, a dense fog and below-freezing temperatures caused the people of London to put coal into their small stoves. Millions of these fires burned throughout the night, pouring sulfur dioxide and smoke into the air. The next day, Friday, the people continued to burn coal when the temperature remained below freezing. The factories added their smoke and chemical fumes to the atmosphere.
Saturday was a day of darkness. For twenty miles around London, no light came through the smog. The air was cold and still. And the coal fires continued to burn throughout the weekend. On Monday, 8 December, more than one hundred people died of heart attacks while trying desperately to breathe. By the time a breeze cleared the air on Tuesday, 9 December, more than 4,000 deaths had been caused by the smog.
【2017届四川省剑阁县高考英语一轮复习阅读理解训练:5(含解析)】相关文章:
★ 安徽省淮南市2014高考英语一轮单项选择及文章训练(23)及答案
★ 【北师大版】2014届高考英语一轮复习指导课时作业:Unit 3 A卷 Word版含解析
★ 【人教版】2014届高考英语一轮复习指导考点针对练:选修6 unit5《The power of nature》
最新
2017-04-24
2017-04-24
2017-04-24
2017-04-24
2017-04-21
2017-04-21