New words and expressions 生词短语
pollution : 污染
plea n.:要求 make plea for aid/money 要求援助/资助.
on the plea of sth. :以...为借口.
I am absent on the plea of stomachache.我以肚痛为借口而不去上班.
plea v.: plea for sth.
abatement n.: 减少 abate vi. 减少 (指harm, danger等危害,力量减弱)
The danger of the poisonous gas abated. The wind abated. 风力减弱了.
decrease reduce 用于数量减少 wane vi.: 只做不及物动词 (月缺) wax vi. :月满
crescent n.:月牙
diminish 可以指数量也可以指 power
The illness diminishes my strength/energy. 一场大病使我体弱无力.
Lesson31
Many people in industry and the Services, who have practical experience of noise, regard any investigation of this question as a waste of time; they are not prepared even to admit the possibility that noise affects people. On the other hand, those who dislike noise will sometimes use most inadequate evidence to support their pleas for a quieter society. This is a pity, because noise abatement really is a good cause. and it is likely to be discredited if it gets to be associated with bad science .
One allegation often made is that noise produces mental illness. A recent article in a weekly newspaper, for instance, was headed with a striking illustration of a lady in a state of considerable distress, with the caption 'She was yet another victim, reduced to a screaming wreck '. On turning eagerly to the text, one learns that the lady was a typist who found the sound of office typewriters worried her more and more until eventually she had to go into a mental hospital. Now the snag in this sort of anecdote is of course that one cannot distinguish cause and effect. Was the noise a cause of the illness, or were the complaints about noise merely a symptom? Another patient might equally well complain that her neigh-bours were combining to slander her and persecute her, and yet one might be cautious about believing this statement.