It is time to clean up the air in buildings
是时候净化室内空气了
Now a new public-health priority is becoming apparent: making indoor air cleaner.
如今，一项越加紧迫的公共卫生事项正在凸显：让室内空气更加清洁。
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Take schools. They are "chronically under-ventilated", according to the Lancet covid-19 commission. Across Denmark, France, Italy, Norway and Sweden, researchers found that indoor-air quality in 66% of classrooms fell short of healthy standards.
以学校为例，《柳叶刀》新冠肺炎委员会称学校“长期通风不佳”。有研究人员发现，在丹麦、法国、意大利、挪威以及瑞典，66% 的学校教室空气质量未达健康标准。
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The problem extends well beyond classrooms. Many people spend more than 90% of their time indoors. Researchers have linked under-ventilated spaces in buildings to a range of ailments—headaches, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, and irritation of eye, nose, throat and skin. Poor ventilation has been blamed for increased absences from work, decreased productivity and asthma.
室内空气质量问题远不仅限于教室。许多人都在室内度过日常 90% 以上的时间。研究人员认为不少小病痛都与通风不良有关，例如头痛、疲劳、头晕、恶心以及眼、鼻、喉、皮肤部位的刺激症状等等。通风不良是造成职工缺勤现象增多、生产力降低和哮喘的原因之一。
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The pandemic has brought a new urgency to the matter. The virus which causes covid-19 spreads between people by hitching a ride on aerosol particles that can linger in the air of an ill-ventilated room.
疫情让这一问题变得尤为紧迫。新冠病毒会附着在气溶胶上在人群中传播，而在通风不良的室内，气溶胶颗粒可在空气中停留许久。
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Indoor-air quality has attracted little government attention. But achieving clean, pathogen-free air in indoor public spaces is possible. The first step is to give people more information on how well-ventilated their air is. Carbon-dioxide concentrations are a good proxy for ventilation. National indoor-air-quality standards would help. One way to enforce them could be through ventilation certificates for buildings, similar to food-hygiene certificates.
室内空气质量问题几乎从未得到过政府的注意。但是，让室内公共场所的空气变得清洁、不含病原体，是完全可能的。首先，可以向人们提供更多的信息，以便他们了解当前的室内通风情况。二氧化碳浓度是通风状况的一个有效指标。落实国家室内空气质量标准也会有所帮助。执行该标准的方式之一是颁发建筑物通风证，类似于颁发食品卫生证。
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The bill for all this need not be huge. A recent study found that raising the standard of ventilation in all American elementary and secondary schools to the minimum level would cost less than 0.1% of the country's typical public spending on education.***
以上方案并不需要高昂的费用。近期一项研究发现，让美国所有中小学都达到最低通风标准的费用在美国传统的公共教育支出中的占比不足 0.1%。
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More investment would be money well spent. Better indoor air boosts academic performance — maths and reading scores go up, and pupils are measurably more attentive in class. Office-workers benefit, too. Researchers have found the cognitive scores of people in well-ventilated offices are 61% higher than those in conventional office set-ups.
这一问题值得更多的投资。质量更佳的室内空气有利于提高学习成绩——学生的数学和阅读分数会提高，他们在课堂上的专注力也会显著提高。办公族同样会因此获益。研究人员发现，职员在通风良好的空间内办公时，他们的认知测试得分会比传统办公环境中的人高出 61%。
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主编：大仔
品控：大仔
审核：夏天
重点词汇
priority
/praɪˈɔːr.ə.t̬i/
n. 当务之急，优先事项
搭配短语：to list our tasks in order of priority
例句：Education is a top priority.
chronically
/ˈkrɑː.nɪ.kəl.i/
adv. 长期地（尤指糟糕的问题）
相关词汇：chronic（adj. 长期的；慢性的；积习难改的）
搭配短语：chronic back pain
例句：He is a chronic smoker.
例句：There is a chronic shortage of teachers.
例句：For decades, public health has been chronically underfunded.
ventilate
/ˈven.t̬əl.eɪt/
v. 通风换气；供氧
英文释义：to cause fresh air to enter and move around a closed space
相关词汇：ventilation（n. 通风换气）
相关词汇：ventilator（n. 通风设备；呼吸机）
搭配短语：kitchen ventilator（抽油烟机，厨房通风设备）
相关词汇：well-ventilated（adj. 通风良好的）
相关词汇：under-ventilated（adj. 通风不良的）
相关词汇：unventilated（adj. 密闭不通风的）
fall short of sth.
达不到……
相关短语：fall short（不足）
例句：Food supplies fell short.（粮食供给不足）
例句：The job growth in May fell short of expectations.
ailment
/ˈeɪl.mənt/
n. 病痛，疾病
词义辨析：ailment, disease, illness
disease 一般指客观具体的疾病；illness 强调人的主观不适，并能笼统地表示身体不舒服；ailment 一般都指日常生活中的轻微病痛。
例句：If you see anyone that shows signs of illness, please go to a member of station staff for help.（身体不适）
例句：This type of OTC medication treats common stomach ailments.
fatigue
/fəˈtiːɡ/
n. 疲劳
dizziness
/ˈdɪz.i.nəs/
n. 眩晕
nausea
/ˈnɑː.zi.ə/
n. 恶心
irritation
/ˌɪr.əˈteɪ.ʃən/
n. 刺激，发炎
相关词汇：irritate（v. 刺激；激怒）
例句：His attitude irritates me.
例句：Contact lenses can sometimes irritate your eyes.
例句：Wearing contact lenses can cause eye irritation.
absence
/ˈæb.səns/
n. 缺席
搭配短语：unauthorized absences from school
asthma
/ˈæz.mə/
n. 哮喘
文化补充：哮喘，也称支气管哮喘，俗称气喘，是一种我们日常生活中非常常见的慢性免疫性疾病。过敏性哮喘是哮喘中最常见的类型，它已成为一种严重危害公众健康的慢性疾病。
哮喘的根本病因暂未得到完全了解。目前可知的是，哮喘是由复杂的遗传和环境因素共同引起的。在生活环境中，过敏原和非过敏原都可以引起哮喘。主要的过敏原包括：屋尘螨、花粉、动物皮屑、蟑螂和真菌等。此外，一些食物包括奶制品、水产品、小麦、谷物和肉类等也可以成为过敏原；非过敏原包括：臭氧、化学烟雾、汽车尾气、阿司匹林、化学试剂、冷空气等等。
urgency
/ˈɝː.dʒən.si/
n. 紧急，紧迫
相关词汇：urgent（adj. 紧急的，紧迫的）
搭配短语：to make sth. more urgent
搭配短语：to increase the urgency of sth.
搭配短语：to bring a new urgency to sth. / to add a new urgency to sth.（让某事变得更为紧迫）
例句：The attack added a new urgency to the peace talks.
hitch
/hɪtʃ/
v. 搭便车
搭配短语：hitch a ride/lift（搭便车）
例句：He tried to hitch a lift back to London. / He tried to hitch to London.
相关词汇：lift（n. 免费乘车）
linger
/ˈlɪŋ.ɡɚ/
v. 停留
例句：The smell of her perfume lingered in the room.
ill
/ɪl/
pref. 不好，不足
相关词汇：ill-ventilated（adj. 通风不良的）
近义词：under-ventilated / poorly-ventilated（adj. 通风不良的）
相关词汇：ill-behaved（adj. 举止失礼的）
相关词汇：ill-prepared（adj. 缺乏准备的）
相关词汇：ill-judged（adj. 判断不当的）
proxy
/ˈprɑːk.si/
n. 代表人
例句：You may appoint a proxy to sign for you.
enforce
/ɪnˈfɔːrs/
v. 执行，实施
搭配短语：to enforce a law（执行法规）
搭配短语：to enforce a policy（实施政策）
hygiene
/ˈhaɪ.dʒiːn/
n. 卫生
well spent
用得其所的
例句：This computer wasn't cheap, but it was money well spent.
例句： We must ensure that the resources of the health care system are well spent.
boost
/buːst/
v. 增强，提高，促进
搭配短语：to boost the economy（刺激经济增长）
搭配短语：to boost profits（提高利润）
搭配短语：to boost viewing figures（提高收视）
搭配短语：to boost one's confidence（增强某人自信）
measurably
/ˈmeʒ.ɚ.ə.bli/
adv. 显著地
相关词汇：measurable（adj. 可计量地；显著的）
搭配短语：measurable amounts of pollution in the atmosphere
英文释义：large enough to be noticed
例句：It made measurable progress.
例句：It improved measurably.
attentive
/əˈten.t̬ɪv/
adj. 专心的
相关词汇：attention（n. 注意）
conventional
/kənˈven.ʃən.əl/
adj. 传统的，常规的
set-up
/ˈset̬.ʌp/
n. 配置；设施
相关短语：set up（搭建）
搭配短语：to set up the equipment
加
