Lesson 3 At War with the Planet

3) What happened in Bhopal?
• On the night of Dec. 2nd and 3rd, 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, began leaking 27 tons of the deadly gas. None of the six safety systems designed to contain such a leak were operational, allowing the gas to spread throughout the city of Bhopal. Half a million people were exposed to the gas and 20,000 have died to date as a result of their exposure.
He decided to abridge his stay here after he received a letter from home. 他接到家信后决定缩短在这里的逗留时间。
• 2. watershed: n. an event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend; (= landmark; turning point)
• 3. elaborate (on): vi. To express at greater length or in greater detail; (≈clarify) • e.g. • Please elaborate your plan. 请做出详细的计划. • Can you elaborate on that, Mr. fox. 福克斯先生，那个问题能否请您详细阐述一下？ • It takes cunning workmen to make such elaborate furniture. 能工巧匠才能制作如此精致的家具。
Three Mile Island nuclear power plant
2) The Chernobyl Disaster
• On April 25th -26th, 1986 the World's worst nuclear power accident occurred at Chernobyl in the former USSR (now Ukraine). The Chernobyl nuclear power plant located 80 miles north of Kiev had 4 reactors and whilst testing reactor number 4 numerous safety procedures were disregarded. At 1:23am the chain reaction in the reactor became out of control creating explosions and a fireball which blew off the reactor's heavy steel and concrete lid.
• e.g. • Leaving her first job was a watershed in her life. 辞去她的第一份工作是她生活中的一个转 折点。 • Her visit to India proved to be a watershed in her life. 她的印度之行成了她一生的转折点。
• Part VII. (pp. 17-21) The danger for us to take sides • Part VIII. (pp. 22-23) The importance of interplay.
II. Discourse analysis
• • • • • Guide to Reading 1. abridge: vt. To make shorter by using fewer words. e.g. The story was abridged from the original work. The rights of citizens must not be abridged. 公民权利不能擅予削减。
• His warnings, since the 1950s, of the environmental threats posed by modern technology (including nuclear weapons, use of pesticides and other toxic chemicals, and ineffective waste management) in such works as his classic Science and Survival (1966) made him one of the foremost environmentalist spokesmen of his time. He was a third-party candidate for U.S. president in 1980.
3. Outline of the essay
• 3. Outline of the essay
• Part 1 (pp. 1) • Introduction: people live in 2 woቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱlds, natural world and our own world. • Part 2 (pp. 2-5): Why the two worlds are at war? • Part 3 (pp. 6-9) Deal with the first law of the ecosphere and the law governing the relationship between man-made object and the surroundings
•
born May 28, 1917, Brooklyn, N.Y. U.S. biologist and educator. He studied at Harvard University and taught at Washington University and Queens College.
• Part IV. (pp. 10-11) The closed cyclical process of ecosphere and the linear process of techno-sphere. • Part V. (pp. 12-14) The consistent and harmonious nature of ecosphere as contrasted to the rapid change and variation of the technosphere. • Part VI. (pp. 15-16) The consequences of failure of the ecosphere and the techno-sphere.
• He was instrumental in pointing out that there was a direct association between socioeconomic standing and exposure to environmental pollutants and that economics, not social responsibility, was guiding technological decision making.
• More than 120,000 people still suffer from ailments caused by the accident and the subsequent pollution at the plant site. These ailments include blindness, extreme difficulty in breathing, and gynecological disorders. The site has never been properly cleaned up and it continues to poison the residents of Bhopal.
2. Cultural notes
• 1) Three Mile Island: The accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, on March 28, 1979, was the most serious in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, even though it led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or members of the nearby community..
• But it brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering, radiation protection, and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations. It also caused the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to tighten and heighten its regulatory oversight. Resultant changes in the nuclear power industry and at the NRC had the effect of enhancing safety
• Commoner's activist career can be defined as an attempt to weave together a larger vision of social justice. Since the 1960s, he has called attention to parallels between the environmental, civil rights, labor, and peace movements, and connected environmental decline with poverty, injustice, exploitation, and war, arguing that the root cause of environmental problems was the American economic system and its manifestations.
• The Chernobyl accident killed more than 30 people immediately, and as a result of the high radiation levels in the surrounding 20-mile radius, 135,00 people had to be evacuated.
?governbysupplyanddemandpriceistheinvisiblehandineconomics在经济生活中价格是看不见的手取决于供给与需求关系
Lesson 3 At War with the Planet
I. 1. Preparation: Author: Barry Commoner (1917-)