The climate crisis could overwhelm subway systems
气候危机可能会令地铁系统不堪重负
Terrified passengers trapped in flooded subway cars in Zhengzhou, China. Water cascading down stairways into the London Underground. A woman wading through murky, waist-deep water to reach a New York City subway platform.
在中国郑州，惊恐的乘客困在被淹没的地铁车厢内；在伦敦，水顺着楼梯瀑布般地涌入地铁；而在纽约，一位女士蹚过齐腰深的浑水，才到达地铁站台。
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Subway systems around the world are struggling to adapt to extreme weather brought on by climate change. Their designs, many based on the expectations of another era, are being overwhelmed, and investment in upgrades could be squeezed by a drop in ridership brought on by the pandemic.***
世界各地的地铁系统都在努力适应气候变化带来的极端天气的影响。很多地铁设计都是基于另一个时代的考量，而它们如今已经不堪重负；同时，新冠疫情导致地铁客流量下降，用于系统升级的投资也可能会被挤压。
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Retrofitting subways against flooding is "an enormous undertaking," said Robert Puentes, CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a nonprofit think tank with a focus on improving transportation policy. "But when you compare it to the cost of doing nothing, it starts to make much more sense." he said.
对地铁进行防洪改造是“一项巨大的工程”，艾诺交通中心的首席执行官罗伯特·普恩特斯这样说道；该中心是一个致力于改善交通政策的非营利性智库。他还说：“但是，当你把翻新地铁与什么都不做的代价相比，翻新地铁也就变得更加合乎情理了。”
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Mass transit advocates in the United States are calling for pandemic relief funds to be put toward public transportation. Some experts suggest another approach. With more extreme flooding down the line, protecting subways all of the time will be impossible, they say.
在美国，那些倡导公共交通的人呼吁，要将疫情救援资金用于公共交通。而一些专家则提出了另一种方法。他们认为，未来，随着更多极端洪水的到来，要一直保护地铁是不可能的。
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Instead, investment is needed in buses and bike lanes that can serve as alternative modes of public transportation when subways are flooded. Some experts question why public transportation needs to be underground in the first place and say that public transit should reclaim the street.
相反，人们需要在公交以及自行车专用道上进行投资，当地铁被淹没时，它们可以用作替代的公共交通方式。还有些专家质疑，为什么公共交通一开始就得建在地下；他们认为公共交通应该回到路面上来。
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"We have this inertia from the last century to give so much of the available space above ground to cars," said Bernardo Baranda Sepúlveda, a Mexico City-based researcher at the Institute for Transport Development, a transportation nonprofit. "But one bus lane carries more people than three lanes of cars."
非营利性交通机构交通发展研究所驻墨西哥城的研究员贝尔纳多·巴兰达·塞普尔韦达说：“上个世纪以来，我们就一直存在这种惯性：把地面上的大部分可用空间给了汽车。但是，一条公交车道的载客量要比三条汽车道的还要多。”
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主编：尹岚、Seika
品控：Felicity、桃子
审核：木子
重点词汇
overwhelm
/ˌoʊ.vɚˈwelm/
v. 压垮，使应接不暇；淹没；（感情上）不知所措
例句：The embankment was overwhelmed.
例句：They were overwhelmed by the number of applications.
例句：Grief overwhelmed me.
cascade
/kæsˈkeɪd/
v. 瀑布似地落下，大量倾泻
词性拓展：cascade（n. 瀑布）
词义辨析：cascade，waterfall
cascade 指的一般是顺着岩石一级一级往下流的小瀑布，而 waterfall 则一般指河水流经陡坡或悬崖处形成的大瀑布。
例句：Her hair cascaded down her back.
wade
/weɪd/
v. 蹚水，跋涉
英文释义：to walk through water with difficulty
搭配短语：wade through sth.
搭配短语：to wade through the river
例句：Scientists have to wade through tons of data.
murky
/ˈmɝː.ki/
adj. 浑浊的；阴暗的；暧昧不清的
相关词汇：murk（n. 昏暗，阴沉）
英文释义：darkness caused by smoke, fog, etc.
搭配短语：a murky night（阴暗的，昏暗的）
搭配短语：a murky pond（浑浊的）
搭配短语：a murky conspiracy（暧昧不清的）
bring on
引起，导致
近义词：cause
例句：The crisis was brought on by many factors.
squeeze
/skwiːz/
v. 限制、削减（资金）；挤压
搭配短语：to squeeze her hand
搭配短语：to squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto the fish
例句：The government is squeezing the railway's investment budget.
ridership
/ˈraɪ.dɚ.ʃɪp/
n.（某种公共交通工具的）客流量
相关词汇：rider（n. 乘客）
词根词缀：-ship（某种性质或状态）
retrofit
/ˈret.rəʊ.fɪt/
v. 翻新；加装新部件
搭配短语：to retrofit the factory
搭配短语：to retrofit my car with the new fuel system
undertaking
/ˈʌn.dɚˌteɪ.kɪŋ/
n. 任务，工作
相关词汇：undertake（v. 承担，接受）
搭配短语：to undertake a task
搭配短语：to undertake a project
例句：Starting a new business can be a risky undertaking.
make sense
有道理，合情理
搭配短语：it makes sense for sb. to do sth.
例句：It makes sense for the government to take social distancing measures.
mass transit
公共交通
相关词汇：mass（adj. 民众的，大规模的）
相关词汇：transit（n. 交通运输系统；运输）
近义短语：public transportation
advocate
/ˈæd.və.keɪt/
n. 倡导者，拥护者
词性拓展：advocate（v. 主张，提倡）
例句：He advocates raising taxes on the wealthy.
call for
号召，呼吁；要求，需求
例句：The press has called for an investigation.
例句：The job calls for English skills.
relief
/rɪˈliːf/
n. 救济，救援物资；宽慰，解脱；免除痛苦
例句：I breathed a sigh of relief.
搭配短语：tablets for the relief of pain
搭配短语：the flood relief
down the line
以后，往后
近义词：later
例句：We will have to correct these problems down the line.
reclaim
/rɪˈkleɪm/
v. 恢复，收回
英文释义：to get sth. back after it has been lost or taken away
例句：I reclaimed my suitcase from the lost luggage office.
inertia
/ˌɪnˈɝː.ʃə/
n. 惯性；惰性
搭配短语：bureaucratic inertia
