【雅思口語】上海世博會內幕故事

【時事聚焦】世界博覽會第一次在中國舉行，也是首次在一個發展中國家舉辦，因此發生在上海的2010世博會在人類歷史上便具有了非同尋常的意義。下面的原版文章爲我們提供了某種獨特的觀察視角，其略帶辛辣的筆觸也爲大家翻開了一些鮮爲人知的內幕故事。

China’s Gigantic Future: Inside the Shanghai World Expo

Billed as bigger than the Beijing Olympics, the latest and largest world’s fair doesn’t disappoint when it comes to scale, in every mind-boggling respect. The Shanghai World Expo 2010, which opened May 1, cost an estimated $55 billion (some sources say up to $95 billion) to get off the ground.

It sits on 2 square miles of prime Shanghai real estate, straddling the Huangpu River, making it the biggest world’s fair in the 159-year history of such events. More than 18,000 families and 270 factories were moved to make room for the expo, the construction of which stretched over seven years — all for an event lasting six months.

No Pavilion of the Future worth its salt would be complete without sci-fi space imagery. Here’s the official expo mascot, Haibao, clad in a space suit and breathing apparatus. The pavilion exhibits ideas about future cities, including one in space for Haibao to suit up in.

Britain’s Seed Cathedral: The United Kingdom scores the award for the coolest and weirdest pavilion, one that combines beauty with a hint of space-alien menace. This is not a Photoshop artifact, but what the building actually looks like. Called the Seed Cathedral, the pavilion is clad in 60,000 acrylic rods containing plant seeds collected during a biodiversity project. Like most other structures in the expo, the British pavilion will be torn down after the fair closes. That seems a terrible waste. Couldn’t these be left for future generations?

Greening of the Fair: The expo makes attempts to earn sustainability brownie points: Expo visitors are ferried around in electric buses running on supercapacitor engines, and buildings are cooled by gas-fueled air conditioning. Here, an overhead walkway runs for miles in the middle of the expo, with electric vehicles that ferry passengers around on it for 10 yuan (about $1.50).

On Guard: Shanghai and the expo itself are crawling with security staff. Police, army and civilians in uniform are everywhere. All are infallibly polite and helpful, but the heavy security presence can be unnerving.

Traditional Technology: It’s not all high-tech at the expo: Some traditional technologies are on display here, too. Sculptor James Rickard of the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua, New Zealand, carves a portal out of a tree trunk for his country’s pavilion at the expo.

Future Shanghai: The city of Shanghai will benefit for years from the expo, thanks to the billions spent on infrastructure: Six new subway lines were constructed, along with several roads and other civic works. And the city has been spruced up, even though some of the new stuff is already starting to look frayed in places, and is of dubious taste. Using reams of blinking LEDs for street lighting may save energy, but clashes horribly with the pretty architecture of old Shanghai.

【熱點話題】分析認爲，上海世博會無論在多大意義上獲得成功，都將引發人們關於各類話題的諸多探討及爭議。

世博會 VS 奧運會

同樣由中國操辦，2008的北京奧運會和2010的上海世博會實在是有太多的相似點。一是鉅額的資金投入：The Shanghai World Expo 2010, which opened May 1, cost an estimated $55 billion to get off the ground. 光保守估計就要550億美元才能使世博會初步運作起來。二是空前的規模：It sits on 2 square miles of prime Shanghai real estate, straddling the Huangpu River, making it the biggest world’s fair in the 159-year history of such events，兩平方英里的佔地面積，橫跨黃浦江，堪稱世博會159年曆史上最大的一次。三是浩大的工程：More than 18,000 families and 270 factories were moved to make room for the expo, the construction of which stretched over seven years — all for an event lasting six months. 七年的建造時間，18,000戶家庭及270家工廠的搬遷，僅僅爲了6個月的盛會。

人類未來科技

爲了展現人類科技的未來，很多展館都呈現出一幅幅sci-fi space imagery，而世博會吉祥物海寶的造型更是充滿了太空的色彩：The official expo mascot, Haibao, is clad in a space suit and breathing apparatus. 關於人類未來的發展方向，到底是在外太空尋求另一個可居住的星球（find another habitable planet in the universe），還是致力於把我們的地球變得更美好（make our Earth a better place for human living），這始終是一個饒有趣味的話題。

生物多樣性

英國展館之所以被稱爲Seed Cathedral，這和它宣傳的生物多樣性（biodiversity）理念密切相關。整個英國展館用六萬根含有植物種子的樹脂棒（60,000 acrylic rods containing plant seeds）作爲外包裝，絕對可摘得最炫目、最詭異的獎項（scores the award for the coolest and weirdest pavilion）。作爲雅思口語的一個重要話題，生物多樣性是環境主題中必不可少的環節，而某地區動植物品種的數量恰好與人類活動成反比：The variety of animal and plant species has an inverse relationship with human activities in a particular area.

低碳行動

即使是在中國這樣一個剛擺脫貧窮的發展中國家，低碳（low carbon footprint）也已經從前幾年的喊口號，演變成今日的各種生活行動。在世博會園區內，遊客們乘坐的是electric buses running on supercapacitor engines，很多建築物則是cooled by gas-fueled air conditioning。如果上至政府，下到黎民百姓，都能切實履行自己的環保責任，我們每個人都將過一種low carbon living，整個國家也可實現low carbon economy的夢想。

傳統手藝

科技的迅猛發展及工業化程度的提升，無可避免地帶來traditional handicrafts的厄運，很多local craftsmen或失業、或轉行、或後繼無人，難道科技工業與文化傳統之間非要上演一出你死我活的悲劇嗎？！新西蘭雕塑家James Rickard用自己從tree trunk中雕刻出來的wood carvings證明了傳統技術的生存意義，也爲我們的傳統文化保護事業創出了典範。

【真題預測】轟轟烈烈的世博會給我們的雅思口語發展方向也帶來了諸多啓示，請看專家對此進行的真題預測：

Do you think international events that attract a lot of visitors are a good opportunity to raise people’s environmental awareness?

吸引衆多遊客的國際性活動（比如Olympic Games, World Expo, World Cup）是否可用來作爲提升人們環保意識的一種契機？

Many people say that since the Earth is too crowded and the world population is still growing rapidly, we should find another planet for future generations. Would you agree or disagree with this opinion? Why?

由於地球越來越擁擠，因此有人提出應爲我們的後代尋找另一個星球去居住。你是否認同這種觀點？

Low carbon is a very popular concept nowadays. What are the advantages and disadvantages of living a low carbon life?

“低碳”已成爲當今的時尚概念，那麼低碳生活究竟有什麼好處和壞處呢？

What can be done to prevent many traditional handicrafts from disappearing in our modern society?

如何阻止傳統手工藝在我們現代社會中銷聲匿跡的現象？

【驚世絕句】世博會引發的衆多精彩話題爲我們的雅思口語提供了豐富的談話素材。下面的佳句不妨來學習一下：

Every individual’s carbon footprint, however small it is, can collectively make an impact on the environment.

每個人的“碳足跡”（即碳排放量），無論大小如何，都會對環境產生整體性的影響。

individual個人

carbon footprint碳足跡

make an impact on …對…造成影響

collectively集體性地、整體性地

Your lifestyle determines the amount of carbon dioxide emitted on a daily basis, which in turn contributes to the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming.

你的生活方式決定了你每天排放出的二氧化碳數量，而二氧化碳的排放導致了溫室氣體的上升，並引起全球變暖。

determine決定

emit排放

greenhouse gases溫室氣體

global warming全球變暖

Shadow puppetry, one of the oldest traditional handicrafts and performing arts in the world, appeared in China long before the invention of motion pictures and television.

皮影戲是世界上最古老的傳統手工藝及表演藝術，早在電影及電視發明之前，它就起源於中國。

shadow puppetry皮影戲

performing arts表演藝術

invention發明

motion picture電影

As global population approaches 6 billion and beyond, national governments face the daunting task of creating 30 million additional jobs each year for the next fifty years.

當全球人口接近並漸漸超過60億時，各國政府都面臨着一個極爲艱鉅的任務 — 在未來的50年中每年創造出3000萬個新的工作崗位。

approach接近

national governments各國政府

daunting task艱鉅的任務

additional jobs新工作崗位