Is aircon the answer to a heating world? ⏲️ 6 Minute English · BBC Learning English
本期探讨空调在炎热天气中的双重角色：既是救生设备，也是能源消耗源。节目分析空调对健康、居住环境的影响及其可持续性，适合练习科技、环境类话题的听力与词汇。
Hi Neil.
嗨，Neil。
Hi Georgie.
嗨，乔治。
So, Neil, we've just had a really hot summer in the UK.
Neil，英国今年夏天特别热。
Did you have air conditioning in your house?
你家装空调了吗？
I didn't have air conditioning in my house.
我家没装空调。
I wish I had, because it was really hot and I couldn't sleep.
真希望装了，因为太热了睡不着觉。
No, I had one of those big fans, which didn't always do its job.
我用的是那种大风扇，但效果时好时坏。
But there is a really serious side to this.
不过这事其实挺严重的。
Heat records continue to be broken around the world.
全球高温纪录不断被刷新。
You may be feeling that summers are getting too hot.
你可能也觉得夏天越来越热了吧？
Have you been using air conditioning more to cope?
你是不是也更多靠空调来应对？
If so, you're not alone.
如果真是这样，你不是一个人。
Experts are predicting that ten new air conditioning units will be installed every second for the next 30 years.
专家预测未来30年，每秒会有10台新空调被安装。
Today on 6 Minute English, we're talking about this and whether air conditioning really is the best way to cope with a warming world.
今天《六分钟英语》我们就来聊聊，空调到底是不是应对全球变暖的最佳方案。
OK.
好。
As always, Neil, we'll start with a quiz question.
老规矩，Neil，先来个趣味问答。
So, modern air conditioning was invented in 1902, but what was it originally used for?
现代空调发明于1902年，但最初是用来做什么的？
Is it: a) to protect people in hospitals, b) to dry ink, or c) to clean air?
选项：a) 保护医院里的人，b) 烘干墨水，还是c) 净化空气？
Well, I have absolutely no idea, Georgie.
我完全不知道啊，Georgie。
I'm going to guess and say c) clean air.
我猜是c) 净化空气。
OK, Neil, we'll find out the answer at the end of the programme.
好的Neil，节目最后揭晓答案。
OK.
行。
Georgie, we've been talking about how uncomfortable the hot weather can make you feel in the summer.
Georgie，我们刚才说到夏天高温让人多难受。
Is air conditioning all about comfort, though?
但空调只是为了舒适吗？
No, it's not just about comfort.
不，不只是为了舒适。
Summer heat can be a real health issue as well.
夏季高温也可能成为真正的健康问题。
It's thought that across Europe, over 30,000 people died as a result of this summer's heat.
据估计，整个欧洲有超过3万人死于今年夏天的酷热。
Dr Radhika Khosla, an expert in climatology, told BBC World Service's The Climate Question how important air conditioning can be: Actually, air conditioning is life-saving.
气候学专家Radhika Khosla博士在BBC国际频道《气候问答》节目中阐述了空调的重要性：实际上，空调是能救命的。
You know, in Singapore, when Lee Kuan Yew was asked what made civilisation possible in the tropics, he said it was air conditioning.
要知道，当李光耀被问及是什么让热带地区文明发展成为可能时，他说是空调。
And there are so many large parts of the world where we would not be able to inhabit if we did not have air conditioning.
世界上许多广阔地区，如果没有空调，我们根本无法居住。
So, Radhika is saying that air conditioning is life-saving.
所以，Radhika认为空调是能救命的。
It literally stops people from dying.
它确实能防止人们死亡。
Yes, and she makes the point that there are many parts of the world that we would not be able to inhabit – that means live in – without this technology.
是的，她还指出，如果没有这项技术，世界上很多地方我们都无法居住——也就是无法生活。
OK Georgie.
好的，乔治。
So, it sounds like air conditioning has a lot of good things about it.
这么说来，空调似乎有很多好处。
Is it all positive, though?
但全都是正面影响吗？
No.
不。
There are some serious downsides.
它也存在一些严重的弊端。
So, one big problem with air conditioning is the amount of energy it uses.
空调的一大问题是能耗巨大。
Let's hear more from Radhika talking to The Climate Question: When air conditioning becomes the first, go-to solution for how we deal with the increased, prolonged and extreme heat that we're going to face and are facing,
我们来听听Radhika在《气候问答》中的进一步阐述：当我们把空调作为应对当前及未来日益加剧、持久且极端高温的首选解决方案时，