SOAPBOX ENGLISH CLUB 說吧英文讀書會
1/15 Topic1.噪音污染
噪音污染
(自由時報記者邱紹雯) 台北市政府對師大商圈祭出記點制度，歷時四個多月，僅對十二家業者開出第一波罰單；當地居民卻認為效率低落，再花錢掛抗議布條，控訴附近餐廳噪音擾民，痛訴居住尊嚴被踐踏。
「油煙噪音污染，你賺錢我痛苦」、「六米以下巷道，餐飲服飾止步」。師大路八十巷巷口及巷弄內，近日又掛起大型的巨幅抗議布條，控訴周邊餐廳的噪音擾民，引起路過民眾側目。當地居民張小姐說，長久以來，附近餐廳吵鬧喧嘩聲直到深夜，餐廳商用冷氣的噪音，每日從早運轉至深夜，對生活造成嚴重干擾，居民忍無可忍才會用此方式發聲抗議，希望市政府能加緊腳步依法行政，還給民眾應有的居住尊嚴。
Questions:
1. How can we reduce the noise?
2. What are ways to prevent noise pollution?
3. What do you think about noise pollution?!
4. What do you think about stress related to noise pollution?
5. What do you the balance between economic growth and noise pollution ?
6. What do you think 'noise having huge impact on health?
Taiwan's noise pollution dilemma By Cindy Sui (BBC News, Taipei)
Living above Taipei's popular Shida Night Market, retiree John Lin gets little sleep. Until recently, vendors were allowed to stay open until 02:00.
"You hear the customers chatting, the shop owners yelling out the orders, and sometimes the boys and girls arguing below," said Mr Lin.
"The noise doesn't stop when they shut down, because the shop owners chat with each other until 03:00.
"Then the cleanup people they've hired make noise until 04:00. They're followed by the government's own garbage collectors who make noise for another hour," he said. "You cannot live and you cannot sleep."
Noise has always been a part of life in Taiwan, especially during its rapid industrialisation from the 1960s to 1990s.
But in recent years, people have become less tolerant of it.
The number of complaints has risen by 15% a year, to some 58,000 last year, according to the government's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).
That has forced the EPA to recently announce plans to toughen regulations.
Starting next January, the maximum amount people can make across the board - from homes, to businesses and factories - must drop by three decibels, which would cut the volume by half, officials say.
The time period when people can make loud noise has also been shortened.
The measures will be the toughest ever taken, said Chou Li-chung, an EPA official in charge of dealing with noise.
The problem is our entire government puts the economy ahead of everything else” Chang Chia-fong
"Because of the property market boom, there are more buildings, restaurants and businesses. But at the same time, people's lives are more stressful now," said Mr Chou.
"They want a peaceful environment. They want a better quality of life. That's why we're making our regulations tougher."
'Round-the-clock'
The problem stems from Taiwan's high population density.
The island's population of 23m people is equivalent to that of Australia, but Taiwan is only a fraction of the size. Most Taiwanese live on just one third of the land; the rest is uninhabited mountains.
With scarcity of land, there's little zoning - residences, businesses, offices and even some factories are mixed in the same neighbourhoods.
On many streets, the first level of a building is crammed with shops, such as cafes, shoe stores, boutiques, wonton and dumpling eateries, bakeries, hair salons and drug stores. And on the pavements are peddlers hawking snacks.
Above all of this are flats, offices, and more businesses.
Many residents in Taipei say they find noise levels intolerable
Some of the noise is typical of any developed country - jackhammers, drills and car alarms. But some are telling of Taiwan's lifestyle: herds of scooters - they're cheaper than cars and easier to park, but louder.
Even late at night, residents can be kept awake by a nearby restaurant's loud pet goose, supermarket or restaurants' ventilation fans and freezers, temples or businesses setting off firecrackers to seek divine protection at ungodly but auspicious hours.
Among the top noisemakers are flat renovators. Since almost everyone lives above, below or next to each other in apartment buildings, the sound can be overwhelming.
Many people put up with it, thinking they might need to remodel one day. But in recent years, many have complained - about one third of noise complaints in Taipei involve remodelling.
Projects can go on for at least a month. Just as one ends, another begins. If a group of investors have bought entire floors of a building, the project can last as long as a year. And work is allowed even on weekends.
In some categories, Taiwan's regulations are more lenient than that of Japan and China.
"The problem is our entire government puts the economy ahead of everything else," said resident Chang Chia-fong.
She and others complain that shops are allowed to open even where it is against the law. And when noise police go out to investigate cases, they often don't issue fines, just give violators time to fix the problem.
Changing lifestyle
A few decades ago when Taiwan was still a developing economy, people were willing to put up with a lot more noise. But now it is a major high-tech centre.
With better jobs and more money, people want a higher quality of life and that includes a quieter environment.
Over the years, the government has taken steps to address the problem, including regulating low-frequency noise like water pumps, and reducing maximum decibels.
The government has received an increasing number of noise complaints in recent years
But it is facing challenges trying to balance the increasing desire for a quieter environment with the need for more economic growth.
Some of the noise-makers argue that noise is inevitable.
"We've tried different ways to reduce the amount of noise and vibrations," said Tsai Sin-fu, a manager at a residential building construction site.
"But people still complain. We try not to let them feel the effects, but we have to finish our construction project."
There is already criticism that the new rules are not tough enough. But Taiwanese people are unlikely to get any peace and quiet soon.
In anticipation of Chinese investment, major cities here are expected to see a rise in economic activity - and that means more noise.
Back in the Shida Night Market neighbourhood, several people developed depression as a result of the noise, residents said. One family did not open their windows for a year.
After banding together, they pressured the city government to force the vendors to shut down earlier. The businesses are now required to close at 23:30, but many were seen operating past 00:30 recently.
For people like Mr Lin, it's better than before, especially after he spent $4,000 (£2,573) on extra thick windows.
"It was a horrible way to live," he said.
鞭打療法
俄鞭打民俗療法 宣稱可治性成癮
俄羅斯一名醫師皮利邊柯(Dr German Pilipenko)以及教授庫荷娃(Marina Chukhrova)，正在對於民俗療法當中的「鞭打療法」進行研究，他們宣稱鞭打療法有助於患者戒除藥物、毒品上癮以及性成癮。一名22歲毒品成癮的女患者納塔夏(Natasha)說：「剛開始接受治療時很痛苦，也很瘋狂，但它確實讓我重生，把我從死亡邊緣拉回來。」庫荷娃表示，這種鞭打療法是有科學根據的，因為在鞭打的過程中，會使人體產生「腦內啡」，讓患者感到「痛快感」，而一般毒品或藥品成癮、以及性成癮的患者，大多缺少「腦內啡」。
據了解，鞭打療程一節治療為鞭打60下，收費約為新台幣2800元。
Whipping therapy cures depression and suicide crises (pravda.ru)
The effect is astounding: a patient starts seeing only bright colors in the surrounding world
Russian scientists from the city of Novosibirsk, Siberia, made a sensational report at the international conference devoted to new methods of treatment and rehabilitation in narcology. The report was called “Methods of painful impact to treat addictive behavior.”
Siberian scientists believe that addiction to alcohol and narcotics, as well as depression, suicidal thoughts and psychosomatic diseases occur when an individual loses his or her interest in life. The absence of the will to live is caused with decreasing production of endorphins - the substance, which is known as the hormone of happiness. If a depressed individual receives a physical punishment, whipping that is, it will stir up endorphin receptors, activate the “production of happiness” and eventually remove depressive feelings.
Russian scientists recommend the following course of the whipping therapy: 30 sessions of 60 whips on the buttocks in every procedure. A group of drug addicts volunteered to test the new method of treatment: the results can be described as good and excellent.
Doctor of Biological Sciences, Sergei Speransky, is a very well known figure in Novosibirsk. The doctor became one of the authors of the shocking whipping therapy. The professor used the self-flagellation method to cure his own depression; he also recovered from two heart attacks with the help of physical tortures too.
”The whipping therapy becomes much more efficient when a patients receives the punishment from a person of the opposite sex. The effect is astounding: the patient starts seeing only bright colors in the surrounding world, the heartache disappears, although it will take a certain time for the buttocks to heal, of course,” Sergei Speransky told the Izvestia newspaper.
The whipping therapy has not become a new discovery in the history of medicine. Tibetan monks widely used it for medical purposes too. Soviet specialists used a special method of torturing therapy at mental hospitals. They made injections of brimstone and peach oil mixture to inspire mentally unbalanced patience with a will to live. A patient would suffer from horrible pain in the body after such an injection, but he or she would change their attitude to life for the better afterwards.
”People might probably think of me as a masochist,” Dr. Speransky said. “But I can assure you that I am not a classic masochist at all,” he added.
The revolutionary method may take the Russian healthcare to a whole new level. The method is cheap and highly efficient, as its authors assure. Why not using something more efficient, a rack, for example?
0 意見:
張貼留言