首页
登录
职称英语
About two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by the
About two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by the
游客
2023-12-30
48
管理
问题
About two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by the year 2020 and, according to the United Nations, approximately 3.7 billion people will inhabit urban areas some 10 years later. As cities grow, so do the number of buildings that characterize them: office towers, factories, shopping malls and high-rise apartment buildings. These structures depend on artificial ventilation systems to keep clean and cool air flowing to the people inside. We know these systems by the term "air-conditioning"
Although many of us may feel air-conditioners bring relief from hot, humid or polluted outside air, they pose many potential health hazards. Much research has looked at how the circulation of air inside a closed environment—such as an office building—can spread disease or expose occupants to harmful chemicals.
One of the more widely publicized dangers is that of Legionnaire’s disease, which first recognized in the 1970s. This was found to have affected people in buildings with air-conditioning systems in which warm air pumped out of the system’s cooling towers was somehow sucked back into the air intake, in most cases due to poor design. This warm air was, needless to say, the perfect environment for the rapid growth of disease carrying bacteria originating from outside the building, where it existed in harmless quantities. The warm, bacteria-laden air was combined with cooled conditioned air and was then circulated around various parts of the building. Studies showed that even people outside such buildings were at risk if they walked past air exhaust ducts. Cases of Legionnaire’s disease are becoming fewer with newer system designs and modifications to older systems, but many older buildings, particularly in developing countries, require constant monitoring.
The ways in which air-conditioners work to "clean" the air can
inadvertently
cause health problems, too. One such way is with the use of an electrostatic precipitator, which removes dust and smoke particles from the air. What precipitators also do, however, is to emit large quantities of positive air ions into the ventilation system. A growing number of studies show that overexposure to positive air ions can result in headaches, fatigue and feelings of irritation.
Large air-conditioning systems add water to the air they circulate by means of humidifiers. In older systems, the water used for this process is kept in special reservoirs, the bottoms of which provide breeding grounds for bacteria and fungi which can find their way into the ventilation system. The risk to human health from this situation has been highlighted by the fact that the immune systems of approximately half of workers in air-conditioned office buildings have developed antibodies to fight off the organisms found at the bottom of system reservoirs. Chemical disinfectants, called "biocides", that are added to reservoirs to make them germ-free are dangerous in their own right in sufficient quantities, as they often contain compounds such as pentachlorophenol, which is strongly linked to abdominal cancers.
Finally, it should be pointed out that the artificial climatic environment created by air-conditioners can also adversely affect us. In a natural environment, whether indoor or outdoor, there are small variations in temperature and humidity. Indeed, the human body has long been accustomed to these normal changes. In an air-conditioned living or work environment, however, body temperatures remain well under 37° C, our normal temperature. This leads to a weakened immune system and thus greater susceptibility to diseases such as colds and flu. [br] The passage intends to ______.
选项
A、inform people of air-conditioning dangers
B、explain old air-conditioning defects
C、show the air-conditioning influence on people’s health
D、tell people the need to abandon old air-conditioning
答案
A
解析
文章在第一段引入“空调”这一讨论对象后,便从各个方面分析了空调的潜在危害:空调吸入带有细菌的热空气、空调使用静电除尘器导致人头晕等问题、空凋的储水装置含有细菌和真菌、空调使人体温低于正常标准导致人易患病,故选A“告知人们空凋的危害”。B“解释老旧空调的缺点”只是细节信息,不能概括文章的主要目的。C“展现空调对人类健康的影响”没有明确指出是“消极影响”,不如A确切。D“告诉人们要丢弃老空调”,无法把和老空调无关的第4、6段概括进去。
转载请注明原文地址:http://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3318517.html
相关试题推荐
Hewasgreatlyvexedbythenewandunexpecteddevelopment.A、astonishedB、annoye
TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears,andeachcensusrev
TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears,andeachcensusrev
TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears,andeachcensusrev
TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears,andeachcensusrev
TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears,andeachcensusrev
TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears,andeachcensusrev
TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears,andeachcensusrev
TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears,andeachcensusrev
TheUnitedStatescountsitspopulationeverytenyears,andeachcensusrev
随机试题
WhichofthefollowingisNOTanimperativesentence?A、Youtakethatseat,andI
Whichofthefollowingdocs"labormarketproblems"(Line1,Para.1)referto?
下列作家不属于批判现实主义作家的是()A.海涅 B.巴尔扎克 C.马克·吐
关于麻醉性镇痛药吗啡,以下哪个观点是错误的()A.对呼吸的抑制主要表现为呼吸
孕妇张某,28岁,GP,孕37周,凌晨4:00突感有较多液体自阴道流出急诊住院,
合并用药时,最可能引起茶碱血药浓度升高的抗菌药物是A.青霉素 B.头孢噻肟
盐酸毛果芸香碱A.M胆碱受体激动剂B.M胆碱受体拮抗剂C.胆碱酯酶抑制剂D.N胆
护士在向缺铁性贫血患者进行健康宣教时,以下注意事项中错误的是A.口服铁剂时避免同
可以将培训风险分为内在风险和()。A.培训被否定风险 B.培训效果不佳风险
下列关于热力管道阀门安装要点的说法,不正确的是()。A.阀门进场前应进行强度和
最新回复
(
0
)