A strict no-air-conditioning ban was enforced for 87,000 Taiwanese students taking the college entrance examinations this month despite temperatures in many areas reaching 34 to 36 degrees Celsius.

盡管目前很多地方氣溫已高達(dá)34到36攝氏度，臺(tái)灣還是出臺(tái)了政策，嚴(yán)格禁止本月參加高考的8萬(wàn)7千名考生在考場(chǎng)內(nèi)使用空調(diào)。

Although this long-term practice is being promoted as a pragmatic means to ensure fairness, since air conditioning is not available at all exam locations, rather than for environmental reasons, it nevertheless offers a good opportunity for the country to reconsider its addiction to air conditioning.

由于部分考點(diǎn)沒(méi)有空調(diào)，實(shí)則推行這個(gè)長(zhǎng)期舉措目的是為了確保（高考的）公平性，而非出于環(huán)保考慮。然而，這也會(huì)在一定程度上促使臺(tái)灣重新審視一下其對(duì)空調(diào)過(guò)分依賴的現(xiàn)狀。

If students can manage without A/C in the heat of examinations, could not the rest of the population go cold turkey once in a while? If not 'Off,' then 'Down,' since air conditioners consume energy and contribute to climate change in proportion to each degree they are set below ambient temperature.

如果學(xué)生能在酷暑中不開空調(diào)考試，那其他人怎么就不能偶爾也關(guān)關(guān)空調(diào)呢？就算不能完全關(guān)掉，那也要把空調(diào)開的小一點(diǎn)。因?yàn)?，空調(diào)很耗電，并且每比周圍環(huán)境溫度調(diào)低一度都會(huì)加劇氣候變化。

Vehicle A/C systems can be a cause of sinusitis in some people, while poorly maintained air conditioning may lead to the proliferation of micro-organisms such as Legionella pneumophila, the cause of Legionnaires' disease.

汽車內(nèi)置的空調(diào)是導(dǎo)致部分人患鼻竇炎的罪魁禍?zhǔn)?。如果保養(yǎng)的不好，空調(diào)還可能造成一些微生物如嗜肺軍團(tuán)菌的擴(kuò)散增殖，引發(fā)軍團(tuán)?。ㄒ环N大葉性肺炎）。

The problem from new high-tech machines is that they present a sizable contribution to man-made climate change. Cooling agents such as CFCs and their modern replacements are greenhouse gases with far more global-warming potential than carbon dioxide should they leak into the atmosphere.

高新科技產(chǎn)品所引發(fā)的問(wèn)題是，他們?cè)诤艽蟪潭壬霞觿×巳藶闅夂蜃兓?。氟氯烴以及其現(xiàn)代替代制冷劑如果泄漏到大氣中，將成為比二氧化碳能加劇全球變暖的溫室氣體。

It is everyone's responsibility to minimize his or her own contribution to the problem.

減排溫室氣體，控制全球變暖，你我他，人人有責(zé)。


Notes:
ban:禁令；禁止
pragmatic:務(wù)實(shí)的，實(shí)用的
addiction：成癮；入迷
proportion：比例；比率
ambient：周遭的，環(huán)繞的
proliferation：（生物）增殖；激增，擴(kuò)散
to go cold turkey：戒除壞習(xí)慣