9.5欧洲：省吃俭用少开车.doc

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1、A traffic jam in downtown Rome. Many Europeans say driving is worth the extra cost. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters) Despite high gas prices, Europeans find driving a hard habit tobreak欧洲：省吃俭用少开车1High oil prices and high taxes on gasoline and diesel pushed prices at the pump to new heights in much of Eu

2、rope this summer. Yet transportation experts in this laboratory of sky-high fuel prices say that many Europeans, out of necessity, habit or love, have proved surprisingly willing to bear the extra cost ofdriving.1居高不下的石油价格和汽油税使得今年夏天欧洲大多数地区的汽油平均价格屡创新高。但是，交通专家说，事实证明，许多欧洲人，出于必要性、习惯或者爱好的原因，令人吃惊地乐于承受驾驶的额

3、外高额花费。2Fuel prices have prompted some people to drive less, and gasoline purchases in Italy dropped 10 percent from a year earlier. Sales of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles have plunged across the Continent, just as they have in the UnitedStates.2飙升的汽油价格的确让一些人减少开车的次数。连接伦敦和巴黎的欧洲之星列车的乘客量在2008年的前三个

4、月增加了21%。意大利的汽油购买量较之一年前下降了10%。耗油量巨大的跑车的销量在整个欧洲都出现下降，这和在美国的情形一样。3But there have been few signs of the wholesale shift away from driving habits that environmental economists contend is needed for European countries to meet emissions control targets. Many consumers appear willing to economize in other p

5、arts of their lives - eliminating vacations, movies, even birthday gifts, for example - before choosing not todrive.3但是，至少到目前来看，还没有出现环境经济学家认为的、对于欧洲国家来说能够达到温室气体排放标准所必要的那种大规模的驾驶习惯变化。许多消费者似乎乐于在生活的其它方面勒紧腰带，他们把减少度假，看电影，甚至生日礼物这些选项置于选择不开车之前。4We do see reports of a significant change in the types of cars pe

6、ople are buying, but Ive been mostly surprised at the lack of a reaction, said Peder Jensen, a transportation expert at the European Environment Agency, an arm of the European Union in Copenhagen. One had hoped that these prices would deter driving, but people have coped better than we hoped theywould.4设在哥本哈根的欧盟欧洲环境保护署的一位交通专家彼泽延森说：我们看到，报告表明人们在选购的汽车类型方面的确发生了显著变化，但是最让我吃惊的是，缺乏更大程度的回应。原本希望这种价格飙升能够减少驾车的人数，但是人们对于高燃料价格的反应似乎比我们原本预期的要驾轻就熟。5Moreover, some people seem to have the same cost-is-no-object attitude toward cars that they have toward health.5此外，人们对于汽车的态度似乎和对于健康的态度一样：可以不计花费。