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Chào mọi người, hôm nay sẽ là bài post đầu tiên trong thread topic.
Chủ đề của tuần này là Environment.
Mọi người đọc bài và làm bài tập nhé.
Lần đầu tiên mình soạn bài, mong mọi người ủng hộ và góp ý để mục topic có những bài viết chất lượng nhé!
A Carbon Trading System Worth Saving
Source: nytimes.com
The European Union became a pioneer in tackling climate change by starting the first major cap-and-trade system designed to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by putting a price on them. But analysts are increasingly worried that technical mistakes, Europe’s prolonged recession and the failure of policy makers to strengthen the system are undermining its effectiveness.
Like all such systems, Europe’s program caps the overall emissions that power plants, steel mills and other industries can put into atmosphere. The cap, which is regulated through permits, declines every year, forcing businesses to become more efficient or buy permits from another firm or on the open market.
Recently, the price of permits has collapsed to less than 4 euros (around $5.25) per ton of carbon, down from nearly 30 euros in 2008. This is troubling because the low price discourages emitters investing in climate-friendly technologies and fuels. In Britain, for instance, electric utilities have cut back on cleaner-burning natural gas and are using more coal, which puts roughly twice as much carbon into the atmosphere.
There are several reasons for the sharp drop in carbon prices. European governments issued too many permits in the first place because they miscalculated how many would be needed to achieve their goals. And the recession, high unemployment and weak demand for electricity have cut industrial emissions to the point where companies simply do not have to buy allowances to meet their caps. European policy makers haven’t helped either. Earlier this month, the European Parliament considered temporarily tightening the overall cap to boost the price of allowances. But opposition by several countries that rely heavily on coal torpedoed the measure.
What is most worrying about the drop in the price of carbon is that it could discourage policy makers elsewhere in the world, including Washington, from addressing climate change if they conclude that Europe’s experience is a bust. Several national and state governments have started or are pursuing similar approaches.
But the news from Europe is not all bad. Emissions have fallen by 14 percent among sectors covered by the program in countries that have participated since 2005. Analysts attribute much of that reduction to the cap on emissions, not the recession. The system could work even better if Europe’s leaders find the ingenuity to strengthen it and the political courage to weather the criticism that could result from higher electricity prices.
In addition to its trading scheme, Europe has made real progress in dealing with climate change through policies encouraging energy efficiency and renewable sources of power like wind and solar. But nothing would do more to drive down emissions than putting a meaningful price on them, either through a carbon tax or through a cap-and-trade system. Europe’s job is to put that system on a sounder footing to make sure it doesn’t undo the real progress it has made.
A - NEW WORDS
1. Pioneer:
- N: Người tiên phong - a person who is among the first to explore or settle a new country or area.
- V: Mở, khai phá, đi tiên phong - develop or be the first to use or apply (a new method, area of knowledge, or activity).
- Synonym: Explorer, adventurer, discoverer.
2. Tackle:
- V: Xử trí, giải quyết, khắc phục - make determined efforts to deal with (a problem or difficult task).
- N: Đồ dùng, dụng cụ - the equipment required for a task or sport.
- SYN: address, approach, grapple.
- Phrase: To tackle somebody about/over something) nói với ai về (một vấn đề khó khăn).
3. Climate change: biến đổi khí hậu
4. Cap-and-trade system: hệ thống cho phép thương mại hóa lượng khí thải cắt giảm (tham khảo Nghị định thư Kyoto) - Emissions trading or cap and trade is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants.
5. Carbon-dioxide emission: sự phát tán CO2
- Emission: N - Sự phát ra, phát tán, phát xạ (ánh sáng, nhiệt...), sự bốc ra, sự toả ra (mùi vị, hơi...) - the production and discharge of something, especially gas or radiation.
6. To put a price (tag) on something: Định giá - to say how much something costs
- SYN: appraise, cost, estimate, evaluate, fix, mark down, mark up, put a price on , rate, reduce, sticker, value
7. Recession: N - Sự lùi lại, sự thụt lại, sự lùi vào, sự thụt vào; chỗ thụt vào, chỗ lõm vào (ở tường); sự rút đi, sự suy thoái kinh tế - a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters; the action of receding; motion away from an observer.
- SYN: plump, depression, slowdown, trough.
8. Prolonged: adj - Kéo dài; được nối dài thêm - continuing for a long time or longer than usual; lengthy.
- SYN: long, lengthy, protracted, long-lasting, extended.
9. Failure: N – Sự thiếu, thất bại, hỏng, sự không xảy ra - lack of success; the neglect or omission of expected or required action; the action or state of not functioning.
- SYN: collapse, breakdown.
10. Strengthen: V – củng cố, tăng cường, thúc đẩy - make or become stronger.
- Phrase: strengthen someone's hand (or hands): enable or encourage a person to act more vigorously or effectively.
- SYN: reinforce, bolster, cement.
11. Undermine: V – đào dưới chân, xói mòn, cài mìn, làm suy yếu (nền móng, cơ sở), hủy hoại - erode the base or foundation of (a rock formation); lessen the effectiveness, power, or ability of, especially gradually or insidiously.
- SYN: erode, weaken, sap, wear smt down.
12. Cap:
- V – giới hạn - lessen the effectiveness, power, or ability of, especially gradually or insidiously.
- N – Cái mũ, mỏm, đầu đạn – a type of soft flat hat with peak.
- SYN: curb, limit, control, restrict, contain, check, suppress, hold smt in check.
13. Mill: máy xay; nhà máy - a building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour; a factory fitted with machinery for a particular manufacturing process.
- SYN: factory, plant, works, yard, workshop, foundry.
14. Discourage: V – làm nản lòng, can ngăn - cause (someone) to lose confidence or enthusiasm
- SYN: dissuade, talk sb out of smt, warn sb off smt.
15. Emitter: N – vật phát xạ, bộ phát, nguồn bức xạ - a thing which emits something.
16. Utility:
- N - Sự có lợi, sự có ích; tính hữu dụng, tính thiết thực; công trình hạ tầng kỹ thuật - the state of being useful, profitable, or beneficial.
- Adj - Thực tiễn, tiêu chuẩn hoá chặt chẽ; tiện ích - useful, especially through being able to perform several functions; functional rather than attractive.
- SYN: facility, service, resource, amenity.
17. Allowance
- N: Sự cho phép, sự thừa nhận, công nhận; Tiền trợ cấp; tiền cấp phát; sự chiếu cố, dung thứ; sự trừ, bớt, chiết khấu - the amount of something that is permitted, especially within a set of regulations or for a specified purpose; a sum of money paid regularly to a person to meet needs or expenses.
- V: trợ cấp, chia phần ăn cho - give (someone) a sum of money as an allowance.
- SYN: share, allocation, commission, ration, cut, percentage.
- phrase: to make allowance (s) for: take into consideration when planning something.
18. Tighten: V – căng, thắt chặt, giữ chặt - make or become tight or tighter.
- SYN: clench, tense.
19. Boost:
- V – nâng lên, đẩy mạnh, tăng cường, thúc đẩy, tăng giá, làm cho nổi tiếng - help or encourage (something) to increase or improve; push from below
- N – Sự tăng giá, sự nổi tiếng - a source of help or encouragement leading to increase or improvement.
- SYN: increase, raise, intensify, maximize, heighten, inflate, turn smt up.
20. Attribute:
- N: thuộc tính, vật tượng trưng - a quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something
- V: chỉ định, cho là, quy cho - regard something as being caused by.
- SYN: feature, characteristic, quality, property, trait, point.
21. ingenuity:
- N: kỹ năng, sự khéo léo – the quality of being clever, original, and inventive.
- SYN: inspiration, creativity, vision, originality, imagination, inventiveness.
22. Scheme:
- N: Sự sắp xếp theo hệ thống, sự phối hợp; Kế hoạch thực hiện, kế hoạch tổ chức; âm mưu, thủ đoạn, mưu đồ, kế hoạch bí mật, ý đồ; Lược đồ, giản đồ, sơ đồ - a large-scale systematic plan or arrangement for attaining some particular object or putting a particular idea into effect
- V: vạch kế hoạch, tổ chức, âm mưu - make plans, especially in a devious way or with intent to do something illegal or wrong.
- Phrase: the scheme of things: a supposed or apparent overall system, within which everything has a place and in relation to which individual details are ultimately to be assessed.
- SYN: conspiracy, plot, intrigue, collusion, sting.
23. Energy efficiency: hiệu suất năng lượng.
24. Renewable sources of power: nguồn năng lượng có thể tái tạo.
25. Sound:
- Adj: khỏe mạnh, lành lặn, tráng kiện, đúng đắn, hợp lý, hoàn chỉnh, vững chắc, thành thạo.
- N: âm thanh, âm, giọng, ấn tượng
- V: nghe, nghe như, có vẻ; phát ra tiếng, báo hiệu, phát âm.
26. Footing:
- N: chỗ để chân, bệ, chân tường, chỗ đứng, địa vị vững chắc, vị trí trong quan hệ với ai, được kết nạp, tổng số - a secure grip with one’s feet, the basis on which something is established or operates; the foundations of a wall, usually with a course of brickwork wider than the base of the wall; the foundations of a wall, usually with a course of brickwork wider than the base of the wall.
- SYN: bottom, base, foundation.
B - Useful grammar
1. Relative Clause – Mệnh đề quan hệ.
2. Present perfect tense – Thì hiện tại hoàn thành.
3. Condition Clause (3 types of “If” clause) – 3 dạng câu điều kiện.
C – Exercise:
1. Answer the following questions:
- What does the word “the cap” in line 6 refer to?
- Why is the collapse of the price of permits troubling?
- Why did the carbon’s price drop sharply?
- What is the most worrying effect of the drop of carbon’s price?
- How did European countries do to deal with climate change?
2. What is the main idea of the article?
3. Make sentences with all the new words. Find one collocation word and one opposite word for each.
* NOTE: - Những chỗ có màu chanh voan là nghĩa của từ mới, mọi người chỉ cần bôi đậm là có thể nhìn thấy nghĩ của từ mới
đó.
- MỌI NGƯỜI NỘP BÀI TẬP BẰNG CÁCH POST BÀI DƯỚI THREAD NÀY!!!
- NHỚ HỌC THUỘC HẾT TỪ MỚI HA MỌI NGƯỜI.
ĐÁP ÁN
Dưới đây là đáp án của bài, mọi người bôi đen để đọc nhé.
1. Answer the following questions:
- What does the word “the cap” in line 6 refer to?
The cap refers to the European’s climate change tackling program that caps the overall emissions that power plants, steel mills and other industries can put into atmosphere.
- Why is the collapse of the price of permits troubling?
The price of permits’ collapse is troubling because the low price discourages emitters investing in climate-friendly technologies and fuels.
- Why did the carbon’s price drop sharply?
The carbon’s price dropped sharply because of 2 reasons. Firstly, European governments issued too many permits in the first place due to the miscalculation on the needed number of permits to achieve their goals. Secondly, high unemployment and weak demand for electricity have cut industrial emissions to the point where companies simply do not have to buy allowances to meet their caps.
- What is the most worrying effect of the drop of carbon’s price?
The most worrying effect of the drop in the price of carbon is that it could discourage policy makers from addressing climate change if they conclude that Europe’s experience is useless.
- How did European countries do to deal with climate change?
Beside the cap and trade system, European countries have dealt with climate change through policies encouraging energy efficiency and renewable sources of power like wind and solar.
2. What is the main idea of the article?
Although the EU cap-and-trade system on tackling climate change has faced difficulties on technical mistakes, the prolonged recession and the failure of policy makers, its cap of emission still brought about effective progress.
Summary:
3 ý chính của bài Summary:
- Introduction to the EU cap and trade system.
- The obstacles that the program has to face with and its results.
- Conclusion and solutions.
Sau đây là bài tham khảo:
The European Union has been the first one tackling climate change by starting the first major cap-and-trade system designed to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by putting a price on them. Technical mistakes, Europe’s prolonged recession and the failure of policy makers to strengthen the system are undermining the program’s effectiveness. However, the cap on emissions has brought about positive results, the emissions have fallen by 14 percent among sectors covered by the program in participating countries since 2005. The system could work even better when being strengthened with the political courage. Therefore, the EU program is worth continuing. Its system should be put on a sounder footing to make sure it doesn’t undo the real progress it has made.
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