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2009年岁末一个风和日丽的下午,在山东大学西校区一个普通职工楼宿舍里,温暖的阳光从窗外照进客厅,洒落满地,房间里的空气暖洋洋的。没有初次见面的寒暄和拘谨,我们对Jay Thelin和Dana Thelin的采访,在轻松愉快的漫谈中开始。
Jay和Dana夫妇来自美国的犹他州,现在山东大学任教,在中国已经待了1年零4个月了。从当初在地图上想象中国到现在居住在中国,他们一直细细地品味着这个与美国不同却又热情、亲切的国家。
退休之前,Jay在美国杨百翰大学(Brigham Young University)工作,负责学生宿舍管理。那是一个天蓝水清的美丽之地,他们的房屋就掩映在苍茂的绿树之下。
Dana幸福地描述自己美国的家。每当他们开车去工作,汽车在绿树中穿行,他们就会为“miles and miles”(数英里)的绿树陶醉。她反复强调着“miles and miles”,想让我感受到广袤的天地间,人穿梭于绿树丛中,那种“绿野仙踪”的奇妙。
Jay和Dana告诉我们,美国虽然汽车很多,但是,汽车对环境造成的污染并不像我们通常想像得那么大。因为从20多年前开始,美国政府就强制要求每辆汽车上都要安装三元催化转换器。这是一个在汽车发动机的排气系统中的专门催化装置,能够将排气中的碳氢化合物(HC)和一氧化碳(CO)氧化,同时也能够将排气中的氮氧化物(NOx)还原成无害的氮气和氧气。而且每辆车每年都要接受尾气检测,尾气排放一旦超出规定标准,汽车牌照就有被吊销的危险。在中国,只有部分车辆上安装了三元催化器。在这方面,中国是应该向美国学习的。
Jay极其推崇丰田生产的油电混合动力车普锐斯(Toyota Prius Hybrid Car)。普锐斯于1997年10月底问世,是世界上最早实现批量生产的混合动力汽车。普锐斯在仅利用电动机驱动时对环境没有任何污染;而且在减速、制动和下坡时还能回收能量以供再利用;特别是当遇到红灯停驶时,发动机会自动停止工作,这将没有任何燃油的消耗。因此,油耗和尾气排放都得到了有效改善。
Jay还是一个不折不扣的“太阳能拥护者”。他认为地球的地下能源,诸如石油、煤炭、天然气等的储量是有限的,总有一天会被开发枯竭。太阳能源却是无限的,因此,在未来能源利用方面,开发太阳能资源是最可行最有效的方法。他设想,太阳能除了可以用来发电、取暖、照明外,还可以在日常生活中找到很多用途。例如,可以生产用太阳能驱动的手表、玩具等,这样一来,既省钱又环保。
Jay甚至设想:“应该研究一种太阳能自行车,可以储蓄阳光,直接转化成动力,既环保又方便。”
可能受到父亲的影响,Jay的儿子也非常热衷于太阳能。他建议Jay和Dana在他们房屋顶上安装一个太阳能发电装置。这种装置可以取暖,也可以转换成电能,如果电能有剩余,还可以卖给电力公司,两全其美。
相对于Jay的乐观,Dana显得更为理性。以前,她很讨厌美国媒体动辄大篇幅的负面新闻报道,难道就没有好事情发生?现在她改变这种想法了。因为就环境保护而言,通过对负面事件的报道,媒体可以将政府不知道或知道了也为了某种利益不去改变的事情呈现给民众,这样可以促使政府更好地去履行责任。因此,在Dana看来,某种程度上,有时候媒体的作用甚至比政府都大。
Dana最讨厌吸烟者制造的毒气。当在公共场所看到有人吸烟,Dana就会毫不犹豫地大声咳嗽,直到那个人觉得不好意思掐掉烟头。她一边说还一边用肢体语言给我们表演。
这也算是抵制“毒气”倡导环保的一种方式吧。
谈起中国的环境问题,Jay和Dana对中国目前的环境问题感到担忧。Jay说,济南的空气污染让他感到呼吸非常不舒服,气管里总觉得被东西堵着,时常咳嗽。但是,更让他感到严重的是,城市之外的地区的大气也被污染了。他乘飞机从济南到北京,飞机飞离济南,穿越无人居住的广袤山区上空后,他竟然发现在山脉的上空漂浮着大量被污染了的大气层。这着实令他大吃一惊。不但我们,而且连Dana都认为他可能是把云层看成了污染大气。但是,Jay肯定地说,他没有看错,那确实是被污染了的大气层。他一边说着,一边随手用手抹了一下窗台的水泥板,把蹭在手上的灰尘在我们面前一晃,半开玩笑地说:“看,就是这种城市里漂浮的这种粉尘!”
指出问题的同时,对中国的环境问题,Jay和Dana表示了理解和宽容。在他们看来,中国改善环境固然非常重要。但是,中国确有自己特殊的国情,人口多,所以首先要解决吃饭问题,然后才能考虑生存的环境。况且,现在中国的环境正在改善,这就是一个好的兆头。
刚来济南时,Jay和Dana觉得济南环境很差,很像以前的犹他州。可是在这居住的一年多时间里,他们发现济南每天都在变化,以前随意往河里排放废水的现象不存在了,现在都是用统一的管道及其他方法进行解决。
他们也越来越喜欢济南这个城市了。在我们结束交谈时,Jay和Dana还热烈地表示:“We love Jinan!”
Jay & Dana Thelin are a couple from Utah in the USA. Before retiring, they worked at Brigham Young University. Nowadays they have been teaching English in Shandong University for one year and four months. Before coming to Jinan, they had almost no knowledge about China. All they could do then was to find China on the map and imagine everything about the country, the cities, the scenes and the people.
Talking about their hometown in the United States, Jay and Dana felt very happy and proud. Dana said that driving their car on the highways, they could see miles and miles of green trees and the vast land, which intoxicated them wit its beauty.
On the question of pollution caused by autos, Jay and Dana told us that despite there being a large number of cars in the United States, 20 years ago, the American government had already passed a law to require catalytic converters be installed on all vehicles to reduce the toxicity of emissions from internal combustion engines. Moreover, every auto must undergo a tail gas emission test ever year. If the tail gas emission could not hit the required standard, the auto license would be cancelled. In China, only some vehicles have catalytic converters. So the Chinese government should do something to improve this.
Jay and Dana are energetic supporters of solar energy utilization. Jay is of the opinion that more research should be done to explore the utilization of solar energy. He thinks solar energy has many kinds of applications. For instance, solar energy can be used for generating electric power, lighting and heating. He even imagines that if solar energy could be applied to drive bicycles, it would be both convenient and environment-friendly. In the United States, their son had even suggested that they should install solar energy equipment on the roof of their house to generate electric power. Besides supplying power for their house, they could sell the electric power to the power companies to earn money.
Talking about China’s environment, Jay and Dana praised the efforts the Chinese government had made to improve the environment though there was still pollution in the cities. For instance, in Jinan, they found that the river near the campus they live in is not as dirty as one year ago when they came to Jinan.
From the beginning of our interview to the end of our conversation, Jay and Dana repeatedly told us: “We love Jinan. We love the Chinese people,” which made us feel their sincere and friendly attitude to China and the Chinese people.
Jay和Dana夫妇来自美国的犹他州,现在山东大学任教,在中国已经待了1年零4个月了。从当初在地图上想象中国到现在居住在中国,他们一直细细地品味着这个与美国不同却又热情、亲切的国家。
退休之前,Jay在美国杨百翰大学(Brigham Young University)工作,负责学生宿舍管理。那是一个天蓝水清的美丽之地,他们的房屋就掩映在苍茂的绿树之下。
Dana幸福地描述自己美国的家。每当他们开车去工作,汽车在绿树中穿行,他们就会为“miles and miles”(数英里)的绿树陶醉。她反复强调着“miles and miles”,想让我感受到广袤的天地间,人穿梭于绿树丛中,那种“绿野仙踪”的奇妙。
Jay和Dana告诉我们,美国虽然汽车很多,但是,汽车对环境造成的污染并不像我们通常想像得那么大。因为从20多年前开始,美国政府就强制要求每辆汽车上都要安装三元催化转换器。这是一个在汽车发动机的排气系统中的专门催化装置,能够将排气中的碳氢化合物(HC)和一氧化碳(CO)氧化,同时也能够将排气中的氮氧化物(NOx)还原成无害的氮气和氧气。而且每辆车每年都要接受尾气检测,尾气排放一旦超出规定标准,汽车牌照就有被吊销的危险。在中国,只有部分车辆上安装了三元催化器。在这方面,中国是应该向美国学习的。
Jay极其推崇丰田生产的油电混合动力车普锐斯(Toyota Prius Hybrid Car)。普锐斯于1997年10月底问世,是世界上最早实现批量生产的混合动力汽车。普锐斯在仅利用电动机驱动时对环境没有任何污染;而且在减速、制动和下坡时还能回收能量以供再利用;特别是当遇到红灯停驶时,发动机会自动停止工作,这将没有任何燃油的消耗。因此,油耗和尾气排放都得到了有效改善。
Jay还是一个不折不扣的“太阳能拥护者”。他认为地球的地下能源,诸如石油、煤炭、天然气等的储量是有限的,总有一天会被开发枯竭。太阳能源却是无限的,因此,在未来能源利用方面,开发太阳能资源是最可行最有效的方法。他设想,太阳能除了可以用来发电、取暖、照明外,还可以在日常生活中找到很多用途。例如,可以生产用太阳能驱动的手表、玩具等,这样一来,既省钱又环保。
Jay甚至设想:“应该研究一种太阳能自行车,可以储蓄阳光,直接转化成动力,既环保又方便。”
可能受到父亲的影响,Jay的儿子也非常热衷于太阳能。他建议Jay和Dana在他们房屋顶上安装一个太阳能发电装置。这种装置可以取暖,也可以转换成电能,如果电能有剩余,还可以卖给电力公司,两全其美。
相对于Jay的乐观,Dana显得更为理性。以前,她很讨厌美国媒体动辄大篇幅的负面新闻报道,难道就没有好事情发生?现在她改变这种想法了。因为就环境保护而言,通过对负面事件的报道,媒体可以将政府不知道或知道了也为了某种利益不去改变的事情呈现给民众,这样可以促使政府更好地去履行责任。因此,在Dana看来,某种程度上,有时候媒体的作用甚至比政府都大。
Dana最讨厌吸烟者制造的毒气。当在公共场所看到有人吸烟,Dana就会毫不犹豫地大声咳嗽,直到那个人觉得不好意思掐掉烟头。她一边说还一边用肢体语言给我们表演。
这也算是抵制“毒气”倡导环保的一种方式吧。
谈起中国的环境问题,Jay和Dana对中国目前的环境问题感到担忧。Jay说,济南的空气污染让他感到呼吸非常不舒服,气管里总觉得被东西堵着,时常咳嗽。但是,更让他感到严重的是,城市之外的地区的大气也被污染了。他乘飞机从济南到北京,飞机飞离济南,穿越无人居住的广袤山区上空后,他竟然发现在山脉的上空漂浮着大量被污染了的大气层。这着实令他大吃一惊。不但我们,而且连Dana都认为他可能是把云层看成了污染大气。但是,Jay肯定地说,他没有看错,那确实是被污染了的大气层。他一边说着,一边随手用手抹了一下窗台的水泥板,把蹭在手上的灰尘在我们面前一晃,半开玩笑地说:“看,就是这种城市里漂浮的这种粉尘!”
指出问题的同时,对中国的环境问题,Jay和Dana表示了理解和宽容。在他们看来,中国改善环境固然非常重要。但是,中国确有自己特殊的国情,人口多,所以首先要解决吃饭问题,然后才能考虑生存的环境。况且,现在中国的环境正在改善,这就是一个好的兆头。
刚来济南时,Jay和Dana觉得济南环境很差,很像以前的犹他州。可是在这居住的一年多时间里,他们发现济南每天都在变化,以前随意往河里排放废水的现象不存在了,现在都是用统一的管道及其他方法进行解决。
他们也越来越喜欢济南这个城市了。在我们结束交谈时,Jay和Dana还热烈地表示:“We love Jinan!”
Jay & Dana Thelin are a couple from Utah in the USA. Before retiring, they worked at Brigham Young University. Nowadays they have been teaching English in Shandong University for one year and four months. Before coming to Jinan, they had almost no knowledge about China. All they could do then was to find China on the map and imagine everything about the country, the cities, the scenes and the people.
Talking about their hometown in the United States, Jay and Dana felt very happy and proud. Dana said that driving their car on the highways, they could see miles and miles of green trees and the vast land, which intoxicated them wit its beauty.
On the question of pollution caused by autos, Jay and Dana told us that despite there being a large number of cars in the United States, 20 years ago, the American government had already passed a law to require catalytic converters be installed on all vehicles to reduce the toxicity of emissions from internal combustion engines. Moreover, every auto must undergo a tail gas emission test ever year. If the tail gas emission could not hit the required standard, the auto license would be cancelled. In China, only some vehicles have catalytic converters. So the Chinese government should do something to improve this.
Jay and Dana are energetic supporters of solar energy utilization. Jay is of the opinion that more research should be done to explore the utilization of solar energy. He thinks solar energy has many kinds of applications. For instance, solar energy can be used for generating electric power, lighting and heating. He even imagines that if solar energy could be applied to drive bicycles, it would be both convenient and environment-friendly. In the United States, their son had even suggested that they should install solar energy equipment on the roof of their house to generate electric power. Besides supplying power for their house, they could sell the electric power to the power companies to earn money.
Talking about China’s environment, Jay and Dana praised the efforts the Chinese government had made to improve the environment though there was still pollution in the cities. For instance, in Jinan, they found that the river near the campus they live in is not as dirty as one year ago when they came to Jinan.
From the beginning of our interview to the end of our conversation, Jay and Dana repeatedly told us: “We love Jinan. We love the Chinese people,” which made us feel their sincere and friendly attitude to China and the Chinese people.