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NL888 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
(Barely) living in smog?
1) Does "(Barely) living in smog" mean "(almost) living in smog"?
2) Does "The few pedestrians on the streets are mostly unmasked, confirming fears that public awareness of the health risks are low" mean "only a few pedestrians on the streets are almost unmased, while most people on the treets are masked - the masking confirms the fears that public awareness of the health of health risks (of smog) is still low"?
What? I think the public awareness is high. I got the grammar wrongly?
Context:
There are few cities in the world where the first thing you do on waking is check the air quality app on your mobile phone—even before switching off the alarm. Beijing is such a city. On Feb 25, Beijing had been shrouded in heavy smog and hazardous levels of respirable fine particulate matter (PM2·5) for 6 consecutive days. That morning the PM2·5 level read 383 µg/m3, which is 15 times the recommended safe WHO limit (25 µg/m3 for 24-h PM2·5), but not the worst reported in a week when levels soared to 500 µg/m3. You wake your young child who you have kept at home for 2 days and switch the air purifiers up to high. You explain that at school today they will stay inside to play. Outside, the air is smoky and the sky a sunless thick grey yellow. A sheet of dust covers most vehicles and surfaces and you can almost taste it through your face mask. You call a taxi for a school run that on clear days is a 20 min walk. The driver can see no more than 150 metres ahead in the haze. The few pedestrians on the streets are mostly unmasked, confirming fears that public awareness of the health risks are low, or that some simply do not have the choice. There is a lone jogger ignoring the orange alert (the second highest level in a four-tiered system) issued for the very first time by the Beijing Environmental Bureau, closing industrial plants and advising people to stay indoors and to refrain from exercise.
MOre:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2960427-X/fulltext
2) Does "The few pedestrians on the streets are mostly unmasked, confirming fears that public awareness of the health risks are low" mean "only a few pedestrians on the streets are almost unmased, while most people on the treets are masked - the masking confirms the fears that public awareness of the health of health risks (of smog) is still low"?
What? I think the public awareness is high. I got the grammar wrongly?
Context:
(Barely) living in smog: China and air pollution
http://www.thelancet.com/search/results?fieldName=Authors&searchTerm=%20The%20LancetThere are few cities in the world where the first thing you do on waking is check the air quality app on your mobile phone—even before switching off the alarm. Beijing is such a city. On Feb 25, Beijing had been shrouded in heavy smog and hazardous levels of respirable fine particulate matter (PM2·5) for 6 consecutive days. That morning the PM2·5 level read 383 µg/m3, which is 15 times the recommended safe WHO limit (25 µg/m3 for 24-h PM2·5), but not the worst reported in a week when levels soared to 500 µg/m3. You wake your young child who you have kept at home for 2 days and switch the air purifiers up to high. You explain that at school today they will stay inside to play. Outside, the air is smoky and the sky a sunless thick grey yellow. A sheet of dust covers most vehicles and surfaces and you can almost taste it through your face mask. You call a taxi for a school run that on clear days is a 20 min walk. The driver can see no more than 150 metres ahead in the haze. The few pedestrians on the streets are mostly unmasked, confirming fears that public awareness of the health risks are low, or that some simply do not have the choice. There is a lone jogger ignoring the orange alert (the second highest level in a four-tiered system) issued for the very first time by the Beijing Environmental Bureau, closing industrial plants and advising people to stay indoors and to refrain from exercise.
MOre:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2960427-X/fulltext
Top answer
NL888 1) Does "(Barely) living in smog" mean "(almost) living in smog"? Yes, but to me it's ambiguous. It could mean (1) you're "just on the edge" of a smog zone.
- NL888 1) Does "(Barely) living in smog" mean "(almost) living in smog"?
- Yes, but to me it's ambiguous.
- It could mean (1) you're "just on the edge" of a smog zone.
- Or it could mean (2) you're scarcely/barely able to survive, because the smog is so bad.
- NL888 The few pedestrians on the streets are mostly unmasked, confirming fears that public awareness of the health risks are low There seem to be two independent bits of information here.
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2 Answers
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NL8881) Does "(Barely) living in smog" mean "(almost) living in smog"?Yes, but to me it's ambiguous.
It could mean (1) you're "just on the edge" of a smog zone.
Or it could mean (2) you're scarcely/barely able to survive, because the smog is so bad.
NL888The few pedestrians on the streets are mostly unmasked, confirming fears t
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Yeah. It is rather ambiguous. If most people know choosing to stay indoors, the general public awareness of the health risks is high, not low.
Yes, general fears are high, not low.
The author seems to have written poorly.
Yes, general fears are high, not low.
The author seems to have written poorly.
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