Many people believe that human activity is causing the earth’s temperature to rise. They say that this global warming will have dreadful consequences for our environment, such as drought and flooding.

很多人都认为是人类活动导致了全球气温上升。他们说全球变暖会对我们的环境造成可怕的后果，如干旱和洪水。

What should governments do to help prevent global warming? Give reasons for your suggestions.

政府该做什么来防止全球变暖呢？给出你建议的原因。

The earth’s temperature is rapidly changing. As a result there has been a lot of climate change such as heat waves, droughts and floods. Scientists believe that this is the result of human activity, which is polluting the Earth’s atmosphere. This could become a disaster if governments do not act to help prevent global warming. They can act in three ways; by supporting research, by making laws and by keeping the general public informed.

地球的温度正在迅速改变。导致很多气候变迁，如热浪、干旱和洪水。科学家认为这是人类活动污染了地球的大气层的结果。如果政府不采取行动来防止全球变暖的话，这可能会成为灾难。他们可以在三个方面上有所行动；支持研究，制订法律和保持公众知情。

Firstly, governments can support research. For example, they should encourage companies to develop vehicles that cause less pollution. They should also support alternative sources of electricity from wind and water rather than from oil and coal. As well, they should sponsor conferences to discuss the effects of greenhouse gas emissions¹ and possible solutions to the problem.

首先，政府可以支持研究。例如，他们应该鼓励公司致力于汽车研发来减少污染。他们也应该支持来自风和水的电力替代能源，而不是来自石油和煤的电源。同时，他们应该主持会议来讨论温室气体排放的影响和可能解决问题的方案。

Secondly², they should make laws that limit the amount of greenhouse gases that companies can emit. Private companies should be rewarded for following these laws. They should also be punished for creating pollution.

其次，他们应该制定法律限制公司发出的温室气体。私人公司应该因为遵循这些法律而得到奖励。他们也应该因为创造出污染而受到惩罚。

Finally, everybody is affected³ by global warming. Therefore, it is important that governments involve individuals in the problem solving process. For example they should encourage households to save as much energy as possible by using more efficient light bulbs or less hot water. They should also encourage the public to recycle, and this should be compulsory⁴ for everyone. Another way of saving energy is by public transport systems. Governments should spend money on public transport to make it as easy as possible for the public to save energy.

最后，每个人都是受到全球变暖的影响。因此，政府和个人在解决问题的过程中是很重要的。例如，他们应该鼓励家庭尽可能多的节省能源，尽可能多的使用更高效的灯泡或少用热水。他们也应该鼓励公众回收，因为这对每个人来说都是必须的。另一种节约能源的方法是公共交通系统。政府应该把钱花在公共交通使公众尽可能容易的节约能源。

In summary, it is clear that there are a lot of things that governments can do to prevent global warming. They should involve companies, support scientists and encourage individuals to protect the planet.

总之，很明确的，各国政府可以做很多事情来防止全球变暖。他们应包括公司，支持科学家和鼓励个人保护地球。