CHARLIE: Excuse me. Is anyone in that seat next to you?
ANGELA: No, I don’t think so.
CHARLIE: Do you mind if I put my jacket there?
ANGELA: No. It’s no problem.
ANGELA: Are you American?
CHARLIE: Yes. And you?
ANGELA: No. I’m from Taiwan. Can’t you see?
CHARLIE: Well, there are many Chinese Americans, you know.And your English is very good. You sound like an American.
ANGELA: I don’t think so. You are flattering me.
CHARLIE: No, really. I can only hear a little accent.
ANGELA: Are you flying home?
CHARLIE: Well, yes. Actually, I’m going back to visit.
ANGELA: You were visiting Taiwan?
CHARLIE: No, I’m going back to America to visit.I’m from America, but I don’t live there now. I live in Taichung.
ANGELA: Really! You live in Taiwan!
CHARLIE: Yes. Why not?
ANGELA: May I ask what your job is in Taiwan?
CHARLIE: Sure. I teach history in a university. Have you heard of Dong-Hai University?
ANGELA: Of course. It’s a good school. How long have you lived in Taichung?
CHARLIE: I have lived in Taichung for two years now.So this is the second time I am going back to the States.I go back once a year to visit my family.
ANGELA: It must be strange for you to live in Taiwan.
CHARLIE: No, it isn’t strange at all.Many people from Taiwan move to America too, you know.Do you think it is strange for them?
ANGELA: No. Well, I don’t know.But Taiwan is so crowded. Don’t you miss life in America?
CHARLIE: There are some things I miss. But I love Chinese food.And I think the people in Taiwan are really hospitable.Besides, I grew up in Los Angeles, so I’m used to living in crowded places.Why are you going to America?
ANGELA: I’m going to New York to visit my sister. She is in art school.I’ve never been to New York before. I’m kind of scared.
CHARLIE: Why?
ANGELA: Well, I know a lot of people have guns there. I think maybe it isn’t too safe.
CHARLIE: Don’t worry about it.Your sister lives there. She probably knows the places in town you shouldn’t go.It’s true there are some dangerous places in big American cities.But if your sister lives there, she must know the city pretty well already.
ANGELA: Yes, I’m not really scared. Maybe only a little.
CHARLIE: Don’t believe what you see on TV. You will have a good time in New York.What things do you want to see?
ANGELA: I want to see the museums, and I want to shop a lot.
CHARLIE: The museums are excellent. And the shopping!Well! I’m sure you’ll spend a lot of money there.
ANGELA: Hmm. I hope not.
查理：对不起，你旁边有人吗?
安琪拉：没有吧。
查理：你介意我把夹克放在那里吗?
安琪拉：没问题。
安琪拉：你是美国人吗?
查理：是的，你呢?
安琪拉：我是台湾人，看不出来吗?
查理：你知道的，美国有很多华裔。而且你的英文很好，听起来像是美国人。
安琪拉：不会吧，你过奖了。
查理：是真的，我只听出有一点点口音。
安琪拉：你是要回家吗?
查理：是的，事实上我是回去探亲。
安琪拉：你是来台湾探亲的?
查理：不是，我要回美国探亲。我是美国人，但是我现在不住在那里，我住在台中。
安琪拉：真的!你住在台湾啊!
查理：没错。为什么不呢?
安琪拉：我能请问你在台湾的工作吗?
查理：当然可以。我在大学教历史，你知道东海大学吗?
安琪拉：当然，是个不错的学校。你住在台中多久了?
查理：我在台中住两年了。这是我第二次回美国。我每年回去探亲一次。
安琪拉：你住在台湾一定很不习惯吧?
查理：一点也不会。很多台湾人也搬去美国住。你认为他们也不习惯吗?
安琪拉：我不知道。但是台湾很拥挤，你不怀念美国的生活吗? This was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
"It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.
"The term ‘100-year event’ really lost its meaning this year."
And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.
Even though many catastrophes have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and weird year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.
Poor construction and development practices conspire to make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable buildings in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river breaches, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die.
The January earthquake that killed well more than 220,000 people in Haiti is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people — many of them living in poverty — and more poorly built shanties than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010, total deaths would have probably been in the 80,000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.
Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warming, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.
The excessive amount of extreme weather that dominated 2010 is a classic sign of man-made global warming that climate scientists have long warned about. They calculate that the killer Russian heat wave — setting a national record of 111 degrees — would happen once every 100,000 years without global warming.
Preliminary data show that 18 countries broke their records for the hottest day ever.
White House science adviser John Holdren said we should get used to climate disasters or do something about global warming: "The science is clear that we can expect more and more of these kinds of damaging events unless and until society's emissions of heat-trapping gases and particles are sharply reduced."
今年，地球开始反击了。
2010年死于地震、热浪、洪灾、火山喷发、超强台风、暴风雪、山体滑坡和干旱的人数超过了25万人，是30多年来死亡人数最多的一年。全球死于自然灾难的人数超过过去40年来死于恐怖主义袭击的人数的总和。
美国联邦紧急事务管理局局长克雷格?富盖特说：“(灾难)像海浪般接踵而至。” 2010年该局处理的灾难数目突破了历史记录。
“在这种情况下，‘百年一遇’一词也失去了意义”，尤盖特说。
科学家和灾难专家们认为大部分灾难都是人类自己造成的。
尽管很多灾难看起来是偶发事件，但是人类的行为使得今年的自然灾害(从恶劣的天气到毁灭性的地震)造成的后果尤其严重。今年是死亡人数飙升、损失惨重、天气极端异常的一年。
低劣的建筑质量和开发行为加大了地震的杀伤力。越来越多的人挤在城市的危房里，过着贫苦的生活。这意味着，一旦地震发生、河堤决口、或者热浪来袭，会有更多的人死亡。
一月份发生的造成22万多人死亡的海地地震就是一个典型的例子。跟25年前相比，海地首都太子港市的人数增加了两倍，很多人生活贫困，城市中到处都是简陋的棚户区。“如果同样的地震发生在1985年，那么死亡人数应该在8万左右”，弗罗里达国际大学减灾办公室主任理查德?奥尔森说。
气象科学家说地球的气候也在发生变化。人为造成的全球变暖带来了极端的天气，使得热浪肆虐，洪水泛滥。
2010年过度频繁的极端天气是人为全球变暖的一个显著表现。气象科学家们一直都在警告人们注意全球变暖，他们推算说如果没有全球变暖的话，那么今年在俄罗斯发生的破纪录的111度(华氏)高温天气每10万年才会发生一次。
之前的数据显示，今年有18个国家的最高气温打破了历史纪录。
白宫科学顾问约翰?霍德伦认为，我们应该采取行动应对全球变暖，不然就得适应气候灾难。“道理很清楚，如果我们不能大量减少吸热气体和微
查理：有些方面很怀念，但是我很喜欢中国菜。而且我觉得台湾人真的很好客。此外，我是在加州洛杉矶长大的，早就习惯人口稠密的地方。你去美国做什么呢?
安琪拉：我要去纽约看我姐姐，她念艺术学院。我从来没去过纽约，有点害怕。
查理：为什么?
安琪拉：那里很多人都有枪，我觉得可能不太安全。
查理：别担心!你姐姐住在那儿，她可能知道哪些地方不能去。美国的大都市确实有些地方很危险。但是你姐姐住那儿，一定很清楚那个城市了。
安琪拉：我不是真的害怕，或许有点吧。
查理：别相信你在电视上所看到的，你在纽约会很愉快的。你想去看些什么?
安琪拉：我想参观博物馆，还要逛街购物。
查理：那里的博物馆很棒，买东西也是。我相信你在那儿一定会花上不少钱。
安琪拉：希望不会。
