中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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A new road sign (2L) stands amongst other traffic signs on Farringdon Road, London, January 24 2003. [Agencies] |
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The British government has declared war on the profusion of unnecessary road traffic signs, railings and advertising boards, saying they blight towns' English character. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has written to local council leaders in England, calling on them to cut the number of unsightly signs and other "street clutter." Even traffic lights are in the firing line. Ministers want the public to inform local authorities of particularly bad examples of excess signage, to clean up the national landscape. "Our streets are losing their English character," Pickles said. "We are being overrun by scruffy signs, bossy bollards, patchwork paving and railed-off roads -- wasting taxpayers' money that could be better spent on fixing potholes." The government says that in some cases traffic signs are installed by councils in the mistaken belief they are legally required, when they are not. Hammond said the abundance of so-called street furniture often makes towns resemble "scrapyards," confusing motorists and obstructing pedestrians. For signs to be most effective, ministers say, they should be kept to a minimum. When busy Kensington High Street in central London was stripped of excess road furniture, for example, it helped reduce accidents by 47 percent. The Department for Transport is reviewing traffic signs policy and new advice on how to reduce clutter will be published later this year. For more Bilingual News, please log on to our website at language.chinadaily.com.cn. For now, this has been Nelly Min. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
日前，英國政府呼吁拆除過多的路標(biāo)、欄桿和廣告牌，稱這些街道設(shè)施破壞了英國城鎮(zhèn)的景觀。 英國社區(qū)事務(wù)大臣埃里克?皮科爾斯和交通事務(wù)大臣菲利普?哈蒙德日前致信英格蘭地方市政官員，要求展開整治市容工作，清除街道上的一些煞風(fēng)景的標(biāo)識(shí)和其它“多余的路面設(shè)施”。 甚至交通信號(hào)燈也在被拆范圍之列。 兩位大臣希望民眾能將特別多余的路標(biāo)告知地方政府，幫助整治英國的城鎮(zhèn)景觀。 皮科爾斯說：“我們的街道正逐漸失去英國風(fēng)范。到處是零亂的路標(biāo)、礙事的護(hù)欄、拼鋪的小路和被欄桿圍起來的馬路，本可以用于修補(bǔ)坑穴的納稅人的錢都被浪費(fèi)在了這些方面。” 英國政府稱，有時(shí)地方政府錯(cuò)誤地認(rèn)為設(shè)立某些路標(biāo)是應(yīng)法律法規(guī)的要求，但實(shí)際上這些路標(biāo)并不需要。 哈蒙德說，過多的街道設(shè)施常常把城鎮(zhèn)變得像個(gè)“廢品堆放場”，不僅會(huì)繞暈司機(jī)，還會(huì)給行人帶來不便。 兩位大臣稱，街道路標(biāo)的設(shè)立應(yīng)有個(gè)度，才能起到指引作用。 比如，倫敦中部繁忙的肯辛頓大街拆掉了多余的道路設(shè)施后，交通事故數(shù)量減少了47%。 目前英國交通部正在審核交通路標(biāo)的相關(guān)政策，有關(guān)如何減少道路設(shè)施數(shù)量的新建議將于今年晚些時(shí)候公布。 相關(guān)閱讀： 英國欲征“畢業(yè)稅”代替大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi) （中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 蔡姍姍 編輯：馮明惠） |
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Vocabulary: profusion: the property of being extremely abundant（豐富；大量） unsightly:unpleasant to look（難看的） overrun: invade in great numbers（蔓延；占領(lǐng)） scruffy:shabby and untidy（骯臟的；不整潔的） |
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