Focus 3 Unit 5 Reading

Pollution in many of the world’s cities is becoming a major health problem. One of the worst affected is Beijing, the capital of China. Air quality was dangerously low on 58 days last year. Winter months are especially bad. (1)         . There is also less wind to blow the smog away. At this time of year, pollution levels are sometimes 20 times higher than the WHO (World Health Organisation) considers safe. 

In early 2014, some newspapers and websites showed a frightening vision of the future. On a smoggy morning, residents of Beijing watched the sunrise. (2)         . The smog was so thick that the real sunrise was completely invisible. While the smog and the masks the people were wearing were real, the films of the sunrise were nothing unusual. 

The screens show adverts all the time. (3)        .  The same advert is shown quite often, whatever the weather. Either the photographer was lucky or he knew exactly how the image would look and waited until he got the photo he wanted. 

Before the 2008 Olympic Games, pollution in Beijing was reduced greatly. As well as reducing traffic levels and closing factories, other methods to reduce pollution were used. (4)            .To help with this, scientists were even able to make clouds drop more rain. Since then, things have got worse rather than better but, at last, the government seems to be determined to do something about the problem.