One of the two major types of smog - consisting of smoke fog, sulfur dioxide (二氧化硫), sulfuric acid, ash, and soot (煤烟) -is called London smog. Indeed, the word smog is thought to have originated in England in 1905 as a short form of the words “smoke” and “fog.”
Probably the worst case of smog in history started in London on Thursday, 4 December, 1952.
Saturday was a day of darkness. For twenty miles around London, no light came through the smog. The air was cold and still.
By the time a light wind cleared the air on Tuesday, 9 December, more than 4,000 deaths had been caused by the smog. This is more people than were ever killed in any single hurricane, mine disaster, shipwreck, or airplane crash.
A.Where does “smog” come from? |
B.Soot and ash can be removed in a scientific way. |
C.And the coal fires continued to bum throughout the weekend. |
D.A large cold air mass moved into the valley of the Thames River. |
E.The factories added their smoke and chemical gas to the atmosphere. |
F.This is more people than were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. |
G.The city’s hospitals were overflowing with patients with breathing-related diseases. |