Stink is history as public toilets get ready for Games
文章来源: 文章作者: 发布时间:2009-06-11 03:13 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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Lester Blake is happy, but not for any breakthrough in his engineering profession. His source of happiness is a clean and tidy public toilet, with an automatic hand drier, soap, and, most important of all, toilet paper.

"When I first came to Beijing in 2000, the biggest problem for me was not finding tissue paper in public toilets which is quite different from what it is in Germany and many other Western countries," said the 40-plus German yesterday.

The Beijing municipal government has vastly improved the capital's public facilities, thanks to preparations for the Olympic Games.

And now about 1,700 public toilets in downtown areas and tourist sites, and more than 2,400 in and around the Games venues1 will provide free toilet paper and liquid soap, said Guo Weidong, a Beijing municipal administration commission spokesman.

The arrangement, to continue throughout the Olympics and Paralympics, is part of a three-year campaign that began in 2005 to renovate2 and modernize3 Beijing's 5,333 public toilets for the Games.

Many of the public lavatories4 now have Western-style flush toilets to meet the needs of foreigners, the physically5 challenged and the elderly, he said.

And about 8,000 workers have been trained to keep the public toilets clean and dry. After all, "public toilets reflect the living and hygiene6 standards of a society," Guo said.

"Beijing is working hard to make every public toilet a pleasant experience for the millions who visit the city for the Games," said Yu Debin, deputy director of the Beijing tourism bureau.

Recalling his earlier horrifying7 experience, Blake says: "In 2000, I had to take a deep breath before dashing into a public toilet, hold my breath with my head held high (no double entendre) never look down (to avoid the stink8 and the filthy9 floor) and then dash out -- All in less than a minute."

A Beijing tourism bureau survey in 1994 showed that more than 60 percent foreign visitors were afraid of entering the city's public toilets.

All that has thankfully changed.

Wang Fangde, 68, who lives in one of Beijing's traditional siheyuan (courtyard houses), is another man happy with the changes. "A decade ago I could roughly tell where a public lavatory10 was because of the stink… it hit you from even 20 meters away."

And Wang has a wish: "I hope toilet paper is provided free even after the Olympics and Paralympics."



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1 venues c277c9611f0a0f19beb3658245ac305f     
n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 );会场;(尤指)体育比赛场所;犯罪地点
参考例句:
  • The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
  • Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角,有长800米,宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网
2 renovate 0VOxE     
vt.更新,革新,刷新
参考例句:
  • The couple spent thousands renovating the house.这对夫妇花了几千元来翻新房子。
  • They are going to renovate the old furniture.他们准备将旧家具整修一番。
3 modernize SEixp     
vt.使现代化,使适应现代的需要
参考例句:
  • It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化,明显失败了。
  • There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。
4 lavatories 59504ba54fc7e0c431b6468feb13ae09     
n.厕所( lavatory的名词复数 );抽水马桶;公共厕所(或卫生间、洗手间、盥洗室);浴室水池
参考例句:
  • But there would be no public lavatories in a quarter like this. 可是在这样的地方是找不到公共厕所的。 来自英汉文学
  • The lavatories are at the rear of the cabin. 盥洗室在机舱的尾部。 来自互联网
5 physically iNix5     
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律
参考例句:
  • He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服,心绪也很乱。
  • Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
6 hygiene Kchzr     
n.健康法,卫生学 (a.hygienic)
参考例句:
  • Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
  • He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。
7 horrifying 6rezZ3     
a.令人震惊的,使人毛骨悚然的
参考例句:
  • He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
  • The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了,真不堪细想。
8 stink ZG5zA     
vi.发出恶臭;糟透,招人厌恶;n.恶臭
参考例句:
  • The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
  • The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。
9 filthy ZgOzj     
adj.卑劣的;恶劣的,肮脏的
参考例句:
  • The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
  • You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发,然后再去买张新的。
10 lavatory LkOyJ     
n.盥洗室,厕所
参考例句:
  • Is there any lavatory in this building?这座楼里有厕所吗?
  • The use of the lavatory has been suspended during take-off.在飞机起飞期间,盥洗室暂停使用。
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