What is the main point and the purpose of the article?
The main point of the article is to demonstrate that “Blue Skies” days in Beijing has increased before Olympic which means air quality increased as well. The article uses opinions from several foreigners to provide a more convincing argument to prove that air quality in Beijing had indeed improved and both government and public had made tremendous amount of effort to prepare for the Green Olympic Game.
Does the way the article is written encourage you to take sides on the issue? Explain.
With personal experience from foreigners, the article let me to firstly feel how bad the air quality in Beijing was and then listed movements and policies had put forth by Beijing Municipal Government to deal with air pollution problems. It then illustrates that all these policies and action plans had lead to sizable improvement from examples in which foreigners perceived large changes in the living environment.
List the sources the author(s) use to support the claims on air pollution (i.e. scientific evidence, expert, government official, citizens, etc.). Provide names and short descriptions.
David, a British student who lives in China for 4 years.
Mike, an American who rents apartment in West Beijing Shichahai alley urban conservation area.
John, a Scottish 6-year bar owner near Chaoyang Park in Beijing.
What bias did the author bring to the writing of this article?
The author has the favoritism that foreign residents would provide more objective perspective on changes in air quality than Chinese residents and also opinion of small amount of selected people would represent that of the whole group of Beijing residents.
How (if at all) are health disparities, or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
No, it’s addressed in the article.
What three points, details or references from the article did you follow up on to advance your understanding of the issued and actors described in the article?
In order to reduce vehicle emissions, many Beijing community organizations initiated private owners to reduce the driving time. This mass activity received the support of hundreds of thousands of Beijing car owners.
Full citation and abstract (include link if exists)
张舵, 在京“老外”：“北京的蓝天增多了”，http://unn.people.com.cn/GB/14748/7036463.html, 2015-10-16
Duo Zhang, Foreigner at Beijng: Blue skies’ days increased, http://unn.people.com.cn/GB/14748/7036463.html, accessed 10/16/2015
What is the main point and the purpose of the article?
The main point of the article is to demonstrate that “Blue Skies” days in Beijing has increased before Olympic which means air quality increased as well. The article uses opinions from several foreigners to provide a more convincing argument to prove that air quality in Beijing had indeed improved and both government and public had made tremendous amount of effort to prepare for the Green Olympic Game.
文章的主要观点是要证明，“蓝天”天数在北京奥运会前比以前有所增加，这意味着空气质量的提高。本文采用从几个外国人的看法，以提供更有说服力的论据，证明在北京的空气质量确实有改善还有政府和公众为绿色奥运做准备付出了大量努力。
Does the way the article is written encourage you to take sides on the issue? Explain.
With personal experience from foreigners, the article let me to firstly feel how bad the air quality in Beijing was and then listed movements and policies had put forth by Beijing Municipal Government to deal with air pollution problems. It then illustrates that all these policies and action plans had lead to sizable improvement from examples in which foreigners perceived large changes in the living environment.
从外国人的亲身经历，文章让我首先觉得北京的空气质量有多严重，然后列出北京市政府提出的来解决空气污染问题行动和政策。然后，它用外国人认为生活环境发生了大变化的例子说明所有这些政策和行动计划已经导致了相当大的空气污染的改进 。
List the sources the author(s) use to support the claims on air pollution (i.e. scientific evidence, expert, government official, citizens, etc.). Provide names and short descriptions.
David, a British student who lives in China for 4 years.
Mike, an American who rents apartment in West Beijing Shichahai alley urban conservation area.
John, a Scottish 6-year bar owner near Chaoyang Park in Beijing.
戴维,在中国生活4 年的英国留学生
在北京西城区什刹海胡同保护区内租房居住的美国人，迈克
北京城东边的朝阳公园地区旁开了 6 年酒吧的苏格兰人约翰
What bias did the author bring to the writing of this article?
The author has the favoritism that foreign residents would provide more objective perspective on changes in air quality than Chinese residents and also opinion of small amount of selected people would represent that of the whole group of Beijing residents.
笔者有偏见。作者认为外国居民会在北京空气质量变化上提供更客观的见解，还有小部分被选出的人可以代表全体北京居民。
How (if at all) are health disparities, or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
No, it’s addressed in the article.
What three points, details or references from the article did you follow up on to advance your understanding of the issued and actors described in the article?
In order to reduce vehicle emissions, many Beijing community organizations initiated private owners to reduce the driving time. This mass activity received the support of hundreds of thousands of Beijing car owners.
为了减少汽车尾气排放,北京很多社团组织公开倡议私家车主主动减少开车时间,类似的群众性活动得到了几十万北京有车族的支持。