LadyLee的學習筆記小行星

BBC LEARNING ENGLISH

Take Away English 隨身英語

Plastic problem 塑料帶來的問題  Episode 170605 / 05 Jun 2017

Vocabulary: the environment 詞彙: 環境

How many plastic carrier bags have you got in your house? I seem to have cupboards full of them and it feels like they're taking over my home! The ubiquitous shopping bag is just one example of the million things we use made from this useful material, plastic. But unfortunately, it's not the easiest thing to recycle and this is causing an environmental problem.    

Most of our everyday plastic items end up in landfill, left to rot away for many years. But some of it blows away, blighting the countryside and causing damage to the natural environment and harming wildlife. The problem is most acute in our oceans. Research has found an uninhabited island in the South Pacific is littered with the highest density of plastic waste anywhere in the world. Henderson Island, part of the UK's Pitcairn Islands group, has an estimated 37.7 million pieces of debris on its beaches.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, described how remote islands act as a 'sink' for the world's rubbish. They become collecting points for fishing items and everyday things including toothbrushes, cigarette lighters and razors; things that we throw away. Dr Jennifer Lavers from the University of Tasmania says "Almost every island in the world and almost every species in the ocean is now being shown to be impacted one way or another by our waste."

This highlights the potentially deadly effect of our disposable culture. When we throw something away, it doesn't just disappear, it goes somewhere and because of the durable nature of plastic, it takes a long time to decompose and stays there causing great damage to the ocean's ecology. Some other recent worldwide research estimates that 90% of all seabirds have swallowed plastic. And worse still, this plastic is broken down into tiny particles over a long period by the wind and the waves, then sea creatures at the bottom of the food chain ingest them. These creatures are eaten by the fish that we eventually consume.

The solution to this problem would be to use less plastic. Several countries now charge for using plastic carrier bags which reduces the amount used and some products now use natural and recyclable materials but it seems inevitable that plastic will continue to be necessary in many of the gadgets that we demand.

So next time you pick up a carrier bag, or buy a plastic bottle of water, spare a thought for the birds and animals on the remote Henderson Island. What do you do to help the environment?

詞彙表

plastic carrier bag 塑料購物袋
ubiquitous 感覺無處不在的
blight （使）破壞
wildlife 野生動植物
acute 十分嚴重的 = severe
be littered with 在公共場合到處亂扔垃圾
density 密度
debris 碎片
sink 池子，坑
impacted 受影響的
disposable culture 丟棄文化
durable 持久的
decompose （使）分解
ecology 生態
particle 微粒
ingest 嚥下，攝取
recyclable 可回收利用的
spare a thought for somebody 替某人著想(spare batteries 備用電池)

-----------------------------------

測驗與練習 1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。

1. Which area of our planet is most affected by plastic waste?

2. According to the article, how many species of animals are now affected by plastic waste?

3. Why does plastic take a long time to decompose?

4. What have some countries done to reduce the use of plastic carrier bags?

5. True or false: Only the islands of the South Pacific have been affected by plastic waste so far.

2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. The new motorway has now opened, ________ the peace and quiet of the village.
選項 => littering blighting decomposing ingesting

2. The coastguard has found _________ from the shipwreck washed up on the beach.

選項 => ingest debris decompose ecology

3. A restaurant owner has been fined £25,000 after health inspectors found a _________ pigeon in the kitchen.

選項 => decompose decomposition decomposed decomposes

4. Conservationists fear that if the weeds are not removed they could threaten the _________ of the park.

選項 => durability impact ecology density

5. The face cream is for rubbing on your skin but make sure you don't ________ it, as it could make you sick.

選項 => ingesting ingested ingestable ingest

-----------------------------------

答案 ~ 1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。

1. Which area of our planet is most affected by plastic waste?
答案 ~ The problem is most acute in our oceans.
acute

2. According to the article, how many species of animals are now affected by plastic waste?
答案 ~ Dr Jennifer Lavers from the University of Tasmania says "…almost every species in the ocean is now being shown to be impacted one way or another by our waste."

3. Why does plastic take a long time to decompose?
答案 ~ It is durable.

4.What have some countries done to reduce the use of plastic carrier bags?
答案 ~ Several countries now charge for using plastic carrier bags which reduces the amount used.

5. True or false: Only the islands of the South Pacific have been affected by plastic waste so far.
答案 ~ False. Dr Jennifer Lavers from the University of Tasmania says "Almost every island in the world and almost every species in the ocean is now being shown to be impacted one way or another by our waste."

-----------------------------------

1. 我們星球的哪個區域受塑料垃圾的影響最大？
這個問題在我們的海洋中最為嚴重。

2. 根據文章，現在有多少種動物受到塑料垃圾的影響？
塔斯馬尼亞大學的詹妮弗·拉弗斯博士說：“……現在海洋中的幾乎所有物種都被我們的廢物以一種或另一種方式影響著。”

3. 為什麼塑料需要很長時間才能分解？
它很耐用。

4.一些國家採取了哪些措施來減少塑料手提袋的使用？
一些國家現在對使用塑料袋收費，從而減少了使用量。

5. 真假：到目前為止，只有南太平洋的島嶼受到塑料垃圾的影響。
錯誤的。塔斯馬尼亞大學的詹妮弗·拉弗斯博士說：“世界上幾乎每個島嶼和海洋中的幾乎所有物種現在都被我們的廢物以一種或另一種方式影響著。”

-----------------------------------
2.  選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. The new motorway has now opened, blighting the peace and quiet of the village.

2. The coastguard has found debris from the shipwreck washed up on the beach.

3. A restaurant owner has been fined £25,000 after health inspectors found a decomposed pigeon in the kitchen.

4. Conservationists fear that if the weeds are not removed they could threaten the ecology of the park.

5. The face cream is for rubbing on your skin but make sure you don't ingest it, as it could make you sick.
· digest 消化
· ingest 攝取

-----------------------------------

答案 ~ 

1. 新的高速公路現已開通，破壞了村莊的寧靜。
2. 海岸警衛隊在海灘上發現了沉船殘骸。
3. 一名餐館老闆在衛生稽查員在廚房裡發現一隻腐爛的鴿子後被罰款 25,000 英鎊。
4. 環保主義者擔心，如果不清除雜草，它們可能會威脅到公園的生態。
5. 面霜是用來擦在皮膚上的，但要確保你不要攝入它，因為它會讓你生病。

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/chinese/features/take-away-english/ep-170605