【英语趣味课堂】关于水的担忧-Water Worries

Todd: So, hey, Rebecca, speaking of environmental stuff¹, I was reading about a drought² in Australia. You guys have a serious drought problem with water?

Rebecca: Yeah, we do. We've had a drought for some time now and it seems to be getting worse and worse each year. At the moment, it depends on the area that you're in, but some areas are quite hard-hitted. We actually have restrictions³ on water now so you can't wash your car unless it's with a bucket of water. You can't water your garden at all, so my mom loves gardening, so to keep her garden, dad actually has fitted a special tube into the washing machine which filters⁴ the water out out into a bucket outside and she can use that grey water to water all her plants and that way she can keep her garden all nice.

 

Todd: That's fantastic. You call it grey water?

 

Rebecca: Mm. We call it grey water.

 

Todd: Is it only water from the washing machine?

 

Rebecca: Yeah, it is. We haven't done anything else with the shower water or anything, yet, and I think with the soaps that we use, they're more... not as hard on the plants, so they're actually growing really well.

 

Todd: Oh, really. Actually, the garden is doing better with the grey water than normal water?

 

Rebecca: Yeah. Especially grass. Yeah, I don't know, maybe something in the water that they really love.

 

Todd: Right. All those dirt nutrients⁵ from the clothes.

 

Rebecca: From the clothes, yes.

 

Todd: So, has the government done anything like to raise water prices or limit how much water you can use per month or anything like that?

 

Rebecca: There's a certain limit on water and then after that limit's reached, you actually pay quite a fair bit for water. Bottles of water have gone up to about three to four dollars for just a hundred-fifty mil-bottles, so it's quite expensive. Yeah, so water prices are quite high now.

 

Todd: So, basically⁶, everybody in Australia just has to hope that in the future there'll be more rain?

 

Rebecca: Yeah. Yeah. Definitely⁷. I think the problem is that with the rains, it needs to rain into the basins where we catch the water so, if it doesn't rain into them, then the water's just useless to us when it rains. It just runs offbecause the ground's so dry.

 

Todd: Right, you just have the run-off.

 

Rebecca: Yeah.

 

Todd: So, have you had other things like flooding or anything like that because of the drought?

 

Rebecca: In certain areas when there's been big rainfalls, there has been a lot of flooding because the ground just doesn't soak⁸ it up. It's that dry, but other areas have got water so because Australia is so vast, so wide as well, yeah, there's different areas that are hit differently.

 

Todd: Ah, that's terrible. Well, I hope it gets better.

 

Rebecca: Yeah, so do I.

 

1 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

2 drought   

n.旱灾，干旱，久旱

参考例句：

• The plants are growing in again,despite the drought.尽管干旱，植物又长出来了。
• The ground is as hard as stone after the drought.长期干旱后土地硬得就像石头一样。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 filters   

过滤( filter的名词复数 )； 滤光器； （香烟头上的）过滤嘴； 交通红灯指示不得直行的同时

参考例句：

• Filters do not remove all contaminants from water. 过滤器无法过滤掉水中的所有污染物。
• A liquid filters through a strainer,into the receptacle beneath. 液体经过过滤器流入下面的容器。

5 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

7 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

8 soak   

n.浸，湿透，喝醉；vt.使…湿透，浸泡在液体中，浸洗，吸入，使某人喝醉，向某人敲竹杠；vi.浸入液体，渗透，感化（某人），无节制地喝酒

参考例句：

• Let the clothes soak for a few hours in soapy water.让衣服在肥皂水中泡几小时。
• The oil will soak into the wood.油会渗进木头里。