听播客学英语 148 胡说八道

 　　Recently, I found a postcard. You can see a picture of it on the website or on the screen of your iPod. On the front of the card it says “Birmingham’s total rubbish…”

　　What does this mean. Does it mean that “Birmingham is total rubbish” – in other words, Birmingham is an awful place and no sane¹ person would like to live in Birmingham or visit the city?

　　Happily, it does not mean that. “Birmingham’s total rubbish …” is the beginning of a sentence about rubbish in Birmingham. On the other side of the card, there are facts and figures about how much rubbish each of us produces, and what happens to it.

　　Let’s start with some vocabulary. Every day, we throw things away that we do not need any more. We call this “rubbish” or “waste” or “refuse”. In America, they call it “garbage”. Rubbish that comes from people’s homes is called “household waste”. If it comes from shops, offices, restaurants etc, it is called “commercial waste”. And if it comes from factories, it is called “industrial waste”. In England, it is very common for people to put their household waste into big black plastic bags. Once a week, or once a fortnight, you put your plastic bags outside your house, and the local authority² collects them. But some people, especially people who live in flats, put their waste into a large plastic container, about 1.50 meters tall. The container has a lid³ on the top, and wheels on the bottom. There is probably a proper, official name for these containers, but everyone calls them “wheelie bins⁴” (because they have wheels on the bottom!) There is probably also a proper, official name for the wonderful people who collect the plastic bags, and empty the wheelie bins, but everyone actually calls them the “bin men”.

　　A lot of the things that we throw out can be recycled, that means⁵, they can be used again. We can use waste paper to make new paper. We can use aluminium⁶ drinks cans to make new cans. And some things that we throw out, such as old batteries⁷ or fridges, contain materials which can damage the environment, so it is good if we do not put them in the general rubbish. The local authority therefore encourages us to separate⁸ paper, cardboard⁹, cans, tins and plastic bottles from the rest of our rubbish so that they can be recycled. And what happens to our waste after it has been collected? In Birmingham, the paper and cardboard is taken to a factory just north of the city centre, where it is turned into new cardboard packaging¹⁰. There are also factories not far from Birmingham which take recycled glass, cans and plastics. And the rest of our household waste goes to a modern incinerator in the south of Birmingham, where it is burnt at a high temperature. The heat from the incinerator is used to generate¹¹ electricity, and some of the ash can be used in the building industry.

　　That is the good side of the story. The bad side is that we do not recycle very much. In Birmingham, we recycle only 20% of household waste. This is much better than a few years ago, but a lot worse than many other towns in England. And in comparison¹² with other European countries, our recycling rates in England are very poor. In Belgium and Austria¹³, for example, well over half of all household waste is recycled. We still live in a society where it is normal to throw things away without thinking about how to re-use them. How can we persuade people to recycle more? Our government has suggested that people should pay for every kilo of rubbish that they produce and do not recycle. They have also said that fortnightly rubbish collections, instead of weekly collections, may encourage people to recycle. However, these ideas are controversial¹⁴. It is easy to see the problems and difficulties¹⁵ in them, and less easy to see the solutions to the problems. It will not be easy to change people’s behaviour. But equally¹⁶ we cannot go on throwing things away as we do at present.

1 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

2 authority   

n.当局，官方；权力，权威，威信；当权者

参考例句：

• He is recognized internationally as an authority in this field.国际上承认他是这方面的一个权威。
• Professor White is looked upon as an authority on mathematics.怀特教授被看成数学权威。

3 lid   

n.盖子，眼睑；v.加盖，盖上；制止，取缔

参考例句：

• She shut the lid down.她扣上了盖儿。
• Put the lid on the garbage can.把盖子盖在垃圾筒上。

4 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

6 aluminium   

n.铝 (=aluminum)

参考例句：

• Aluminium looks heavy but actually it is very light.铝看起来很重，实际上却很轻。
• If necessary, we can use aluminium instead of steel.如果必要，我们可用铝代钢。

7 batteries   

n.电池；（蓄）电池（组）( battery的名词复数 )；一系列；排炮；层架式鸡笼

参考例句：

• to replace the batteries 更换电池
• He is certain that this TV set will operate on batteries. 他肯定这个电视机可以用电池。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 separate   

n.分开，抽印本；adj.分开的，各自的，单独的；v.分开，隔开，分居

参考例句：

• Are they joined together or separate?它们是合在一起还是分开的？
• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering.洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。

9 cardboard   

n.硬纸板，卡纸板

参考例句：

• She brought the shopping home in a cardboard box.她将买的东西放在纸箱里带回家。
• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。

10 packaging   

n.包装，包装业，包装术

参考例句：

• The packaging does not conform to EU rules.这种包装不符合欧盟规定。
• These materials can be recycled into other packaging products.可以回收这些材料制成其他包装产品。

11 generate   

vt.生成，产生（光、热、电等）导致

参考例句：

• We need someone to generate new ideas.我们需要有人出新主意。
• This book will continue to generate excitement for a long time.这本书将在很长一段时间里继续使人们为之激动。

12 comparison   

n.比较，对照；比拟，比喻

参考例句：

• They make a comparison of New York to a beehive.他们把纽约比作一个蜂巢。
• This dress is really cheaper by comparison.比较起来，这件衣服确实便宜。

13 Austria   

n.奥地利(欧洲国家)

参考例句：

• Austria lies to the southeast of Germany.奥地利位于德国东南。
• I always confuse Australia with Austria.我总是把澳大利亚同奥地利弄混。

14 controversial   

adj.引起争论的，有争议的

参考例句：

• The topic of argument is controversial.这个议题是很有争议的。
• Immigration is a controversial issue in many countries.在很多国家，移民都是一个颇有争议的问题。

15 difficulties   

n.困难( difficulty的名词复数 )；难度；难事；麻烦

参考例句：

• I am acutely aware of the difficulties we face. 我十分清楚我们面临的困难。
• the difficulties of English syntax 英语句法的难点

16 equally   

adv.平等地；公平地

参考例句：

• Divide the cake into quarters and share it equally.把蛋糕分成四份，大家平均享用。
• The blue sky belongs equally to us all.蓝天为人所共有。