听播客学英语 250 垃圾

 　　“Litter” means¹ things that people throw away in a public place, like a street. Things like cigarette ends, crisp² packets, old newspapers or Coca-Cola cans. Litter makes a place look untidy³ and dirty. We ought to put our litter in a litter bin⁴, or take it home with us.

　　In towns and cities there are street cleaners. Their job is to sweep up the litter that other people leave in the streets. And in some places in the country where there are many visitors, we also have people who clear up litter.

　　A group of volunteers have just finished picking up litter on Ben Nevis, which is the highest mountain in Britain. In good weather, many visitors climb the mountain. In bad weather, however, it can be a very dangerous place.

　　The volunteer litter-pickers collected bags full of old paper, orange peel, plastic bags and drinks cans from the path which leads to the top of Ben Nevis. Then they saw a piece of wood sticking out from a pile of broken rock near the top of the mountain. They pulled the rocks away and found …..a piano.

　　Why was there a piano near the top of Britiain’s highest mountain? It turned out that a Mr Kenny Campbell had carried it up the mountain 35 years ago to raise money for charity⁵. It also turned out that it wasn’t a piano at all, but a small church organ. Mr Campbell told the newspapers that he had played Scotland⁶ the Brave on the organ at the top of the mountain. He said that he was planning another stunt⁷ to raise money for charity later this year, to mark his 65th birthday. We really are mad in this country!

　　Vocabulary note: “it turned out that…” At first people thought that it was a piano. Later they found out it was really an organ. It TURNED OUT to be an organ. At first people did not know who had carried it up the mountain. Then Mr Campbell said that it was him. It TURNED OUT that it was Mr Campbell.

1 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。

2 crisp   

adj.脆的；清新的；扼要的；n.[pl.]油炸土豆片

参考例句：

• What a crisp voice she has!听她的嗓音多脆！
• These pears are sweet and crisp.这种梨又甜又脆。

3 untidy   

adj.不整齐的，懒散的，懒惰的

参考例句：

• This is an untidy plan.这是一个杂乱无章的计划。
• I must apologize for the untidy state of the room.屋子这么不整洁，实在抱歉。

4 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

5 charity   

n.慈悲，博爱，慈善团体，施舍

参考例句：

• He founded the charity in memory of his late wife.他兴办那个慈善机构以纪念他已故的妻子。
• He gave a handsome sum of money to charity.他向慈善团体捐了一笔相当可观的钱款。

6 Scotland   

n.苏格兰

参考例句：

• He has been hiking round Scotland for a month.他围着苏格兰徒步旅行了一个月。
• Scotland is to the north of England.苏格兰在英格兰之北。

7 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。