Dialogue 1
Jingjing: Mark, have you heard about the new cellular meat?
京晶: 马克，你听说过最新研制的细胞肉吗?
Mark: Huh? Is that some kind of mobile phone?
马克: 什么? 那是某种新手机吗?
Jingjing: No, it's a technology used to grow meat we can eat, without having to get it from animals.
京晶: 不，这是一项培育出食用肉的新技术，无需再吃动物肉了。
Mark: Oh yeah, I have heard about that. Food scientists are pretty close to a breakthrough, right?
马克: 哦，对，我听说过。食品学家已经快要取得突破性进展了，对吧?
Jingjing: I don't know if it's anywhere near ready to be put on the market. But I saw a video made by a company announcing that they've grown pieces of beef steak.
京晶: 我不知道这项技术是否已经成熟到可以即将投入市场了。但是我看过一个公司制作的视频，宣布他们已经培育出了人造牛排。
Mark: I'm not clear, is that synthetic meat or was it really grown from natural cells?
马克: 我不太明白，它是人造合成肉还是天然细胞培育出来的?
Jingjing: It was grown from natural cells.
京晶: 是用天然细胞培育出来的。
Mark: That's pretty cool! In a few years, I might not have to feel guilty about all the animals being killed for my diet.
马克: 那太酷了! 也许再过几年，我就不必为那些被屠宰而成为我盘中餐的动物们感到内疚了。
Jingjing: Right, a lot of people go vegetarian, or even vegan, to avoid all the cruelty involved in the meat industry.
京晶: 对，很多人都因为抵抗制肉行业的残酷而坚持素食主义甚至是纯素食主义。
Mark: I respect that. But what about leather wallets and shoes?
马克: 我很敬佩这种做法。但是我们使用的皮夹和皮鞋怎么避免呢?
Jingjing: Hmm, it's hard to keep animal products out of our lives. But I read somewhere that 60% of the biomass of mammals is livestock.
京晶:嗯…确实很难把动物产品完全从我们的生活里隔绝出去。但是我读到过, 60% 生物体量的哺乳动物都是家畜。
Mark: We could definitely reduce that by eating less meat. This cellular meat might be a great alternative.
马克:我们绝对可以通过少吃动物肉来减少这个体量。这种新的细胞肉可能是一个很好的替代品。
Jingjing: Right. Instead of having to feed an animal with three to five times its weight in vegetables and grain and finally get meat, we could grow the meat in a lab.
京晶: 没错。我们可以在实验室里培育肉，而不是通过用动物体重三到五倍的蔬菜和谷物来喂养它们，最终获得肉。
Mark: Let's hope the day comes soon.
马克:希望这一天快点到来。
Jingjing: Yeah, I'll be following this issue in the news.
京晶:是啊，我会持续关注这项技术的进展的。
New words : 习语短语
breakthrough 重大突破
a new discovery or way of making or selling something, a new accomplishment that can now be repeated
put (sth) on the market 首次进入市场
sell something to the public for the first time
synthetic 人造的，人工合成物
made from chemicals rather than natural materials
vegetarian 素食者（不吃动物肉）
a person who doesn't eat any meat
vegan 纯素食者（不吃任何动物制品，包括蛋奶）
a person who doesn't eat any animal products (including milk and eggs)
livestock 家畜
animals kept on farms
Dialogue 2
Jingjing: Mark, what do you think about the food of the future?
京晶: 马克，你觉得“未来食物”怎么样?
Mark: Thanks for sending me the link to that video. They tried to make cellular meat look quite luxurious. But I think it's more likely to replace baloney than filet mignon.
马克: 谢谢你发给我的那个视频链接。他们试图让细胞肉看起来很高级，但我认为它更有可能取代熏肉，而不是菲力牛排。
Jingjing: That might be. But what if it tastes better than meat that comes from living animals?
京晶: 可能吧。但如果它们吃起来的味道来比来自动物的肉更好呢?
Mark: Whatever tastes good, I'll eat—especially if there's no killing involved.
马克: 只要好吃，我都会吃——尤其是能避免杀害动物的话。
Jingjing: Haha. Do you consider yourself to be a conscientious consumer?
京晶: 哈哈。你认为自己是一个有良心的消费者吗?
Mark: I'd like to think so. I try not to waste much, and buy only the things I need—and the same goes for food.
马克: 我觉得我是。我尽量做到不浪费，只消费我需要的东西——对于食物也是如此。
Jingjing: Right. I've eaten with you enough times to know you don't leave much on your plate.
京晶: 嗯。我和你一起吃过很多次饭，知道你不怎么剩饭。
Mark: It's good to know what impacts your food choices have on the environment. That's why I don't eat much beef.
马克: 知道你的食物选择会对环境产生什么影响，这样很好。这就是我为什么不怎么吃牛肉的原因。
Jingjing: What's wrong with beef? I thought Americans liked it best.
京晶: 牛肉怎么了?
我还以为美国人最喜欢吃牛肉了。
Mark: I like it plenty, and can't pass up a burger once in a while. But, you know, it takes a lot more water to produce a kilogram of beef than it does to produce the same amount of pork or chicken. Also, the beef industry puts out a huge amount of greenhouse gas.
马克: 我是很喜欢吃，而且每隔一阵儿也会抵挡不住诱惑吃个汉堡。但是，你知道么，生产一公斤牛肉需要的水比生产同等重量的猪肉或鸡肉多得多。此外，生产牛肉还会排放大量的温室气体。
Jingjing: Oh, yeah. I was reading about that. Another surprised me: fish farming is also a huge producer of greenhouse gas.
京晶: 噢对，是这么回事，我读到过。还有一件事也令我格外吃惊: 养鱼业也是温室气体的一个巨大来源。
Mark: Really? How does that happen?
马克: 真的吗? 这是为什么?
Jingjing: Well, the fish are all close together in small ponds. Near the bottom of each pond, there's a lot of waste, and very little oxygen. Then gases like methane rise to the air.
京晶: 由于小池塘里的鱼都紧密地聚集在一起，每个池塘的底部就会残留很多排泄物，但氧气很少。这样就会产生像甲烷这样的气体，上升到空气中。
Mark: Well, let's hope, in the future, most meat can be grown in labs, and that farm land can be used for wild animals.
马克: 嗯，让我们希望，未来大多数肉可以在实验室里被培育出来，而农场的土地就可以留给野生动物了。
Jingjing: Yeah. I'd give up today's meat to have something from the wild once in a while.
京晶: 是的。我宁愿放弃现在吃的肉，偶尔来点野味。
Mark: Same here.
马克: 我也一样。
New words : 习语短语
conscientious consumer 对环境负有责任感和良知的消费者
a person who buys only the things that are less harmful to the world
pass up 错过做某事的机会
miss the chance to have
greenhouse gas 温室效应气体 如二氧化碳，甲烷等 CO2,
methane, and other gases that contribute to global warming (aka the greenhouse effect) |