美国有线新闻 CNN 因冠状病毒在美国流行 美国民众开始抢购卫生纸

As coronavirus spreads, people across the country are stocking up on essentials — and one essential in particular, toilet paper. It’s sold out in stores across the world and has become the ultimate symbol of panic-buying. There was even a toilet paper robbery in Hong Kong.

There are consumer fears of toilet paper running out grounded in reality? Not really. Let's start at the beginning. Toilet paper is made mostly from tree pulp¹ sourced from the U.S. and Canada. The pulp is turned into large rolls of paper called parent rolls, which in turn are used to make a variety of paper products.

For paper manufacturers who run on fixed² capacity, it's hard to increase production quickly. One thing they can do is to switch from making a less in demand product like paper towels to more toilet paper. But most people are not using toilet paper any more than normal. The average American uses between half a roll to just over one roll a week. Let's assume that demand normally remains³ constant throughout the year. That means people are stockpiling.

And when the panic-buying stops sales could fall as people go through their stashes⁴. Many industries like electronics and pharmaceuticals⁵ have complicated global supply chains facing issues with materials, production and shipping⁶ because of the coronavirus. The toilet paper industry with its comparatively simple supply chain, should be able to weather the virus more than most.

1 pulp   

n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆

参考例句：

• The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
• The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 stashes   

n.隐藏处( stash的名词复数 )v.贮藏( stash的第三人称单数 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• The squirrel stashes away nuts for winter. 松鼠贮藏胡桃以备过冬。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The giving up love, after stashes the love again, how always? 放弃爱，呜咽后再拥有爱，多么总？ 来自互联网

5 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。