英语新闻听写 生物学家发现降解塑料袋的方法-让毛毛虫吃了它

A developmental biologist and amateur beekeeper has come up with a new way to get rid of used plastic bags: Make waxworms eat them. The larvae¹ of the greater wax moth², these caterpillars³ thrive on beeswax.

一名发展生物学家及业余养蜂人想出了一种摆脱废旧塑料袋的新方法：让腊虫吃了它们。大蜡螟的幼虫--这些毛毛虫依靠蜂蜡成长。

It turns out the caterpillars can actually break down the bag's polyethylene into ethylene glycol, which can be readily converted into useful substances such as antifreeze. Polyethylene is very hard to break down, making the 80 tons produced a year a big recycling challenge but it seems a solution may be in reach.

事实证明这些毛毛虫能把塑料袋里的聚乙烯分解成乙二醇，这样就能将其转变成防冻剂之类的有用物质。聚乙烯很难分解，每年会生产出80吨聚乙烯，这在循环上是个难题，不过看似就要有解决方法了。

1 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

2 moth   

n.蛾，蛀虫

参考例句：

• A moth was fluttering round the lamp.有一只蛾子扑打着翅膀绕着灯飞。
• The sweater is moth-eaten.毛衣让蛀虫咬坏了。

3 caterpillars   

n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带

参考例句：

• Caterpillars eat the young leaves of this plant. 毛毛虫吃这种植物的嫩叶。
• Caterpillars change into butterflies or moths. 毛虫能变成蝴蝶或蛾子。 来自辞典例句