为什么自带餐具能够帮助解决塑料危机

　　今天郑州新东方给大家带来一篇关于环境的文章，在了解目前塑料餐具使用情况的同时，文中提到了plastic cutlery 塑料餐具、disposable utensils 一次性餐具，这些词汇可以作为阅读和写作的积累。

　　另外7月口语班，本周四要开课了！！！

Plastic cutlery is everywhere, and most of it can be used only once. Billions of forks, knives, and spoons are thrown away each year. But like other plastic items—such as bags and bottles—cutlery can take centuries to break down naturally, giving the plastic waste ample time to work its way into the environment.

　　塑料餐具随处可见，而且大多数只能使用一次。每年有数十亿的叉、刀和勺子被扔掉。但是和其他塑料制品一样，比如袋子和瓶子，餐具需要几个世纪才能自然分解，这就给了塑料垃圾充足的时间进入环境。

　　Plastic cutlery 塑料餐具

　　ample adj.丰富的

The Ocean Conservancy lists cutlery as among the items “most deadly” to sea turtles, birds, and mammals, and alternatives have proven particularly difficult to come by, though not impossible.

　　美国海洋保护协会(Ocean Conservancy)将餐具列为对海龟、鸟类和哺乳动物“最致命”的物品之一，而事实证明，其它餐具尤其难以找到，尽管并非不可能。

　　Ocean Conservancy 海洋保护协会

　　come by 找到

A logical solution is to carry your own, but you’ll likely draw a few stares. For centuries, though, it would have been a faux pasto not travel with a set.

　　一个合乎逻辑的解决方案是带上你自己的，但你可能会引来一些目光。然而，几个世纪以来，如果不带着一套服装旅行，那将是一种失礼。

　　faux pas 失礼

　　draw stares 吸引目光

Toting your own eating implements was not only a logistical must—none were usually provided—but also helped avoid illness. “If you come with your own,” explains Coffin, “you don't have to worry about someone else's germs in your soup.” What you ate with, she said, was also a statussymbol of sorts. “It was a little like a pocket watch.”

　　携带自己的进食工具不仅是后勤保障的必需品——通常不提供——而且有助于避免疾病。科芬解释说:“如果你自己来，就不用担心汤里会有别人的细菌。她说，和你一起吃的东西也是某种身份的象征。“它有点像怀表。”

　　eating implements 进食工具

　　germ n.细菌

　　status n.身份

Cutlery for the masses was commonly made of wood, stone, or shells. More ornate sets could be made of gold or ivory, or even be collapsible for traveling light. By the early 1900s sleek and rust-resistant stainless steel started to make an appearance. By World War II, an even newer material had worked its way into the cutlery mix: plastic.

　　大众餐具通常由木头、石头或贝壳制成。更华丽的套装可以用黄金或象牙制成，甚至可以折叠，便于轻装旅行。到了20世纪初，光滑且防锈的不锈钢开始出现。到第二次世界大战时，一种更新的材料进入了餐具组合:塑料。

　　collapsible adj.可折叠的

　　rust-resistant 防锈的

　　‘Disposable kings’

　　“一次性国王”

At first, plastic cutlery was considered reusable. Chris Witmore, a professor in archaeology and classics at Texas Tech University, remembers his grandmother washing her plastic tableware. But as the post-war economy boomed, the frugal habits instilled by the Great Depression and an agrarian history faded.

　　起初，塑料餐具被认为是可重复使用的。德克萨斯理工大学考古学和古典文学教授克里斯•维特莫尔(Chris Witmore)还记得祖母洗塑料餐具的情景。但随着战后经济的繁荣，大萧条(Great Depression)和农耕史所灌输的节俭习惯逐渐消失。

　　reusable adj.可重复使用的

　　archaeology n.考古学

　　plastic tableware 塑料餐具

　　post-war 战后的

　　agrarian  adj.农业的

“After the mid-twentieth century overabundance comes to define how the majority live,” says Whitmore. That, he says, gave rise to a “throw-away culture.”

　　惠特莫尔说:“在20世纪中叶之后，过剩就成为了大多数人生活方式的定义。”他说，这就产生了一种“一次性文化”。

　　overabundance n.过多

Today, the company buys 44 million disposable utensils per month in the U.S. alone. Globally, plastic cutlery is a $2.6 billion business.

　　如今，仅在美国，该公司每月就购买4400万件一次性餐具。在全球范围内，塑料餐具是一项26亿美元的业务。

　　disposable utensils 一次性餐具

But convenience has come at a cost. Like many plastic items, utensils often find their way into the environment. According to beach-cleanup data compiled bythe non-profit 5Gyres, utensils are the seventh most commonly collected plastic item.

　　但便利是有代价的。和许多塑料制品一样，餐具也常常会进入环境。根据非盈利组织5Gyres收集的海滩清理数据，餐具是第七大最常收集的塑料物品。

　　compile v.收集

　　TODAY’SPOPULAR STORIES

Cutlery is part of the broader anti-plastics backlash. In 2016, France was the first country to ban plastic dinnerware. People around the world are experimenting with alternatives to plastic that range from potato starch and areca leaves to grain-based edible cutlery.

　　餐具是更广泛的反塑料运动的一部分。2016年，法国成为第一个禁止使用塑料餐具的国家。世界各地的人们都在试验塑料的替代品，从土豆淀粉和槟榔叶到以谷物为基础的可食用餐具。

　　edible cutlery 可食用餐具

Sales of such plastic substitutes remain relatively low, often hindered by higher costs and sometimes questionable environmental benefits. So-called bioplastic options, for example, made from plant-based materials, can require specific conditions to break down, and even they take energy and water to produce. But the market for them and for other forms of biodegradable cutlery is growing.

　　这类塑料替代品的销量仍然相对较低，往往受到成本上升和有时环境效益可疑的阻碍。例如，所谓的生物塑料选择，由植物材料制成，可能需要特定的条件来分解，甚至它们需要能量和水来生产。但它们和其他形式的可生物降解餐具的市场正在增长。

　　substitute n.代替品

　　biodegradable cutlery 可生物降解的餐具

　　PLANET OR PLASTIC?地球还是塑料?

Three things you can do to be part of the solution:

　　你可以做三件事来解决这个问题:

1. Carry reusable cutlery.

　　1. 携带可重复使用的餐具。

2. If you use disposable cutlery, make sure it's made of a biodegradable or compostable material.

　　2. 如果你使用一次性餐具，确保它是由可生物降解或由可制作堆肥的材料制成。

　　compostable adj.可制作堆肥的

3. Choose to eat at establishments that don't use plastic utensils.

　　3.选择不使用塑料餐具的餐厅。

Says Chris Whitmore, the Texas Tech professor: “When plastics turn out to be everywhere and ingestedby everything, the only direction one can go is reduction."

　　德克萨斯理工大学教授克里斯•惠特莫尔(Chris Whitmore)表示:“当塑料无处不在、被所有东西吸收时，我们唯一能做的就是减少使用。”

　　Ingest v.吃、吞下

　　7月雅思口语课：

　　【4节直播课+4节思维翻译课+1节Part2 方法实践课】

　　【正课结束后继续整月更新Part3，帮助同学拓宽思维，一网打尽】

　　【课程搭配1v1语音作业批改】

　　【课程内容量和直播课互动感远大于几次方法课的网课和所有录播课】

　　业界唯一学到很晚的深夜课堂，很有学习气氛

　　课程搭配1v1语音批改

　　30天录音卡打卡监督

　　不过分浓缩话题显得套路，但高效合理扎实进步

　　课前准备：

　　每周一次公益课在微博@super雅思口语，帮大家提前梳理话题。

　　报名后即可领取雅思口语规划课

　　公众号：Super雅思口语, 公众号每日推送学习

　　课程设置：直播课+思维拓展课课+微信群补充（夯实基础！）

　　直播课话题精准100%预测为导向授课，讲什么，考什么！

　　直播课：完整预测，以关键词为导向帮助大家快速记忆，而不是提倡口语死记硬背和用繁琐复杂句子。高效，精准！

　　思维拓展：思维拓展，常见口语翻译训练。夯实基础！

　　课后练习：口语Super一对一亲自点评语音作业

　　 Part3，每月更新

  Super，亲自微信回复大家疑问，解决“助教”不知道的问题。

　　 结课后，Super,继续推送考试新题，变化直到本月考试结束。

　　 Super每期课提分率都能看到，公众号翻看历史消息，实力碾压大机构。