Neil: and I'm Neil. Hello.

我是尼爾。你好，我是尼爾

Alice: Hello, Neil. Have you been shopping?

你好，尼爾。你去購物了嗎？

Neil: Yes, I went a bit mad with my credit card actually.

尼爾：是的，其實我的信用卡有點瘋狂。

Alice: Gosh, I can see that! But look at all those plastic bags. Why don't you use your own bags?

愛麗絲。天哪，我可以看到這一點！但看看那些塑膠袋。你為什麼不用自己的袋子？

Neil: You know what, I'm going to. Because they're now charging 5p per bag!

你知道嗎，我'要。因為他們現在每袋收5便士!

Alice: Don't you follow the news, Neil? It's a recent government initiative

愛麗絲你不看新聞嗎，尼爾？It's a recent government initiative

which means a new plan for dealing with something.

這意味著一個新的計劃處理的東西。

In this case, to cut the number of thin plastic bags being given away in shops.

在這種情況下，為了減少商店裡贈送的薄塑膠袋的數量。

And the environmental impact of plastic is the subject of today's show.

而塑膠對環境的影響是今天節目的主題'。

Neil: Is England the first country to charge for these bags, Alice?

尼爾：英國是第一個對這些袋子收費的國家嗎，愛麗絲？

Alice: No... other countries in the UK started charging a few years ago.

愛麗絲 - 不..:不... ... 其他國家在英國幾年前開始收費。

And countries around the world including Bangladesh, South Africa, China

以及孟加拉國、南非、中國等世界各國。

and Italy have actually banned them altogether.

和意大利實際上已經完全禁止了它們。

Neil: Interesting. But I don't throw my bags away, Alice.

尼爾：有意思。但我不會把我的包扔掉，愛麗絲。

I put them under the kitchen sink.

我把它們放在廚房水槽下面。

Alice: Are you a hoarder, Neil? That means someone who collects large amounts of stuff

愛麗絲你是一個囤積者，尼爾？這意味著有人誰收集大量的東西。

and can't throw things away.

而不能把東西扔掉。

Neil: Maybe I am... But seriously, with the 5p charge I'm definitely going to recycle my plastic bags.

尼爾：也許我是...但說真的，有了5p的收費，我肯定會回收我的塑膠袋。

Alice: Good. Now let me ask you today's quiz question, Neil:

愛麗絲很好，現在讓我問你今天的測驗題，尼爾：現在讓我問你今天的測驗題，尼爾。

How many tonnes of plastic rubbish from the UK is being sent to China each year for recycling?

英國每年有多少噸塑膠垃圾被送往中國回收？

Is it: a) 20,000? b) 200,000? or c) 2,000,000?

是：a)2萬? b)20萬? 還是c)200萬?

Neil: Well I think it's ... a) 20,000.

尼爾：嗯，我想是'的......a)2萬。

Alice: We'll find out if you're right or wrong later on.

愛麗絲。我們稍後就會知道你是對是錯。

But first, why are plastic bags bad for the environment?

但首先，為什麼塑膠袋對環境有害？

Neil: Because they're too thin?

尼爾：因為他們&#39；太瘦了？

And when they break all your shopping falls out? That must be it.

當他們打破你所有的購物掉出來？一定是這樣的

Alice: No. They take hundreds of years to decompose

愛麗絲 - 不不，他們需要幾百年的時間來分解。

or break down by natural chemical processes.

或通過自然化學過程分解。

And also people don't dispose of them properly.

而且人們也沒有正確處理它們。

They litter our streets. They clog ─ or block ─ drains and sewers.

它們在我們的街道上亂扔垃圾。他們堵塞 - 或阻塞 - 排水溝和下水道。

They spoil the countryside and damage wildlife.

它們破壞了鄉村，破壞了野生動物。

Neil: Well that's quite a list. So what's the solution then, Alice?

好吧，這是一個相當大的清單。那麼有什麼解決辦法呢 愛麗絲? So what's the solution then, Alice?

Alice: Well to either recycle or stop using plastic bags.

愛麗絲。好了，要麼回收 或停止使用塑膠袋。

But let's hear about the pharmaceutical company with another idea.

但是，讓我們聽聽製藥公司的另一個想法。

This is BBC reporter John Maguire.

我是BBC記者約翰-馬奎爾。

John Maguire: At this company laboratory in North London they're testing how bags made

約翰-馬奎爾。在倫敦北部的這家公司的實驗室裡，他們正在測試袋子是如何製造的。

with a special additive break down when exposed to sunlight, oxygen and heat.

含有特殊的添加劑，當暴露在陽光、氧氣和熱量下時，就會分解。

The technology was discovered by a British scientist in the 1970s

該技術是由英國科學家在上世紀70年代發現的。

and is now sold to around half the world's countries.

並且現在銷往世界上大約一半的國家'。

In some, biodegradable bags are backed by law.

在一些地方，生物降解袋是有法律支持的。

Neil: And biodegradable means able to break down naturally in a way

可生物降解是指能夠自然分解的方式

that isn't harmful to the environment.

是不對環境有害的。

Alice: So adding small amounts of a chemical to the plastic

愛麗絲是以，添加少量的化學 塑膠。

a special additive ─ allows the plastic to break down in the open air.

But if the technology was discovered back in the 1970s,

但如果這項技術早在上世紀70年代就被發現。

why aren't these biodegradable bags being used in every country by now?

為什麼現在這些可降解的袋子還沒有在每個國家使用呢？

Neil: I have no idea, Alice. Maybe they aren't as strong as non-biodegradable bags.

尼爾：我不知道，愛麗絲。也許它們不像非生物降解袋那樣堅固。

I like a good strong bag, myself, you see.

我自己也喜歡強壯的包，你看。

Alice: Alright. Well, just go and buy yourself some canvas bags, Neil!

愛麗絲好吧。好吧，只是去給自己買一些帆布袋，尼爾！

In fact, I'll get you some for your birthday.

事實上，我會在你生日的時候給你買一些。

Neil: Thank you.

尼爾：謝謝你。

Alice: You're very welcome. Now, moving on.

愛麗絲你'非常歡迎。現在，繼續前進。

Out of around 300 million tons of plastic produced every year,

在每年生產的約3億噸塑膠中。

some goes in landfill ─ a place where our rubbish is buried under the earth

有些人被送往堆填區 - 我們的垃圾被埋在地底的地方。

but about 10% of plastic ends up in the sea.

但約有10%的塑膠最終會流入大海。

Let's listen to Biologist Dr Pennie Lindeque from Plymouth Marine Laboratory talking about this.

讓我們來聽聽來自普利茅斯海洋實驗室的生物學家Pennie Lindeque博士談論這個問題。

Dr Pennie Lindeque: We're already finding that there's a lot of microplastics in the sea

Pennie Lindeque博士。我們已經發現海里有很多微塑膠

and that some of these microplastics are actually being ingested by the zooplankton

而其中一些微塑膠實際上被浮游動物所攝取。

that live there. We're also concerned this could end up being passed up through the food

，住在那裡。我們也擔心這可能最終會通過食物的傳遞。

chain to food which is destined for human consumption so it could end up on your or my plate.

鏈到食物，而這些食物是供人食用的，所以它可能會出現在你或我的盤子裡。

Neil: What are microplastics, Alice?

什麼是微塑膠，愛麗絲？

Alice: They're small plastic fragments less than 5mm in size.

愛麗絲他們'是小於5毫米大小的小塑膠碎片。

You find them in cosmetic products such as facial scrubs, shower gel, and toothpaste.

你可以在磨砂膏、沐浴露和牙膏等化妝品中找到它們。

Neil: And I'm guessing that ingested means 'eaten'?

尼爾：而我'猜測攝取的意思是'吃了'？

Alice: Yes, the zooplankton ─ tiny little animals in the sea

愛麗絲是的，浮游生物 - 海里的小動物。

mistake the microplastics for food and eat them.

誤以為微塑膠是食物，吃了它們。

And because the zooplankton and humans are in the same food chain

因為浮游生物和人類處於同一食物鏈中。

they're at the bottom and we're at the top... but we're still connected

他們在底層，我們在頂層... 但我們仍有聯繫。

we may end up eating them and the microplastics inside them!

我們最終可能會吃掉它們和它們裡面的微塑膠!

Neil: That doesn't sound very tasty!

尼爾：這聽起來不是很好吃!

Now a food chain, by the way, refers to a series of living things

順便說一下，現在的食物鏈，指的是一系列的生命體。

where each creature feeds on the one below it in the chain.

其中，每個生物都在鏈上以它下面的一個生物為食。

Alice: Indeed. OK. Remember my question from earlier? I asked:

愛麗絲：確實如此。好的。還記得我剛才的問題嗎？我問道。

How many tonnes of plastic rubbish from the UK is being sent to China each year for recycling?

英國每年有多少噸塑膠垃圾被送往中國回收？

Is it... a) 20,000? b) 200,000? or c) 2,000,000?

是a)2萬? b)20萬? 還是c)200萬?

Neil: And I said a) 20,000.

尼爾：我說了a)2萬。

Alice: Yes but you're wrong, I'm afraid. The answer is b) 200,000 tonnes.

愛麗絲。是的，但你恐怕錯了，我'。答案是b）20萬噸。

And that statistic comes from the University of Cambridge in the UK.

而這個數據來自英國劍橋大學。

Neil: That's a load of rubbish! Get it ─ load of rubbish?

那是一堆垃圾！明白嗎？明白了嗎 - 一堆垃圾？

Alice: Very good.

愛麗絲非常好。

Neil: Can we hear today's words again please?

尼爾：請再給我們聽一遍今天'的話好嗎？

Alice: We certainly can. Here they are:

愛麗絲，我們當然可以我們當然可以。他們在這裡。

initiative

舉措

hoarder

囤積者

decompose

分解

clog

堵塞

biodegradable

可生物降解

additive

添加劑

landfill

填埋

microplastics

微塑膠

ingested

攝入的

zooplankton

浮游動物

food chain

食物鏈

Neil: Well, that brings us to the end of this 6 Minute English.

尼爾：好了，本次6分鐘英語就到此結束了。

We hope you enjoyed today's environmentally-friendly programme.

希望大家喜歡今天的環保節目。

Please do join us again soon.

請務必儘快加入我們。

Both: Bye.

都：再見。