L47-1: Too high a price?
Pollution is the price we pay for an overpopulated, over industrialized planet. When you come to think about it, there are only four ways you can deal with rubbish: dump it, burn it, turn it into something you can use again, attempt to produce less of it. We keep trying all four methods, but the sheer volume of rubbish we produce worldwide threatens to overwhelm us.
Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. The need to produce ever-increasing quantities of cheap food leads to a different kind of pollution. Industrialized farming methods produce cheap meat products: beef, pork and chicken. The use of pesticides and fertilizers produces cheap grain and vegetables. The price we pay for cheap food may be already too high: Mad Cow Disease (BSE) in cattle, salmonella in chicken and eggs, and listeria in dairy products. And if you think you'll abandon meat and become a vegetarian, you have the choice of very expensive organically-grown vegetables or a steady diet of pesticides every time you think you're eating fresh salads and vegetables, or just having an innocent glass of water! However, there is an even more insidious kind of pollution that particularly affects urban areas and invades our daily lives, and that is noise.
pollution /pəˈluːʃn/ 污染;玷污;
overpopulated /ˌoʊvərˈpɑːpjuleɪtɪd/ 人口过剩;人口过多的
over-industrialized /ˈoʊvər ɪnˈdʌstriəlaɪzd/ 过度工业化的
pay for 付出代价
method /ˈmeθəd/ 方法、办法
sheer /ʃɪr/ 纯粹的;用来强调事物的大小、程度或数量;完全的;十足的;
volume /ˈvɑːljuːm/ 体积;容积，容量;量，额;大量，
worldwide 在全世界
overwhelm /ˌoʊvərˈwelm/ 充溢，难以禁受;压倒;击败;征服;压垮;
pesticide /ˈpestɪsaɪd/ 杀虫剂
fertilizer /ˈfɜːrtəlaɪzər/ 肥料
cattle /ˈkætl/ 牛
salmonella /ˌsælməˈnelə/ 沙门氏菌;
listeria /lɪˈstɪriə/ 李斯特菌;
dairy /ˈderi/ 乳品的;牛奶的;奶制的;
abandon /əˈbændən/ 放弃、抛弃
vegetarian /ˌvedʒəˈteriən/ 素食者
organically-grown 有机种植的
steady /ˈstedi/ 稳定地;持续地;稳固地
innocent /ˈɪnəsnt/ 无辜的;清白的;无罪的;
insidious /ɪnˈsɪdiəs/ 阴险的，暗中为害的，狡诈的
urban /ˈɜːrbən/ 城市的;都市的;城镇的
invade /ɪnˈveɪd/ 入侵;侵略;侵犯;侵袭;
今天交作业晚了，困，有点划水了。明天要认真复习。
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