集裝箱是一種用于存儲和運輸貨物的大型金屬容器。它容積巨大，方便長途運輸大批貨物，讓人們有機會接觸到來自世界各地的商品，對貿(mào)易全球化做出了貢獻。本文介紹集裝箱的奇妙之處。

詞匯：shipping 海運

Look at many of the items around your home and some will probably have been?

imported

?from abroad by ship. Moving?

goods?

around the world by sea is the easiest and most?

cost-effective

?way to do it. But what has made it more practical is the invention of the shipping?

container

. They're not the most amazing thing to look at, but because of their design, and especially their?

universal

?size, it means they can be loaded and unloaded on to huge?

vessels

?at any?

port

?that is big enough to accommodate them. The standardisation of these simple metal containers in the 1950s and 60s marked a turning point in?

world trade

, driving down costs and ultimately leading to?

globalisation

. 看看你家里的許多物品，有些可能是通過船運從國外進口的。通過海運在世界各地運輸貨物是最簡單、最具成本效益的方式。但集裝箱的發(fā)明使它更加實用。它們看起來并不是最神奇的東西，但由于它們的設(shè)計，尤其是它們的通用尺寸，這意味著它們可以在任何一個足夠大的港口裝卸到巨大的船只上。上世紀五六十年代，這些簡單金屬容器的標準化標志著世界貿(mào)易的一個轉(zhuǎn)折點，降低了成本，最終導致了全球化。 Inside these?

versatile

?metal boxes could be anything from nappies to cars, and they are transported on container ships that?

ply

?our seas and oceans. They have been described as 'the monsters of the seas' because of their huge size. The very biggest are almost half a kilometre long and are piled high with more than 20,000, 20-foot-long (6.06m) boxes. In fact, the world's largest, The Port of Rotterdam, has a capacity of 24,346 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit) – an exact unit of measurement used to determine?

cargo

?capacity for container ships and?

terminals

. With around 5,500 container ships globally, it's incredible to think about the amount of goods being moved around the world. 這些多功能的金屬盒子里可以裝從尿布到汽車的任何東西，它們通過集裝箱船在我們的海洋上運輸。由于體型巨大，它們被稱為“海洋中的怪物”。最大的一個幾乎有半公里長，上面堆著超過2萬個20英尺(6.06米)長的箱子。事實上，世界上最大的鹿特丹港的容量為24,346 TEU(20英尺當量單位)，這是用于確定集裝箱船和碼頭貨物容量的精確測量單位。全球約有5500艘集裝箱船，想想在世界各地運輸?shù)呢浳飻?shù)量，真是令人難以置信。 However, because we now rely so much on these global?

shipments

?of goods, there can be problems when things go wrong. In 2021, the Ever Given, loaded with 18,000 containers, got stuck in the Suez Canal – blocking an important?

trade route

. Countless businesses were affected by the delay in receiving their goods. One shipping company, Maersk, said the "

ripple effects

?on global capacity and equipment" were significant. 然而，由于我們現(xiàn)在如此依賴這些全球貨物運輸，當事情出錯時，可能會出現(xiàn)問題。2021年，載有1.8萬個集裝箱的“Ever Given”號被困在蘇伊士運河，阻斷了一條重要的貿(mào)易路線。無數(shù)商家受到延遲收貨的影響。馬士基航運公司(Maersk)表示，“對全球產(chǎn)能和設(shè)備的連鎖反應”非常顯著。 Despite the occasional problems, our demand for goods is increasing, and so the shipping container is here to stay. George Griffiths from S&P Global Platts told the BBC: "We're seeing a lot more of the ultra-large container ships being built… the proportion of new ships that are moving over 14,000 containers is?

staggering

." Each container can have a lifespan of up to 25 years. And even when the effects of wind, waves and loading?

takes its toll

, some find?

a new lease of life

?as land-based?

storage

?units or even used as houses and hotels! 盡管偶爾會出現(xiàn)問題，但我們對貨物的需求在增加，所以集裝箱就會繼續(xù)存在下去。標準普爾全球普氏能源資訊公司的喬治·格里菲斯告訴BBC:“我們看到更多的超大型集裝箱船正在建造中……運載超過14,000個集裝箱的新船比例令人震驚?！泵總€容器的使用壽命可達25年。甚至當風、浪和負荷的影響造成損失時，一些發(fā)現(xiàn)了新的生命，作為陸地上的存儲單元，甚至被用作房屋和酒店! 詞匯表 imported 進口 goods 商品，貨物 cost-effective 劃算的 container 集裝箱 universal 通用的，廣泛適用的 vessel 船，大船 port 港口 world trade 世界貿(mào)易 globalisation 全球化 versatile 多功能的，多用途的 ply 定期往返（于） cargo （輪船或飛機裝載的）貨物 terminal 碼頭 shipment 運輸 trade route 貿(mào)易路線 ripple effect 連鎖反應 staggering 驚人的，令人震驚的 take its toll 造成破壞 a new lease of life “重獲新生”，使用壽命延長 storage 儲物，儲藏 測驗與練習

1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. What is it about the design of shipping containers that makes them so useful? 2. What can be transported inside a shipping container? 3. How long are the biggest container ships? 4. Why was it a major problem when the ship the Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal? 5. True or false??

Shipping containers are scrapped after 25 years.

2. 選擇意思恰當?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. It's not _______?to drive you to school every day – take the bus instead. cost-effect?????????cost-effective???????cost-effectives?????costly 2. We're waiting for a _______?of coffee to arrive from the supplier. shipping??????????goods?????????????shipment??????????imported 3. The closure of the factory has had a?_______ on the whole community. lease of life????????takes its toll????????ripple effect????????globalisation 4. The ship left the port yesterday with a large?_______ of timber. cargo?????????????ply???????????????storage???????????goods 5. The island has to?_______ most of its food because it hasn't got the space to grow its own. imported??????????imports????????????importing??????????import 答案

1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. What is it about the design of shipping containers that makes them so useful?

Shipping containers are made to a universal size so they can be loaded and unloaded on to huge vessels at any port that is big enough to accommodate?them.

2. What can be transported inside a shipping container?

Anything can be carried in a shipping container, from nappies to cars.

3. How long are the biggest container ships?

The very biggest are almost half a kilometre long.

4. Why was it a major problem when the ship the Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal?

The ship blocked an important trade route and meant a delay in delivering goods.

5. True or false??

Shipping containers are scrapped after 25 years.

False. Some containers find a new lease of life as land-based storage units or even used as houses and hotels.

2. 選擇意思恰當?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. It's not?

cost-effective

?to drive you to school every day – take the bus instead. 2. We're waiting for a?

shipment

?of coffee to arrive from the supplier. 3. The closure of the factory has had a?

ripple effect

?on the whole community.? 4. The ship left the port yesterday with a large?

cargo

?of timber. 5. The island has to?

import

?most of its food because it hasn't got the space to grow its own. 文章來源BBC侵權(quán)刪。