Introduction

How can I help the environment? What can I do to be more environmentally friendly? What can we do to make a difference? Sam and Neil discuss the small practical changes you can make to help the environment and teach you 6 items of useful English vocabulary in this 6 Minute English.

This week's question

Plastic has many natural variations but where was the first artificial plastic developed? Was it:

a) England

b) Germany or

c) Switzerland?

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript??

Neil

Hello. This is 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

Sam

And I'm Sam.

Neil

Now, tell me about your teeth-cleaning routine.

Sam

OK. Well, it’s pretty good, I think. I brush twice a day and change my brush every couple of months.

Neil

And what kind of brush do you use?

Sam

Nothing fancy, just a regular, cheap plastic one.

Neil

Oh dear!

Sam

What do you mean?

Neil

Well, imagine all the toothbrushes you’ve used in your life, from your first brush as a child, to the one you currently have. You do?realisethat probably they all still exist in the environment somewhere. We use them for a couple of months yet they will last for hundreds of years.

Sam

Oh dear, and I thought I was actually quite environmentally aware. But that’s quite shocking. I hadn’t thought of that.

Neil

Wellit’s just one of the problems we are facing with our use of plastics. A?marvellousinvention that has given us so much. But we are beginning to?realiseit's causing many long-lasting environmental problems. More on this topic shortly, but first, a question: Plastic has many natural variations but where was the first artificial plastic developed? Was it:

a)???England

b)???Germany or

c)???Switzerland?

What do you think, Sam?

Sam

I’m going to have a guess at Switzerland.

Neil

OK, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the?programme. Environmental issues are, of course, a big story at the moment. The topic was featured on the BBC Woman’s Hour radio?programmerecently. Madeleine Murray is from an Irish?organisationthat gives advice to businesses and communities on how to operate in an environmentally responsible way. She was asked about what she does in her daily life that other people could do too. What food items does she mention?

Madeleine Murray

My personal, like,?pet peeve?is multipacks and minipacks. I buy?in bulk?now. I buy the biggest?yoghurtI can buy. I buy big cereal boxes. I buy big shampoo bottles. We can?decant?stuff into lunch boxes and we can, you know, refill our pasta and our rice.

Neil?

So, what food does she mention, Sam?

Sam

She talked about?yoghurt, cereal, pasta?andrice.

Neil

And what was she saying about those foods?

Sam

She was saying that she buys the biggest containers for those that she can - and not just food - things like shampoo as well.

Neil

And what’s the benefit of that?

Sam

Well, she says that her?pet peeve?is small packs of things. A?pet peeve?is something that you find particularly annoying. She doesn’t like small packs because they use a lot of packaging for a small amount of product.

Neil

So she buys?in bulk. Buying?in bulk?means 'buying a lot of something'. And if you have a lot of something like rice or pasta, you can always transfer it to different smaller reusable containers. She uses the word?decant?for this. So that’s one area where we can all be a bit more environmentally friendly. Another area is reusing things that are perfectly good but which we don’t need?any more.?DrTara Shine is a colleague of Madeleine Murray and she talked about how new parents often buy a lot of new things for their babies, which they then throw away when the child gets too big or too old. She suggests that it’s better to?pass?these things?on?-to give them to other people.

Dr Tara Shine

Pass?things?on. The?hand-me-down,?pass-thing-on?culture is really, really important in the world of kids and there are lots of things that can be passed down, whether it’s toys or the equipment, or the high chair, whatever it is, all of that can be?passed on?and that’s really important. It’s saving someone else money. Most of these things are?in good nick?when we need to?pass?them?on.

Neil

She used another expression for?passing?things?on, didn’t she?

Sam

Yes, she talked about the?hand-me-down?culture. When I was growing up, I had a lot of?hand-me-downs. These were toys and clothes from my older cousins, which saved us a lot of money and they were then passed on to someone else.

Neil

And the thing is children grow up quickly so often everything is in good condition.

Sam

DrShine used an interesting expression for that, didn’t she? She said most of these things are?in good nick. That expression means 'in good condition'.

Neil?

Now, before we recycle today’s vocabulary …

Sam

Oh, very good, I see what you did there!

Neil

It’s time for the answer to today’s question. Where was the first artificial plastic developed? Was it:

a)???England

b)???Germany or

c)???Switzerland?

What did you think, Sam?

Sam

I guessed Switzerland.

Neil

Well, I'm afraid, you are wrong. The correct answer is actually, England. Well done if you got that right. Extra bonus points if you knew that in 1856 Alexander Parkes patented Parkesine, the first artificial plastic. Now, let’s recap today’s words and expressions.

Sam

Yes, a?pet peeve?is something that someone finds particularly annoying.

Neil

Buying?in bulk?means 'buying many of the same things or a large quantity of something'. Buying?in bulk?is usually cheaper and can be better environmentally.

Sam

And if you have a lot of something, you can?decant?it to smaller containers, that is, you can transfer it to those other containers to make it easier to use. For?example:I buy huge bottles of liquid soap and decant it into smaller dispensers for the kitchen and bathrooms.

Neil

You can?pass on?clothes, toys and other kids' stuff to family and friends. This means 'giving them to other people to use'. And those things can be described as?hand-me-downs.

Sam

But of course you’d only want to pass on things in?good nick, that is, 'in good condition'.

Neil

Right, that's all we have time for. We hope you will join us again soon, though. And you can always find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, online and on our app. We are?BBC?Learning English. See you soon. Good-bye!

Sam?

Bye!

Vocabulary

a pet peeve

something someone finds particularly annoying or frustrating

(buying)?in bulk

buying many or a large quantity of something

decant

to?transfer from an original container to a different one

to pass on

to give something to someone

a hand-me-down

a possession or item of clothing that is not new but has come from someone who no longer needs it or has outgrown it

in good nick

in good condition

雙語版Transcript

Hello. This is6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

大家好，這里是六分鐘英語，我是尼爾。

And I'm Sam.

我是薩姆。

Now, tell meabout your teeth-cleaning routine.

現(xiàn)在告訴我你的牙齒清潔習慣吧。

OK. Well, it'spretty good, I think.

好的。嗯，我覺得還不錯。

I brush twice aday and change my brush every couple of months.

我每天刷牙兩次，每兩三個月?lián)Q一次牙刷。

And what kindof brush do you use?

你用哪種牙刷？

Nothing fancy,just a regular, cheap plastic one.

沒什么特別的，就是一個普通的，便宜的塑料牙刷。

Oh dear!

天哪！

What do youmean?

什么意思？

Well, imagineall the toothbrushes you've used in your life, from your first brush as achild, to the one you currently have.

好吧，想象一下你一生中用過的所有牙刷，從孩提時代的第一把牙刷到現(xiàn)在用的這把。

You do realisethat probably they all still exist in the environment somewhere.

你確實會意識到它們可能還都存在于某個環(huán)境中。

We use them fora couple of months yet they will last for hundreds of years.

它們被我們使用了幾個月，但將會存留數(shù)百年。

Oh dear, and Ithought I was actually quite environmentally aware.

哦，天哪，我還以為我真的很環(huán)保呢。

But that'squite shocking.

那相當令人震驚啊。

I hadn'tthought of that.

我沒想過那方面。

Well it's justone of the problems we are facing with our use of plastics.

好吧，這只是我們使用塑料所面臨的問題之一。

A marvellousinvention that has given us so much.

這個了不起的發(fā)明讓我們收獲頗多。

But we arebeginning to realise it's causing many long-lasting environmental problems.

但我們開始意識到，它正在造成許多長期性環(huán)境問題。

More on thistopic shortly, but first, a question.

馬上會對這個話題進行更多討論，但首先有一個問題。

Plastic hasmany natural variations but where was the first artificial plastic developed?

塑料有很多自然變化，但第一種人造塑料是在哪里制成的？

Was it: a)England, b) Germany or c) Switzerland?

是a)英格蘭，b)德國還是c)瑞士？

What do youthink, Sam?

你覺得呢，薩姆？

I'm going tohave a guess at Switzerland.

我猜是瑞士。

OK, we'll findout if you're right at the end of the programme.

好的，我們將在節(jié)目最后揭曉你是否回答正確。

Environmentalissues are, of course, a big story at the moment.

當然，目前環(huán)境問題是一個大問題。

The topic wasfeatured on the BBC Woman's Hour radio programme recently.

這一話題最近在BBC《女性時間》節(jié)目中被提及。

MadeleineMurray is from an Irish organisation that gives advice to businesses andcommunities on how to operate in an environmentally responsible way.

瑪?shù)铝铡つ飦碜砸粋€愛爾蘭組織，該組織為企業(yè)和社區(qū)提供建議：如何以一種對環(huán)境負責任的方式運營？

She was askedabout what she does in her daily life that other people could do too.

她被問及她在日常生活中做了哪些其他人也能做的事情。

What food itemsdoes she mention?

她提到了什么食物？

My personal,like, pet peeve is multipacks and minipacks.

我個人覺得惱人的就是多包裝和迷你包裝。

I buy in bulknow. I buy the biggest yoghurt I can buy. I buy big cereal boxes. I buy bigshampoo bottles.

我現(xiàn)在是大量購買東西。我買我能買到的最大包裝的酸奶。我買大盒的麥片。我買大瓶洗發(fā)水。

We can decantstuff into lunch boxes and we can, you know, refill our pasta and our rice.

我們可以把東西倒進便當盒里，你知道，我們可以用意大利面和大米把它再裝滿。

So, what fooddoes she mention, Sam?

所以她提到了什么食物，薩姆？

She talkedabout yoghurt, cereal, pasta and rice.

她談到了酸奶、麥片、意大利面和大米。

And what wasshe saying about those foods?

關(guān)于那些食物她說了什么？

She was sayingthat she buys the biggest containers for those that she can - and not just food- things like shampoo as well.

她說那些東西她會買她能買到的最大包裝，不僅僅是食物，像洗發(fā)水也是。

And what's thebenefit of that?

那樣做有什么好處？

Well, she saysthat her pet peeve is small packs of things.

好吧，她說她覺得惱人的東西的是小包裝產(chǎn)品。

A pet peeve issomething that you find particularly annoying.

惱人的事物是指你覺得特別討厭的事物。

She doesn'tlike small packs because they use a lot of packaging for a small amount ofproduct.

她不喜歡小包裝，因為他們用大量包裝材料包裝少量的產(chǎn)品。

So she buys inbulk.

所以她大量購買東西。

Buying in bulkmeans 'buying a lot of something'.

大量購買指的是"買很多東西"。

And if you havea lot of something like rice or pasta, you can always transfer it to differentsmaller reusable containers.

如果你有很多像大米或意大利面之類的東西，你可以把它們轉(zhuǎn)移到不同的可重復(fù)使用的小容器中。

She uses theword decant for this.

她用了"decant"這個單詞。

So that's onearea where we can all be a bit more environmentally friendly.

所以那是一個我們都可以更加環(huán)保的領(lǐng)域。

Another area isreusing things that are perfectly good but which we don't need any more.

另一個領(lǐng)域是重復(fù)使用那些非常好但是我們不再需要的東西。

Dr Tara Shineis a colleague of Madeleine Murray,?and she talked about how new parentsoften buy a lot of new things for their babies, which they then throw away whenthe child gets too big or too old.

塔拉·希恩博士是馬德琳·默里的同事，她談到了新手父母經(jīng)常給孩子買很多新東西，孩子長大后，他們就會扔掉那些東西。

She suggeststhat it's better to pass these things on - to give them to other people.

她建議最好把這些東西轉(zhuǎn)送給別人——把它們給其他人。

Pass things on.

轉(zhuǎn)送東西。

Thehand-me-down, pass-thing-on culture is really, really important in the world ofkids,?and there are lots of things that can be passed down,?whetherit's toys or the equipment, or the high chair, whatever it is, all of that canbe passed on and that's really important.

在孩子們的世界里，用別人用過的東西，轉(zhuǎn)送東西的這種文化真的真的很重要，有很多東西可以轉(zhuǎn)送，不管是玩具、器材，還是高腳椅，不管是什么，所有這些都可以轉(zhuǎn)送，這一點非常重要。

It's savingsomeone else money. Most of these things are in good nick when we need to passthem on.

這是在為別人省錢。當我們需要把這些東西轉(zhuǎn)送給別人的時候，這些東西中的大多數(shù)都是狀況良好的。

She usedanother expression for passing things on, didn't she?

她用另一個說法來表達轉(zhuǎn)送東西，不是嗎？

Yes, she talkedabout the hand-me-down culture.

是的，她談到了用別人用過的東西這種文化。

When I wasgrowing up, I had a lot of hand-me-downs.

在我成長的過程中，我有很多別人用過的東西。

These were toysand clothes from my older cousins, which saved us a lot of money and they werethen passed on to someone else.

這些玩具和衣服是我堂姐的，它們?yōu)槲覀兪×撕芏噱X，然后它們又被轉(zhuǎn)送給了別人。

And the thingis children grow up quickly so often everything is in good condition.

重要的是孩子們長得很快，所以通常每件東西都還很好。

Dr Shine usedan interesting expression for that, didn't she?

希恩博士對此用了一個有趣的表達方式，不是嗎？

She said mostof these things are in good nick.

她說這些東西大部分都還很好。

That expressionmeans 'in good condition'.

這個短語的意思是"狀況良好"。

Now, before werecycle today's vocabulary …?Oh, very good, I see what you did there!

在我們重復(fù)使用今天的詞匯之前……不錯哦，我明白你剛才的意思！

It's time forthe answer to today's question.

是時候揭曉今天問題的答案了。

Where was thefirst artificial plastic developed?

第一種人造塑料是在哪里制造的？

Was it: a)England, b) Germany or c) Switzerland?

是a)英格蘭，b)德國還是c)瑞士？

What did youthink, Sam?

你覺得呢，薩姆？

I guessedSwitzerland.

我猜是瑞士。

Well, I'mafraid, you are wrong.

好吧，恐怕你答錯了。

The correctanswer is actually, England.

正確答案實際上是英格蘭。

Well done ifyou got that right.

如果你答對了，那很棒啊。

Extra bonuspoints if you knew?that in 1856 Alexander Parkes patented Parkesine, the firstartificial plastic.

如果你知道1856年亞歷山大·帕克辛為第一種人造塑料"帕克辛"申請了專利，你會得到額外加分哦。

Now, let'srecap today's words and expressions.

現(xiàn)在讓我們回顧一下今天的單詞和短語。

Yes, a petpeeve is something that someone finds particularly annoying.

是的，"惱人的事物"是某人覺得特別討厭的東西。

Buying in bulkmeans 'buying many of the same things or a large quantity of something'.

大量購買的意思是"購買許多相同的東西或大量東西"。

Buying in bulkis usually cheaper and can be better environmentally.

大量購買通常更便宜，也更環(huán)保。

And if you havea lot of something, you can decant it to smaller containers, that is, you cantransfer it to those other containers to make it easier to use.

如果你有很多東西，你可以把它倒進更小的容器里，也就是說，你可以把它轉(zhuǎn)移到其它容器里，使它更易使用。

For example: Ibuy huge bottles of liquid soap and decant it into smaller dispensers for thekitchen and bathrooms.

例如：我買了一大瓶洗手液，把它倒進廚房和浴室的小瓶里。

You can pass onclothes, toys and other kids' stuff to family and friends.

你可以把衣服、玩具和其他孩子們的東西轉(zhuǎn)送給親戚和朋友。

This means'giving them to other people to use'.

這意味著"把它們給別人使用"。

And thosethings can be described as hand-me-downs.

而那些東西可以被形容為別人用過的東西。

But of courseyou'd only want to pass on things in good nick, that is, 'in good condition'.

但當然，你只希望轉(zhuǎn)送狀況還好的東西，即"狀況良好"。

Right, that'sall we have time for. We hope you will join us again soon, though.

好了，以上就是我們今天的全部內(nèi)容。不過，我們希望你能很快再次加入我們。

We are BBCLearning English.

我們是BBC教學英語。

See you soon.Good-bye!

下次見。拜！

Bye