地球毁灭之食肉篇 Is eating meat killing our planet

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Rob …
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语节目。我是Rob。
… and hello, I’m Finn.
大家好，我是Finn。
Now Finn, there is nothing I like more than tucking into a juicy steak, munching on a hamburger or chewing on a nice piece of roast beef.
Finn，你知道吗？大快朵颐吃下一块鲜嫩多吃的牛排，咬满满一大口汉堡，抑或细细品尝一块恰到好处的牛肉，这些简直是我的最爱没有之一。
It does sound good, doesn’t it? But meat eaters, like us, might need to think again about the amount we eat.
哇，听着好馋。不过，肉食者，比如咱俩，其实应该节制吃肉的总量了。
That’s right because in the programme today we’re discussing how eating meat can add to the problem of greenhouse gas.
今天的节目，就是关于吃肉与温室气体增加关系的讨论。
Greenhouse gas is a type of gas that stops heat escaping from the atmosphere and causes a greenhouse effect –it warms up our planet – and that leads to climate change.
温室气体，能够阻止热量散发到大气外，从而导致温室效应。而正是温室效应使我们的地球保持温暖并四季更替。
Yes, that’s it’s not a good thing. We have heard in the past about greenhouse gas being caused by pollution from factories…
是的，但温室效应并不完全都是好事。过去，我们常常讨论工业废气带来的温室效应，
… and from using containers of things like paint or perfume, which is kept under high pressure so that it can be sprayed – we call these aerosols.
或者讨论来自于气溶胶，即高压下会喷洒的油漆罐或者香水罐引发的温室效应。
But according to a recent report, the production of meat is also adding to the problem. We’ll talk more about this soon and looking at some related vocabulary, but not before we’ve set today’s question. Are you ready, Finn?
然而通过近些年的研究，温室问题的加重与肉类生产有极大关联。今天我们就来探探究竟，同时学习一些相关词汇。首先来看看今天的问题吧。Finn，你准备好了么？
Ready and waiting, Rob.
时刻准备着！
According to a study in America, how many tonnes of beef is produced globally every year?a) 59 million tonnesb) 69 million tonnesc) 79 million tonnes
根据美国一项研究，全球每年的牛肉总产量是多少？a）5900万吨b）6900万吨c） 7900万吨
Let’s go supersize and say 79 million tonnes.
选个最大的吧，7900万吨。
I’ll let you know the answer at the end of the programme.Let’s continue our discussion about the link between meat and greenhouse gases.
答案将在节目最后揭晓。现在继续刚才的话题，温室气体与肉类食品究竟有什么关系？
Research from Cambridge and Aberdeen universities estimates greenhouse gases from food production will go up 80% if meat and dairy consumption continues to rise at its current rate. ’Consumption’ here means the process of eating food.
来自剑桥大学和阿伯丁大学的一项研究表明，如果肉类和奶制品消费继续以目前的速度增长，来自于食物生产的温室气体将会上涨到总量的80%。Consumption这里指的是人们消费食物的过程。
So more and more of us are eating meat – there is a surge. Let’s find out exactly why from BBC Environment Analyst, Roger Harrabin. See if you can hear why meat production is causing the problem …
我们的食肉量会越来越多，吃肉成为了一股浪潮。来听听环境分析师 Roger Harrabin怎么说吧。试试看你能不能听懂为何肉类生产会引发环境问题。
【BBC Environment Analyst, Roger Harrabin】The surge in meat eating will drive more deforestation as farmers seek increasing amounts of land, the study says.Cutting forests releases greenhouse gases from the wood and the soil, and fertilisers create greenhouse gases too.The report says under current trends, agriculture alone will cause the world to bust its targets for reducing the risk of dangerous climate change.
【环境分析师 Roger Harrabin】研究表明，食肉量的增加会导致农民扩大养殖面积而砍伐森林。森林砍伐使得树木和土地释放温室气体，并且在肥料作用下会加剧效果。报告还表明，如果按照目前的趋势继续下去，仅需农业这一项，人类气候变化控制的警戒线将被打破。
So eating more meat means farmers need more land to keep their animals on. And to get more land, they need to cut down trees – which is called deforestation.
所以，吃的肉越多，农民需要用来的养殖的土地越多，土地不够就只能去砍伐森林，这里使用的单词是deforestation。
It’s deforestation – cutting down forests – that causes greenhouse gases from wood and soil to be released. And there’s another reason too – the use of fertilisers.
砍伐森林会导致土壤和植物释放温室气体。雪上加霜的是，使用肥料会加剧温室气体的排放。
These are natural or chemical substances added to the soil to help plants grow. Like these plants, used to feed the animals.
肥料就是指用来帮助植物生长而添加到土壤中的自然或者化学物质。同时，喂养动物需要植物饲料。
And another problem is that more of the fields used for growing crops that we eat, like wheat, are being used to grow food to feed the animals that we later eat!
这就引发了问题，越来越多的原本用于种植粮食，比如说小麦的土地，现在用来种植植物饲料。而饲料喂养动物，动物最后上了我们的餐桌。
Research has also found beef cattle need 28 times more land than pork, poultry or dairy farming.
除此之外，研究表明养殖肉牛所需的土地，是养殖猪、家禽或奶牛的28倍。
So it’s a big problem, but many of us have an appetite – a need or interest – for meat, especially for carnivores. Carnivores are really animals that just eat meat but we refer to humans as carnivores too sometimes because they just love meat. Something else is tempting us too.
看来是个大问题，但是咱们大多数人还是爱吃肉，特别是“肉食动物”。肉食动物原指以肉食为生的动物，现在用来代指喜欢吃肉的人群。还有些其他的原因导致人们爱吃肉呢。
Yes, something is encouraging us to eat more. See if you can hear what it is in the next part of Roger Harribin’s report…
是啊，其实人们爱吃肉也是受到一些事物的激励。来听听Roger Harribin的报告，试试能不能听出来答案。
【BBC Environment Analyst, Roger Harrabin】The real challenge is the public’s appetite. There’s a burger restaurant boom in major cities. People are voting with their bellies and it’s not normally mushroom burgers they’re after!
【环境分析师 Roger Harrabin】真正的难题是大众的饮食偏好，在一些主要城市中，汉堡店数量激增风靡街头。人们听从了胃的建议去汉堡店吃肉，基本没人点蘑菇汉堡这样的素食汉堡。
Some interesting language there. He described the increase in burger restaurants as a ’boom’ – so a major increase.And he said people are voting with their bellies …
这个描述很有趣，他用boom描述汉堡店数量激增，boom词意是大幅提高。而且他说人们voting with their bellies，
A nice phrase – he means, people are showing they like burger restaurants by going to them and eating more.
用词很妙，他的意思是人们听从喜好常去汉堡店大快朵颐，
And they’re not buying burgers made of vegetables or things like mushroom burgers –they’re buying and eating meat, like beef burgers.
并且从来不点蔬菜汉堡蘑菇汉堡这样的素食汉堡，只点肉类汉堡，比如牛肉汉堡之类的。
So, with meat consumption predicted to double in the next 40 years as people globally get wealthier, it’s a problem that’s not going to go away.
因此，如果全球人们都更加富有，根据预测，未来40年后人类的肉类食品总量将翻一番。这个问题不容忽视。
A bit like today’s question – today’s question was,according to a scientific study in America, how many tonnes of beef is produced globally every year?
这有点像今天的问题，根据美国一项研究，全球每年的牛肉总产量是多少？
I said c) 79 million tonnes.
我选了C，7900万吨.
That’s a lot to eat but you are wrong. The answer is 59 million tonnes. This is according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It also found cattle are the biggest source of greenhouse gases, accounting for more than three-quarters of all gases made by farming livestock around the world. Well, that brings us to the end of today’s 6 Minute English. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s programme. Please join us again soon. Bye.
总量确实很多，不过你选错了，正确答案是A.5900万吨。这项数据来自美国国家科学院学报。研究表明，肉牛是释放温室气体最多的动物，在养殖牲畜的排除气体总量中占到四分之三以上。今天BBC六分钟英语就到这里了。感谢您的厚爱，下次再见。
Bye.
再见