常春藤生活英语【23】生态足迹

How often do you eat meat? Do you recycle? Do you drive a car? Depending upon your answers, you may have a big or small ecological¹ footprint. An ecological what? Of course we all have footprints. We leave them in the mud or after stepping in a puddle², but the ecological footprints that we leave on the Earth are far more important.

By looking at one's ecological footprints, we can see how much a person impacts our planet Earth. The things one does, the products one uses, and how one consumes natural resources are part of that person's ecological footprint. Let's say you eat meat and a lot of processed food every day. You also ride a scooter to work and never recycle. These things amount to having a big ecological footprint. On the contrary, a vegetarian³ who rides a bike everywhere and recycles everything would have a much smaller ecological footprint. In other words, this person's life doesn't hurt the environment as much as your own. Now, what do you do if you have a big footprint?

您多常吃肉？您会做资源回收吗？您是否开车？根据您的答案，您的生态足迹可能或大或小。生态什么？我们当然都有脚印。我们在泥泞中、或是踏过水坑后，都会留下印子，但我们在地球上所留下的生态足迹可是重要得多。

藉由观察一个人的生态足迹，我们可以检视人们对地球造成的冲击有多大。一个人所做的事，所使用的产品，以及如何消耗天然资源，都算是那个人生态足迹的一部份。假设您每天都吃肉类及许多加工食品。您还骑摩托车去上班，而且从不做资源回收。这些将累积为一个巨大的生态足迹。相反地，一个什么东西都会回收、以及到任何地方都骑脚踏车的素食主义者，所留下的生态足迹会小很多。换言之，这个人一生对环境造成的伤害会比您本身还少。假如您的脚印很大，那您现在该怎么做？

Building Your Vocabulary

1.recycle　vt. 回收
It is important that we recycle our garbage.
我们将垃圾回收是很重要的。

2.impact　vt. 对……产生影响
How will this new policy impact society?
这项新政策将会如何冲击社会？

3.consume　vt. 消耗
My old car consumes a lot of gas.
我的老爷车非常耗油。

Phrases for Learning

1.amount to + 动名词∕名词　　达到∕总计……
Jim's hard work and patience amounted to his success.
吉姆的努力和耐心造就了他的成功。

2.On the contrary, 主词 + 动词　　相反地……
I'm not planning on quitting my job. On the contrary, I'm going to work harder.
我并没有打算辞职。我反而将更努力工作。

3.In other words, 主词 + 动词　　换言之……
Zack always keeps his promises. In other words, you can count on him.
柴克总是信守承诺。换句话说，你可以仰赖他。

参考字词

1.ecological　a. 生态的

2.footprint　n. 足迹，脚印

3.puddle　n. 水坑

4.processed food　n. 加工食品

5.scooter　n. 速克达；摩托车

6.vegetarian　n. 素食主义者

Tips In Use

Let's say you eat meat and a lot of processed food every day.
（假设您每天都吃肉类及许多加工食品。）

本句中的 say 并非『说』的意思，而是表『假设（= assume [ J`sum ]）』。一般用于祈使句中，常见的句型如下：

let's/just say + that 子句　　假设……

Just say (that) our plan failed－what would we do then?
=Assuming (that) our plan failed, what would we do then?
（假使我们的计划失败，到时该怎么办？）

1 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

2 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

3 vegetarian   

n.素食者；adj.素食的

参考例句：

• She got used gradually to the vegetarian diet.她逐渐习惯吃素食。
• I didn't realize you were a vegetarian.我不知道你是个素食者。