国家地理 没有垃圾的世界可能存在吗(1)

In Amsterdam I met a man who revealed to me the hidden currents of our lives -- the massive flows of raw materials and products deployed¹, to such wonderful and damaging effect, by 7.7 billion humans. Our shared metabolism², you might say. It was a crisp fall morning, and I was sitting in a magnificent old brick pile on the Oosterpark, a palace of curved corridors and grand staircases and useless turrets³. A century ago, when the Dutch were still extracting coffee, oil, and rubber from their colony in Indonesia, this building had been erected⁴ as a colonial research institute. Now it houses assorted⁵ do-gooder organizations. The one Marc de Wit works for is called Circle Economy, and it's part of a buzzing international movement that aims to reform how we've done just about everything for the past two centuries -- since the rise of the steam engine, "if you need to pinpoint⁶ a time," de Wit said.

在阿姆斯特丹，一位受访者向我揭示了生活背后的潮流暗涌--供养77亿人口的原材料和产品的洪流，造成兼具建设奇迹与惨烈破坏的效果。这可以说是我们共享的新陈代谢。在清爽的秋季早晨，我坐在东部公园一座雄壮的古老砖块建筑里。这座宫殿拥有弧形走廊、宏伟的阶梯和闲置的塔楼。一个世纪前，当荷兰人从印度尼西亚的殖民地攫取咖啡、原油和橡胶时，它为开展殖民地研究而建。现在，这里成了各种公益组织之家。马克·德威特供职的那家叫做“环形经济”，归属于一场欣欣向荣的全球运动，致力于改革我们在过去两个世纪间几乎一切建设方式--从蒸汽机的崛起算起，“要是你需要一个具体起点的话。”德威特说。

De Wit is 39, genial⁷, bespectacled, a little disheveled, a chemist by training. He opened a pamphlet and spread out a diagram he called "an x-ray of our global economy." Unlike natural ecosystems⁸, which operate in cycles -- plants grow in soil, animals eat plants, dung replenishes⁹ soil -- the industrial economy is largely linear. On the diagram, fat, colored currents of the four types of raw material -- minerals, ores, fossil fuels, and biomass -- surged from left to right, splitting and braiding as they became products that met seven human needs. Sand went into concrete apartment towers on six continents. Metal ore became ships, cars, and also combine harvesters -- in a single year we harvested 22.2 billion tons of biomass, just to feed us all. Fossil fuels powered those vehicles, kept us warm, became plastic, became all kinds of things. The total flow into the economy in 2015 was 102.3 billion tons.

39岁的德威特为人和蔼，戴着眼镜，有点不拘小节，化学家出身。他打开一本小册子，铺陈图表，称之为“全球经济透视图”。相比于循环运转的自然生态系统--土地生长植物、植物喂养动物、畜粪给土地施肥--工业经济轨道主要是线性的。在图表上，四种原材料由宽幅彩带表示：矿物、金属、化石燃料和生物量，从左端铺向右端，在化为产品满足人类七大需求的过程中分叉、交织。沙子流入六大洲的混凝土大厦之林；金属矿石化为轮船、汽车，还有联合收割机--在一年里我们仅为吃饭就收割了222亿吨生物量；化石燃料驱动交通工具，为我们保暖，还被制成塑料，应用无限。2015年输入经济的资源总量是1023亿吨。

1 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

2 metabolism   

n.新陈代谢

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• All living matter undergoes a process of metabolism.生物都有新陈代谢。

3 turrets   

（六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车

参考例句：

• The Northampton's three turrets thundered out white smoke and pale fire. “诺思安普敦号”三座炮塔轰隆隆地冒出白烟和淡淡的火光。
• If I can get to the gun turrets, I'll have a chance. 如果我能走到炮塔那里，我就会赢得脱险的机会。

4 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

5 assorted   

adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的

参考例句：

• There's a bag of assorted sweets on the table.桌子上有一袋什锦糖果。
• He has always assorted with men of his age.他总是与和他年令相仿的人交往。

6 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

7 genial   

adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的

参考例句：

• Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
• He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友，也是友善待客的主人。

8 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

9 replenishes   

补充( replenish的第三人称单数 )； 重新装满

参考例句：

• Strengthens and replenishes to smooth fine lines. 强化补充营养，抚平眼部细纹。
• I am a frequent hand washer and this lotion replenishes the moisture balance quickly and pleasantly. 我是个经常洗手的人，这款乳液很快的补充保湿平衡，而且还很舒适。