英媒呼吁：中国人放弃筷子用刀叉吧！

 　　It is a battle that has divided East and West for centuries: Are chopsticks superior to the knife and fork? Now the debate may finally be decided¹, on environmental grounds.

　　筷子好用还是刀叉好用？这是几个世纪以来东方和西方一直有争议的一个话题。而现在从环保角度出发，这场旷日持久的辩论似乎终于可以尘埃落定了。

　　With 1.4 billion people ploughing through 80 billion pairs of throwaway chopsticks each year, China has admitted its forests can no longer provide enough cutlery for its dinner tables.

　　每天，14亿的中国人会使用到800亿双一次性筷子，中国也承认因为本国的森林资源已经无法为人们的餐桌提供足够的筷子了。

　　"We must change our consumption habits and encourage people to carry their own tableware," said Bo Guangxin, the chairman of Jilin Forestry² Industry Group, to his fellow delegates at the National People's Congress.

　　吉林森林工业集团的董事长柏广新日前在两会期间建议：“我们应该改变消费习惯，鼓励人们出门吃饭时也自己带餐具。”

　　Pointing out that only 4,000 chopsticks can be carved from a 20-year-old tree, he even went so far as to suggest that restaurants offered metal knives and forks instead. If Mr Bo's suggestion is widely adopted, it would be a dark moment in the chopstick's 4,000-year history.

　　他指出，一颗20年树龄的树木只能生产出4000双筷子。他甚至还建议，餐馆应该直接使用金属制的刀叉代替筷子。如果柏广新的建议被广泛采用，中国4000多年的筷子历史可能就会遭遇“黑暗时刻”。

　　It was Da Yu, the founder³ of the Xia dynasty, who is said to have first used two sticks to eat his food in roughly 2100 BC.

　　筷子的起源大约在公元前2100年，夏朝的开国之君大禹据说是第一个使用两只棍子来吃饭的人。

　　It was an invention born of urgency. In his rush to reach a flood zone, Da Yu did not want to wait for his meat in his wok⁴ to cool, instead seizing a pair of twigs⁵ and wolfing down his meal.

　　筷子的诞生是因为时间紧迫，当时大禹赶着去治水，没时间等自己的食物凉下来，就直接拿起两根小细枝狼吞虎咽吃完了饭。

　　Chopsticks quickly became popular around Asia. However Chinese chopsticks are longer than their Korean and Japanese counterparts in order to reach the communal⁶ dishes in the centre of the table. Koreans also often use metal chopsticks because of their love of barbecue.

　　筷子很快在亚洲地区流行起来，不过中国人使用的筷子比韩国人和日本人使用的要长，因为需要夹到桌子中间的公菜。韩国人因为爱吃烧烤，所以也经常使用金属制的筷子。

　　The fork, meanwhile, is said to have been invented by the Romans, but did not become common in northern Europe until the 18th century.

　　而叉子则据说是由罗马人发明的，直到18实际才在北欧地区常用起来。

　　Today, however, China is chopping down 20 million mature trees a year to feed its disposable chopstick habit, according to Mr Bo.

　　而根据柏广新的说法，如今中国每年要砍掉2000万颗成熟树木，来满足人们使用一次性筷子的习惯。

　　Nor can China find enough wood in its own forests. China is now the world's largest importer of wood and even imports chopsticks from America, where a company in Georgia realised that the state's native gum wood would be perfectly⁷ suited to make the utensil⁸.

　　而中国的森林里如今已经没有足够的木材来供应这样的需求。中国现在是世界上最大的木材进口国，甚至还需要从美国进口筷子。乔治亚州的一家公司表示，当地的原声胶木材很适合制成筷子。

　　A previous estimate from China's state forestry administration, based on statistics from 2004 to 2009, put the yearly total at 57 billion disposable chopsticks, a much lower sum.

　　基于2004年到2009年的数据，中国国家林业局此前作出估计，中国每年的一次性筷子消费可能会达到570亿双，这个数据比实际数据要低得多。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 wok   

n.锅，炒菜锅

参考例句：

• I'm not teaching my students how to use a wok.我不是教我的学生们如何用炒菜的。
• He threw the meat into his biggest wok to cook.他把肉扔到最大的一口锅里煮。

5 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

6 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 utensil   

n.器皿，用具

参考例句：

• The best carving utensil is a long, sharp, flexible knife.最好的雕刻工具是锋利而柔韧的长刻刀。
• Wok is a very common cooking utensil in every Chinese family.炒菜锅是每个中国人家庭里很常用的厨房食用具。