英语听力精选进阶版 6314（在线收听）

Can you imagine what 680,000 tonnes of food looks like? That's the amount wasted in Britain each year, and at the top of the list of wasted foods is... bread.

One of the staples in the British diet, bread is toasted for breakfast, used for sandwiches for lunch and dipped in soups at dinner. Almost everyone in Britain buys bread – from people in the upper crust of society to regular breadwinners who don't have much dough.

Bread is so important to Brits that we use the slang word 'bread' to mean 'money' and the word 'loaf' to mean 'head'. So let's use our loaves to understand why so much bread is wasted!

Even though bread is still selling like hot cakes, the packets are opened but not finished. We often say that half a loaf is still better than none, but it seems people are simply buying much more than they need.

Baker Chris Young suggests that the British aren't using every last crumb because bread is no longer respected: "None of the bread that is thrown away is 'real' bread, homemade or artisan bread."

Eco-campaigner Mark Boyle agrees. "If you make something yourself (…) you don't waste that bread because you know how much energy you've put into it." But although home baking is a nice idea, for many it's biting off more than they can chew. People work such long hours to put bread on the table and simply don't have the time.

Perhaps we British should just invest a little more of our hard-earned bread in buying better loaves. These would make our diet healthier and our bins lighter: healthy, artisan loaves might just be the best thing since sliced bread.

Quiz 测验

Is this statement true, false or not given? 680,000 tonnes of bread are wasted every year in Britain.

False: 680,000 tonnes of food is wasted. The food we waste most is bread, which amounts to nearly a third of this total.

What kind of people buy bread in Britain?

Everyone buys bread in Britain: both people from the upper crust of society (who have a lot of money) and people who don't have much 'bread' or 'dough'.

Which English slang words related to bread does the article mention?

The article mentions 'bread' and 'dough', which are used to mean 'money', and 'loaf' which also means 'head'.

Which expression in the article refers to doing something that is too difficult?

The expression 'to bite off more than one can chew' means to try to do something that is too difficult. In the article, this means that for Brits baking at home might be too ambitious since people do not have enough time.

Find a phrasal verb that means 'to bin' in the article.

To 'throw away' also means to put something in the bin.

Glossary 词汇表

a staple 主食

the upper crust 上等阶层 

breadwinner 家里主要挣钱的人

dough 面，此处的意思是钱

loaf 一条（面包），也可以指人的头

to sell like hot cakes 热销

half a loaf is still better than none （成语）半块面包总比没有好

every last crumb （短语）剩余的一点点

artisan 精工细作的

eco-campaigner 环保活动人士

baking 烤（面包）

to bite off more than one can chew 贪多嚼不烂

to put bread on the table （成语）拿回家

the best thing since sliced bread （常用成语）精彩的/很棒