VOA慢速英语2019--哥本哈根把垃圾山变成了运动

Copenhagen Turns Mountain of Waste Into Sport

What do you do with the mountain of waste that a major city produces? It is a continuing question. And, Copenhagen – the capital of Denmark – has come up with an answer. Ski on it!

The waste is inside Copenhill, a waste treatment factory 10 minutes from the center of the city. The main building is a futuristic-looking structure 85 meters high. It includes a long hill from the top of the building to the ground. The hill is covered in a material called “neveplast” creating a snowless ski slope.

“I think everybody is surprised to start with when they look at it and it’s not snow,” said Christian¹ Ingels, the director at Copenhill.

He said that, after one or two tries on the neveplast hill, “you feel exactly like skiing.”

Danish designer Bjarke Ingels designed the place – an important step in Copenhagen’s aim of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral capital. He wanted to build a waste treatment factory that local people are happy to see in their neighborhood. It seems to be working.

Visiting skier² Pelle Hansen said being able to ski in the middle of a city is a wonderful experience.

Instead of “having to go six, seven, eight or ten hours” to a ski area, “you can be here in ten minutes,” he said.

The factory will also burn waste from about 600,000 homes and 68,000 businesses to produce electricity. Some of the other waste will be recycled.

The company began in 2017 and the sports area will open permanently³ this spring. The ski slopes will stay open throughout the year.

“It’s fantastic that one can ski without snow,” said visitor Tommy Christensen. “It’s a…different experience than skiing in real snow, but it’s my second run and I’ll try it again. It looks promising⁴.”

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

ski – v. to move or glide⁵ on skis over snow or water

slope – n. an area of land on a mountain that is used for skiing

carbon-neutral – adj. making no net release⁶ of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere

recycle – v. to send used newspapers, bottles, cans, etc. to a place where they are made into something new

fantastic – adj. extremely good

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 skier   

n.滑雪运动员

参考例句：

• She is a skier who is unafraid of danger.她是一名敢于冒险的滑雪者。
• The skier skimmed across the snow.滑雪者飞快地滑过雪地。

3 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

4 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

5 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

6 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。