VOA标准英语2009年-Garbage Collection in Cairo Collapses

By Jessica Desvarieux
Cairo
16 October 2009
 
Cairo residents try to protect themselves against the smell
Cairo's streets are always dirty, but in recent months the usual piles of trash have gotten larger. The government's slaughter¹ of Egypt's pigs, which used to eat organic waste, is part of the problem. Then came a standoff between the government and foreign garbage collection companies. It's been enough to prompt some residents in this densely² populated city of some 20 million people to pick up after themselves.

Cairo is crowded, noisy and now smellier. In recent months, trash in both poor and middle class districts has been piling up.

The pileup is partly related to the swine flu. To combat the H1N1 virus, the Egyptian government slaughtered³ all the country's pigs even though the World Health Organization said the move was misguided.

The organic waste that was once collected by the so called "zabaleen" to feed their stock of pigs is now ending up in the streets. Some residents have resorted to burning it.

 
Dana Moussa
For some, like Dana Moussa, the streets have become too much to bear.

"What was missing was that the civil society wasn't doing anything about it, except staying in their homes, complaining," said Dana Moussa. "And the important thing is to take action. If you want to see change, even with the governor or with the company, the civil society had to have acted."

So she did. She created an event on Facebook called "Clean up Giza," referring to a huge section of greater Cairo extending out to the Pyramids.

It started with a few friends and grew to more than 350 members.

They took to the streets of the middle class neighborhood Mohandeseen and collected the trash themselves.

"We spent about four to five hours," she said. "It was during Ramadan so a lot of the kids there were fasting. It was during the summer so it was pretty hot, but people were going at it. Everyone was super excited."

That event was the seed of a grassroots movement.

About 30 people attended a brainstorming⁴ session to discuss planning, legal and other issues involved in cleaning up their districts.

 
Omar Ghoneim
Omar Ghoneim says he decided⁵ to participate because the garbage in his neighborhood is suffocating⁶.
 
"My area is really, really dirty," said Omar Ghoneim. "So I've always said to myself, 'I can't deal with this. I want to clean it up, but I can't do it alone.' My friend Dana started this and I'm supporting her all the way."

After the first clean up event, the Giza governor announced that the feud⁷ between the governorate and the Italian garbage contractor⁸ was ending and operations would resume shortly.

But for Laila Halely, pig slaughter and contract disagreements are minor⁹ issues compared to Cairo's larger problem: litter.

"People just throw it in the street because they have no where else to throw it in," said Laila Halely. "That's one problem. Second problem is that they're not educated to actually throw it somewhere."

One change includes a plan by Moussa's group to distribute 25,000 garbage bins¹⁰ in one neighborhood. Moussa says her group will also hold bi-monthly clean up days to generate more awareness¹¹.

"It's getting young people like us to go down and participate and feel good about themselves and the areas in which they live in. And if this model works we hope to continue this in other districts," said Moussa.

Cairo produces 13,000 tons of garbage every day. So the group has a hefty challenge.

1 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

2 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

3 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 brainstorming   

献计献策,合力攻关

参考例句：

• With Brainstorming, treat the view on how to solve the problem rightly. 利用脑激励法(Brainstorming)，正确对待学生实验中的问题解决观。
• We are going to do some brainstorming soon. 我们很快就要做些脑力激荡。

5 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。

6 suffocating   

a.使人窒息的

参考例句：

• After a few weeks with her parents, she felt she was suffocating.和父母呆了几个星期后，她感到自己毫无自由。
• That's better. I was suffocating in that cell of a room.这样好些了，我刚才在那个小房间里快闷死了。

7 feud   

n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇

参考例句：

• How did he start his feud with his neighbor?他是怎样和邻居开始争吵起来的？
• The two tribes were long at feud with each other.这两个部族长期不和。

8 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

9 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

10 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

11 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。