六级拔高5

匹配

a backlash a pact to come under fire an unethical act
a strong negative reaction by a large number of people a formal agreement between parties to be criticised strongly an action that is morally wrong
to take matters into your own hands the lion’s share surplus to operate under a veil of secrecy
to deal with a problem yourself after others have failed to do so the largest part of something excess; extra; oversupply to work in a way that hides embarrassing information

正文

Many of the major supermarket chains have come under fire with accusations of various unethical acts over the past decade. They’ve wasted tonnes of food they’ve underpaid their suppliers and they’ve contributed to excessive plastic waste in their packaging, which has had its impact on our environment.

  • accusation 指责

  • decade 十年

  • underpaid 报酬过低

  • compostable 可降解的

  • fertile - infertile

在过去十年中，许多大型连锁超市都因各种不道德行为而受到指责。他们浪费了数吨食物，少付给供应商货款，并且在包装中产生了过多的塑料垃圾，这对我们的环境造成了影响。

But supermarkets and grocers are starting to sit up and take notice. In response to growing consumer backlash against the huge amounts of plastic waste generated by plastic packaging, some of the largest UK supermarkets have signed up to a pact promising to
transform packaging and cut plastic wastage. In a pledge to reuse, recycle or compost all plastic wastage by 2025, supermarkets are now beginning to take some responsibility for the part they play in contributing to the damage to our environment, with one major supermarket announcing their plan to eliminate all plastic packaging in their own-brand products by 2023.

  • sit up and take notice 注意
  • wastage 损耗
  • in a pledge to 承诺
  • compost 降解

但是超市和杂货店开始警觉起来并予以关注。由于消费者对塑料包装产生的大量塑料垃圾越来越反感，一些英国最大的超市已经签署了一项协议，承诺改变包装并减少塑料浪费。为了在 2025 年之前重复使用、回收或堆肥所有塑料垃圾，超市现在开始为它们在对环境造成破坏中所起的作用承担一些责任，一家大型超市宣布了他们在 2023 年之前消除其自有品牌产品中所有塑料包装的计划。

In response to criticisms over food waste, some supermarkets are donating some of their food surplus. However, charities estimate that they are only accessing two per cent of supermarkets’ total food surplus, so this hardly seems to be solving the problem. Some say that supermarkets are simply not doing enough. Most supermarkets operate under a veil of secrecy when asked for exact figures of food wastage, and with but more transparency it is hard to come up with a systematic approach to avoiding waste and to redistributing surplus food.

  • in response to 为了应对
  • estimate 估计，评估
  • veil 面纱，遮盖
  • redistributing 重新分配

针对食物浪费的批评，一些超市正在捐赠部分多余的食物。然而，慈善机构估计他们仅能获得超市食物总剩余量的 2%，所以这似乎很难解决问题。有人说超市做得还不够。大多数超市在被要求提供确切的食物浪费数字时都保持神秘，而如果没有更多的透明度，就很难想出一种系统性的方法来避免浪费和重新分配多余的食物。

Some smaller companies are now taking matters into their own hands and offering consumers a greener, more environmentally friendly option. Shops like Berlin’s Original Unverpakt and London’s Bulk Market are plastic-free shops that have opened in recent years, encouraging customers to use their own containers or compostable bags. Online grocer Farmdrop eliminates the need for large warehouses and the risk of huge food surplus by delivering fresh produce from local farmers to its customers on a daily basis via electric cars, offering farmers the lion’s share of the retail price.

  • taking matters into their own hands
  • plastic free 禁止塑料
  • smoke free area 禁烟区
  • warehouse 仓库
  • delivering 供应
  • on a daily basis 日常

一些规模较小的公司现在正自己着手处理问题，并为消费者提供一种更环保、对环境更友好的选择。像柏林的“Original Unverpakt”和伦敦的“Bulk Market”这样的商店是近年来开业的无塑料商店，鼓励顾客使用自己的容器或可降解袋子。在线食品杂货商“Farmdrop”通过电动汽车每天将当地农民的新鲜农产品送到顾客手中，消除了对大型仓库的需求以及大量食物过剩的风险，同时为农民提供零售价格中的最大份额。

There is no doubt that we still have a long way to go in reducing food waste and plastic waste. But perhaps the major supermarkets might take inspiration from these smaller grocers and gradually move towards a more sustainable future for us all.

毫无疑问，我们在减少食物浪费和塑料浪费方面仍有很长的路要走。但也许大型超市可以从这些小杂货店中汲取灵感，逐步迈向对我们所有人来说都更可持续的未来。