VOA慢速英语2015 粉虱可以食用废塑料
时间：2019-01-12 作者：英语课 分类：2015年VOA慢速英语(十一)月
Mealworms Can Eat Plastic Waste 粉虱可以食用废塑料
Styrofoam is a plastic with a bad reputation.
It cannot be recycled without releasing dangerous pollution into the air. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is the fifth-largest creator of hazardous 1 waste.
Worms to the rescue. Specifically, mealworms.
Scientists from the U.S. and China have discovered that mealworms can digest plastic. One mealworm can digest a pill-sized amount of plastic a day.
Study co-author Wei-Min Wu says that in 24 hours, the plastic is turned into carbon dioxide.
Are the worms hurt by eating plastic? The study found that worms eating Styrofoam were as healthy as worms eating bran.
The researchers will study the worm’s eating habits and look to duplicate the plastic breakdown 2 but on a larger scale.
Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is a light-weight material, about 95 percent air, with very good insulation 3 properties, according to Earthsource.org. It is used in products from cups that keep your beverages 4 hot or cold to packaging material that protects items during shipping 5.
Solving the issue of plastic pollution is important says Wu, a Stanford University environmental engineering instructor 6. Landfill space is becoming limited, he says.
About 33-million tons of plastic are thrown away in the United States every year. Plastic plates, cups and containers take up 25 percent to 30 percent of space in America’s landfills. One Styrofoam cup takes more than 1 million years to recycle in a landfill, according to Cleveland State University.
Words in This Story
recycle – v. to make something new from something that has been used before
Styrofoam – n. used for a type of plastic that is light and usually white
bran – n. the outer coat of the seed of a grain
carbon dioxide – n. a gas that is produced when people and animals breathe out or when some fuels are burned
pill – n. a small, rounded object that you swallow and that contains medicine
digest – v. to change food that you have eaten by a biological process into simpler forms that can be used by the body
- These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
- Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。
- She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
- The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。
- Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
- It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。
- laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
- regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例
- We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
- There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。
- The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
- The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。