VOA常速英语2014--巴尔的摩用水轮清理垃圾

Water Wheel Picks Up Trash in Baltimore's Waterways 巴尔的摩用水轮清理垃圾

BALTIMORE —

Trash in waterways around the world is a major environmental issue.  The U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland, is tackling its problem with a one-of-a-kind contraption with a water wheel that pulls in garbage.  Since it began operating last May, the water wheel has proved more effective than other means of picking up trash in the water. 

The odd-looking contraption sits on the Jones Falls River that flows into Baltimore's harbor.  Every year, storm run-off from city streets carries huge amounts of garbage and debris 1 into the river, polluting the harbor.   

这个看起来古怪的装置坐落在流向巴尔的摩港口的琼斯瀑布河上，每年从城市流出的雨水径流带着大量垃圾和废物流入河中，污染了港口。

“After a rainstorm, we could get a lot of trash in Baltimore Harbor," said Adam Lindquist, who is with the Waterfront Partnership 2 of Baltimore, the group that sponsors the water wheel. "Sometimes the trash was so bad it looked like you could walk across the harbor on nothing but trash.”

亚当·林德奎斯特就职于巴尔的摩滨水区合作组织，该组织为这个水轮提供了赞助。“每次暴雨过后，我们能在巴尔的摩港口发现大量垃圾。有时情况很糟糕，看起来好像走过的这个港口除了垃圾什么都没有。”

Containment 3 booms funnel 4 trash and debris towards the gadget 5, where a leaf rake pulls it in and onto a moving conveyer that drops the garbage into a dumpster.  The dumpster is on a floating dock that can be pulled to shore by boat, where the waste is burned to create electrical energy.

漂浮封栏油栅将垃圾和废物导引入这个装置，装置里的叶耙将垃圾带入一个移动的传送带，然后将垃圾扔进一个垃圾桶里，这个垃圾桶位于一个可以被船拖到岸边的漂浮船坞上，然后在垃圾桶里燃烧垃圾并将之转化为电能。

The water wheel is more efficient than the way the garbage was being picked up  -- using small boats with nets.

垃圾是用有渔网的小船捡起的，而水轮的工作更高效。

Daniel Chase, co-designer of the device, says it can remove 45,000 metric tons of garbage each day.

丹尼尔·蔡司是该装置的联合设计者，他说该装置每天能处理4.5公吨的垃圾。

“Instead of chasing one or two pieces of trash at a time, we just stand at the source of it and catch it all at once,” he said.

“我们不是一次只处理一两片垃圾，而是站在垃圾的源头，一次性清理掉。”

Chase says the garbage comes from people who throw litter like plastic bottles or Styrofoam plates on the ground, instead of putting it into bins 6.  

蔡司说人们随便扔塑料瓶子或泡沫聚苯乙烯在地上，而不是将垃圾仍在垃圾桶。

The water wheel uses renewable energy -- mostly river current, but when needed, also energy from solar panels.

水轮使用可再生能源，主要是水流，但在必要时也能从太阳能面板中获得能量。

‘It is run on water, so it’s either river current, pushing from underneath 7 or we are pumping water onto it which then fills buckets to carry the wheel around,” Chase said.

“水轮是在水上，所以还有水流，能从水下推动，或者将水抽来然后装满桶来让水轮转动。”

The rotation 8 of the water wheel also provides other benefits by putting oxygen back into the river, and thus improving the water quality.

水轮的转动还有其他好处，能将氧重新推入河中，这样就提高了河水的质量。

Chase says the technology can be used on waterways anywhere in the world.  But he thinks that's not the answer in the long run.

蔡司说全世界各地都可以使用这个技术，但他认为这并不是长久之计。

“The real cure is not the water wheel. The real cure is not littering," he said. "And the best I can tell, that’s by educating children.”

“真正的解决办法不是水轮，而是不再乱扔垃圾。我认为最好的办法是教育下一代。”

Lindquist agrees.

林德奎斯特认同这一说法。

 “Our goal is actually to put the water wheel out of business," he said. "Of course, that will come through behavior change, if people don’t let garbage leave their hands except to go into a receptacle, then we wouldn’t need a water wheel.”

“我们的目标是不再使用水轮，当然这需要改变人们的行为，如果人们不再乱扔垃圾，而是扔到回收站，这样我们就不需要水轮了。”

Lindquist says the water wheel is also helping 9 with another goal  -- to make the harbor safe for swimming by 2020.

林德奎斯特说水轮还能帮助实现另一个目标，那就是到2020年将海港变得更安全。