【趣谈英语】用未售出的书来铺路-A Road Built From Unsold Books
英语课
Pre-Listening Vocabulary
toll 1 road: a road that requires drivers to pay a fee to use it
shred: to break up into very small pieces
pulp 2: soft, wet material
congestion: high volume; crowdedness
absorbent: holds a lot of water
Tarmac: a road material made of crushed rock and tar 3
A Road Built From Unsold Books-用未售出的书来铺路
In 2003, approximately 2.5 million unsold books from the UK romance book publisher Mills & Boon 4 were used in the reconstruction 5 of a toll road in the UK. The damaged or end-of-the-line books were shredded 6 and turned to pulp at a recycling firm before being used by the construction company. The resulting paste from the books was mixed with Tarmac to create an absorbent surface for the road. The secret ingredient keeps the road from cracking.
1 toll
n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)
- The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
- The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
2 pulp
n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆
- The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
- The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。
3 tar
n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于
- The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
- We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。
4 boon
n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠
- A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
- These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。
5 reconstruction
n.重建，再现，复原
- The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
- In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。