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外賣，今天已經(jīng)是很多國人，尤其是年輕一代，日常生活中的一部分，但是這給人們生活帶來方便的外賣，卻也引出了不少問題哦……
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China’s food-delivery business is booming. So is waste
中國外賣行業(yè)蒸蒸日上，垃圾也越堆越高
Wooden chopsticks and plastic boxes threaten the environment
木制筷子和塑料盒威脅著環(huán)境
【1】THREE?couriers?in hard helmets cram into an office lift in Beijing—one?clad?in red, one in yellow and one in blue. The?trio?are?dispatching?food that was purchased online through China’s most popular meal-ordering firms, which fill urban roads every?midday?with their colourful delivery people on electric bicycles. Delivery fees as low as three yuan ($0.46) have helped to transform urban lunch-hours. But the booming business is also fuelling concerns about everything from waste to the abuse of workers.
courier：[?k?ri?, ?k?:-, ?k?r-] n.導(dǎo)游；（傳遞信息或重要文件的）信使；通訊員
clad：[kl?d] adj.覆蓋的；穿衣的 v.穿（衣）( clothe的過去式和過去分詞)
trio：[?tri:o?] n.三重奏；三人一組；三重奏[三重唱]樂曲；（小步舞曲、諧謔曲等的）中段
An Italian trio was heading the bill at the charity event.
一個意大利三重唱在慈善晚會上領(lǐng)銜主演。
dispatch：[d?'sp?t?] v. 派遣；發(fā)送；迅速完成；處死 n. 急件；派遣；發(fā)送
midday：[?m?d?de?] n.中午；正午 adj.正午的
三個頭戴鋼盔的快遞員擠入北京一個寫字樓的電梯里，一個穿紅色衣服，一個穿黃色衣服，還有一個穿藍(lán)色衣服。這三個人正在送餐——顧客在網(wǎng)上通過中國最受歡迎的訂餐公司訂的食物。每天中午，城市街道上都能看到這些衣著鮮艷的送貨員騎著電動車來來往往。運(yùn)送費(fèi)最低是三元（合0.46美元），這有助于調(diào)節(jié)城市午餐時間。但是隨著這個行業(yè)的蒸蒸日上，人們對廢品和虐待工人等問題的擔(dān)憂也與日俱增。
［2］Such services—which?enable?users of a single site to order food from a?swathe?of local restaurants—are expanding around the world. But in China the industry is on a tear. By the end of June, the number of registered users had risen to 295m, 40% more than at the end of last year, according to government analysts. The value of meals bought online was about $25bn in 2016 and could rise to around $36bn by the end of next year, says iiMedia, a research firm. The?market leaders?are Meituan and Ele.me. Both still make losses in food delivery, but they have?backing?from Tencent and Alibaba?respectively—tech?giants?eager?to find ways of pushing customers to their?duelling?online payment systems.
enable：[??ne?bl] v.使能夠，提供做…的權(quán)利；使可能
swathe：[swe?e] vt.用布裹，纏；包裹或壓縮 n.帶子，繃帶，包裝品;
She sat in the sofa, swathed in a blanket.
她坐在沙發(fā)上，身上裹著一條毛毯。
market leaders：(某一產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)的)市場領(lǐng)先者，市場領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，行業(yè)龍頭
backing：[?b?k??] n.支持；背襯；支持者
respectively：[r??spekt?vli] adv.各自地；各個地；分別地
giant：[?d?a??nt] n.巨人，大漢；卓越人物
eager：[?i:g?(r)] adj.急切；渴望的；熱心的；熱切的
duel：[?dju:?l] n.決斗；競爭，斗爭 vt.使（另一人）參加決斗；反對
通過這種服務(wù)，用戶可以在網(wǎng)站上訂到當(dāng)?shù)匾恍┎宛^的餐。全球范圍內(nèi)，訂餐行業(yè)方興未艾。但在中國，這個行業(yè)已經(jīng)十分興旺。根據(jù)政府分析人士，截止六月底，注冊用戶數(shù)上升到2.95億，比去年年底注冊人數(shù)多了40%。研究公司艾媒咨詢說，2016年網(wǎng)上訂餐的價值約有250億美元，明年年底大概能上升到360億美元。美團(tuán)和餓了么是該行業(yè)兩大龍頭。這兩家仍會面臨食品配送造成的損失，但是他們已經(jīng)分別得到騰訊和阿里巴巴的支持。騰訊和阿里巴巴是兩家科技巨頭，他們的在線支付系統(tǒng)處于激烈競爭中，雙方都急于找到方法推動用戶使用自己的系統(tǒng)。
［3］Such businesses first began to take off in student dormitories.These days?young office-workers are by far the biggest market. But there is much?hand-wringing?about the consequences of their?popularity. Officials say the couriers threaten road safety. They ride electric bikes which are cheap, need no licence and are handy in cities like Beijing that restrict the use of motorcycles. Delivery people often?mount?pavements?or drive against the flow of traffic to maximise earnings during the lunchtime rush. Last month officials in Nanjing said meal-delivery bikes in the eastern city had been involved in more than 3,000 accidents in the first six months of the year. In one district of Shanghai police have introduced a?penalty-points system. They order those who acquire a certain number of points to perform community service. The police can ask couriers’ employers to fire them.
these days：n.現(xiàn)在，目前
hand-wringing：n.絕望；焦慮；坐立不安
popularity：[?pɑ:pju?l?r?ti] n.普及；流行；名氣，名望，通俗性，大眾性
mount：[ma?nt] v. 登上；爬上
pavement：[?pe?vm?nt] n.人行道
penalty：[?pen?lti] n.刑罰；懲罰
這個行業(yè)從學(xué)生宿舍賺到第一桶金。現(xiàn)在，年輕的上班族是最大的市場群體。但是這個群體普及的后果卻讓人十分擔(dān)憂。官員稱送餐員威脅到了道路安全。他們騎的電動車便宜、無需牌照，在北京這樣限制摩托車使用的城市十分方便。午餐時間，送餐員為了獲得最多的收入，常常在人行道上行駛或者疾行于車流中。上個月，南京官員稱，今年上半年東部城市的送餐車卷入了3000多起交通事故。在上海的一個區(qū)，警察引入了扣分制度。他們命令那些積分達(dá)到一定值的人做社區(qū)服務(wù)。警察可以要求快遞公司的雇主解雇這些送餐員。
［4］Another worry is the welfare of delivery people, many of whom are?migrants?from the countryside. In several ways they have it easier than other types of courier: food boxes are easier to handle than?bulky?parcels, and the?recipients?are always there. But China Labour Bulletin, an NGO in Hong Kong, says meal deliverers have been staging growing numbers of protests about poor treatment by their employers (usually?subcontractors), including wages paid late. Linking their pay to customer ratings has also made it easy for customers to demand more of them than they should: the purchase of groceries?en route?to their destinations, for example, or the disposal of household rubbish.
migrant：[?ma?ɡr?nt] n.候鳥；移居者，移民；隨季節(jié)遷移的工作者
bulky：[?b?lki] adj.笨重的;龐大的;體積大的
parcel：[?pɑ:rsl] n.包袱，包裹；（土地的）一塊；一批，一群；（貨物的）一宗?vt. 分配；打包
We are sending you a parcel of samples.
我們現(xiàn)在寄給你一包樣品。
recipient：[r??s?pi?nt] n.接受者；容器；容納者
subcontractor：[s?b?kɑ:ntr?kt?(r)] n.轉(zhuǎn)包商，次承包者
en route：[en ru:t] 在途中
另一個擔(dān)憂是送餐員的福利得不到保障，送餐員中很多是來自農(nóng)村的流動工人。在某些方面，他們比其他類型的快遞員輕松：食品箱比大包裹好拿，收件人總會在那里。但是香港的一個非政府組織中國勞工通訊說，送餐員已經(jīng)提出越來越多的抗議——雇主（通常是分包商）給他們的待遇差，包括拖欠工資等。將他們的工資和顧客的評級聯(lián)系起來，使得顧客更容易向他們提出過分的要求，例如，在前往目的地途中購買雜貨，或者是清理家庭垃圾。
［5］Most hotly debated of late is the impact the business is having on the environment. Each day about 65m meal-containers?are discarded, by one estimate. Campaigners object to the unwanted?cutlery,napkins?and chopsticks that restaurants selling through online platforms?habitually?bundle?with orders. The Green Volunteer League of Chongqing, a Chinese NGO, says that food-delivery sites have not made it easy enough for customers to refuse such?sundries?(the big companies deny this). In September a court in Beijing agreed to examine whether they have violated consumers’ rights.
container：[k?n?te?n?(r)] n.容器；箱，匣
cutlery：[?k?tl?ri] n.刀具，刀叉
napkin：[?n?pk?n] n.尿布；餐巾，餐巾紙
habitually：[h?'b?t???l?] adv.習(xí)慣地，慣常地
bundle：['b?ndl] n. 捆；束；包；大筆錢 v. 捆；把 ... 扎成一捆；匆忙地走
sundry：[?s?ndri] adj.各式各樣的；雜多的
My wallet is filled with sundry items.
我的錢包裝滿了各種雜七雜八的東西。
近來最激烈的爭論是關(guān)于這個行業(yè)對環(huán)境的影響。據(jù)估計，每天有大約6500萬份餐具被丟棄。在線平臺上，餐館常常將訂單和不必要的刀具、餐巾和筷子捆綁銷售，活動家們對此表示反對。重慶綠色志愿者聯(lián)盟（一個中國非政府組織）稱，食品配送網(wǎng)站并沒有讓顧客易于拒絕這種雜貨（那些大公司否認(rèn)這一點(diǎn)）。九月，北京的一家法院同意調(diào)查他們是否侵犯了消費(fèi)者權(quán)益。
［6］ There would be much less reason to worry about the mountains of waste if households and local governments did a better job of keeping?recyclables?separate from?gunk. This year the central government ordered 46 cities to come up with new systems for sorting rubbish, which it talks of making?mandatory?by 2020. That is progress, but only if it is?unwavering: over the years officials have found several similar campaigns all too easy to throw out.
recyclable：[?ri:?sa?kl?bl] n.可回收物（通常以復(fù)數(shù)形式出現(xiàn)） adj.可循環(huán)再用的
We need a separate bin for recyclable waste products.
我們需要一個專門收集可回收廢棄物的垃圾桶。
gunk：[ɡ??k] n.無特殊形狀的一堆，黏性物質(zhì)
mandatory：[?m?nd?t?ri] adj.強(qiáng)制的;命令的;受委托的
unwavering：[?n?we?v?r??] adj.不動搖的，堅(jiān)定的
如果家庭和當(dāng)?shù)卣茉趨^(qū)分可回收物和其他廢品上做的更好一些，我們也就不必這么擔(dān)心堆積如山的垃圾了。今年，中央政府命令46個城市想出新的垃圾分類系統(tǒng)，并使其在2020年前投入實(shí)行。這是一個進(jìn)步，但前提是這個政策不會動搖：多年以來，官員們注意到幾項(xiàng)類似的運(yùn)動都被很容易地流產(chǎn)了。
如今美團(tuán)和餓了么都已經(jīng)推出了環(huán)保助力活動，鼓勵大家減少使用一次性餐具，這是一個好兆頭。但是正如文中所說，想要解決垃圾污染問題，根本在于如何有效回收處理廢物。設(shè)計合理的垃圾分類系統(tǒng)并確保實(shí)行，應(yīng)是我們未來努力的方向。
英文原文：
http://www.economist.com
講解：霞姐 / Tiassa / Angel
編排 / 校對：Angel
本次文章翻譯為魔力學(xué)院原創(chuàng)
版權(quán)歸魔力學(xué)院所有，鼓勵轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)，轉(zhuǎn)載也可
