美語情景對話 第590期:Trash Talk 垃圾分類

Todd: So, Keiko, so you lived in The States and they have a different system of collecting trash. Can you explain the difference of collecting trash in America and collecting trash in Japan?

託德：惠子，你曾在美國生活過，美國的垃圾收集系統與日本的不同。你能解釋一下美國的垃圾收集系統和日本的有什麼不同嗎？

Keiko: OK, my personal experience, in The States you just put everything in one place whereas in Japan you have to divide it into five different places but actually where I live in Kawasaki it's actually quite easy so I only have to divide into two garbage: one burnable, the other one non-burnable. That's it, but in the states, you just put everything together.

惠子：好，就我個人的經驗來看，美國是把所有垃圾都放在一個地方，而日本要對垃圾進行分類，垃圾要放在五個不同的地方，我住在川崎，那裏的垃圾分類很簡單，所以我們只需要進行兩種分類就好，一種是可燃垃圾，另一種是不可燃垃圾。而美國是把所有垃圾都放在一起。

Todd: Right, it's really weird cause when I go home and I have trash I feel guilty. There's two things I feel strange about: One is in Japan I take off my shoes, when I go home, in America I feel strange walking in a house with my shoes on and the other is trash. When I go to throw away trash, I'm just throwing it away and I don't have to put in the right bin. It always feels a little strange.

託德：對，這很奇怪，我回美國的時候，一有垃圾我就會有內疚感。有兩件事我感到很奇怪，首先在日本的時候我回家以後就會脫鞋，可是在美國的時候，我會穿着鞋在房子裏走來走去，這點很奇怪，另一件奇怪的事就是垃圾。在美國，我去扔垃圾的時候，就只要把垃圾扔掉就行了，不用分類放在對應的垃圾箱裏。這讓我覺得有點兒奇怪。

Keiko: But that means that somebody's — at the end, somebody is doing all the dividing work in The States, right?

惠子：這是不是意味着，美國會有最後統一進行分類工作的人？

Todd: Unfortunately, I don't know. I think maybe some communities but maybe a lot, they just bury it. I think in The States, cause we have a lot more land, we just bury a lot of the trash. We don't burn it like you do in Japan, so. You were saying that in Japan, it's different from region to region how you separate trash.

託德：不幸地是，我不知道。我想可能有些社區最後會進行分類，不過大部分社區應該就只是把垃圾埋了。美國國土廣大，所以可能大部分垃圾我們會埋掉。而不是像日本那樣燒掉。你剛說，日本不同地區的垃圾分類也有不同。

Keiko: I think Tokyo is really strict, whereas Kanagawa is a little bit easy and I don't know why but I have to be even more careful when I'm at work, so even when I'm busy, I eat my lunch, you know, I take out my lunch garbage and I have to put, you know, chopstick here, a plastic box here, and a plastic bag here, and yeah, it's quite, quite a work.

惠子：我認爲東京的垃圾分類很嚴格，而川崎的垃圾分類就很簡單，我不知道這是什麼原因，不過我在上班的時候要格外留意，即使我特別忙的時候，吃完午飯去扔垃圾時，也要注意把筷子放在這個垃圾箱裏，塑料盒放在那個垃圾箱裏，塑料袋放在另一個垃圾箱裏，很複雜。

Todd: I hear ya. OK. Thanks a lot Keiko.

託德：我明白了。好，非常謝謝你，惠子。

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重點講解：
1. divide into （使）分開；（使）分散；（使）分裂；
例句：We divide into pairs and each pair takes a region.
我們分成兩人一組，每一組負責一個區域。
2. take off 脫下，脫掉（衣物）；
例句：The doctor gestured me to take off my coat.
醫生做手勢要我脫去外套。
3. throw away 扔掉，丟掉（廢棄物）；
例句：I never throw anything away.
我什麼東西都不捨得扔。
4. at the end 最後；
例句：You will have the chance to ask questions at the end.
最後你會有提問的機會。