# 第三册 Lesson 47 Too high a price? 代价太高？

## 一、课文原文

Pollution is the price we pay for an overpopulated, overindustrialized planet. When you come to think about it, there are only four ways you can deal with rubbish: dump it, burn it, turn it into something you can use again, attempt to produce less of it. We keep trying all four methods, but the sheer volume of rubbish we produce worldwide threatens to overwhelm us.

Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. The need to produce ever-increasing quantities of cheap food leads to a different kind of pollution. Industrialized farming methods produce cheap meat products: beef, pork and chicken. The use of pesticides and fertilizers produces cheap grain and vegetables. The price we pay for cheap food may be already too high: Mad Cow Disease (BSE) in cattle, salmonella in chicken and eggs, and listeria in dairy products. And if you think you'll abandon meat and become a vegetarian, you have the choice of very expensive organically-grown vegetables or a steady diet of pesticides every time you think you're eating fresh salads and vegetables, or just having an innocent glass of water!

However, there is an even more insidious kind of pollution that particularly affects urban areas and invades our daily lives, and that is noise. Burglar alarms going off at any time of the day or night serve only to annoy passers-by and actually assist burglars to burgle. Car alarms constantly scream at us in the street and are a source of profound irritation. A recent survey of the effects of noise revealed (surprisingly?) that dogs barking incessantly in the night rated the highest form of noise pollution on a scale ranging from 1 to 7. The survey revealed a large number of sources of noise that we really dislike. Lawn mowers whining on a summer's day, late-night parties in apartment blocks, noisy neighbours, vehicles of all kinds, especially large container trucks thundering through quiet villages, planes and helicopters flying overhead, large radios carried round in public places and played at maximum volume. New technology has also made its own contribution to noise. A lot of people object to mobile phones, especially when they are used in public places like restaurants or on public transport. Loud conversations on mobile phones invade our thoughts or interrupt the pleasure of meeting friends for a quiet chat. The noise pollution survey revealed a rather surprising and possibly amusing old-fashioned source of noise. It turned out to be snoring! Men were found to be the worst offenders. It was revealed that 20% of men in their mid-thirties snore. This figure rises to a staggering 60% of men in their sixties. Against these figures, it was found that only 5% of women snore regularly, while the rest are constantly woken or kept awake by their trumpeting partners. Whatever the source of noise, one thing is certain: silence, it seems, has become a golden memory.

## 二、重点词汇详解

| 单词 | 音标 | 词性 | 释义 | 用法说明 |
|------|------|------|------|----------|
| overpopulated | /ˌəʊvəˈpɒpjuleɪtɪd/ | adj. | 人口过剩的 | overpopulated planet 人口过剩的星球 |
| overindustrialized | /ˌəʊvərɪnˈdʌstriəlaɪzd/ | adj. | 过度工业化的 | over-前缀表示"过度" |
| overwhelm | /ˌəʊvəˈwelm/ | v. | 压倒，淹没 | threaten to overwhelm 威胁要压垮 |
| pesticide | /ˈpestɪsaɪd/ | n. | 杀虫剂 | use of pesticides 使用杀虫剂 |
| fertilizer | /ˈfɜːtɪlaɪzə/ | n. | 肥料 | chemical fertilizers 化肥 |
| insidious | /ɪnˈsɪdiəs/ | adj. | 潜伏的，暗中为害的 | insidious kind of pollution 潜伏的污染 |
| burglar | /ˈbɜːɡlə/ | n. | 窃贼 | burglar alarms 防盗警报 |
| incessantly | /ɪnˈsesəntli/ | adv. | 不断地 | barking incessantly 叫个不停 |
| whine | /waɪn/ | v. | 嘀咕，嗡嗡响 | lawn mowers whining 割草机嗡嗡作响 |
| thunder | /ˈθʌndə/ | v. | 轰隆地驶过 | trucks thundering 卡车轰隆驶过 |
| snore | /snɔː/ | v./n. | 打呼噜 | snoring 打鼾 |
| staggering | /ˈstæɡərɪŋ/ | adj. | 惊人的 | a staggering 60% 惊人的60% |
| trumpet | /ˈtrʌmpɪt/ | v. | 像喇叭一样响亮 | trumpeting partners 呼噜震天的伴侣 |

## 三、语法知识点

### 1. too + adj. + a/an + n. 结构

> **Too high a** price?

这是"too/however + adj. + a/an + 单数名词"的结构，形容词前置于不定冠词。

| 正常语序 | 特殊语序 |
|---------|---------|
| a price too high | too high a price |
| a day too long | too long a day |

### 2. 现在分词作后置定语

> Burglar alarms **going off** at any time of the day or night...
> Lawn mowers **whining** on a summer's day...

### 3. whatever引导让步状语从句

> **Whatever** the source of noise, one thing is certain...

= No matter what the source of noise is...

### 4. serve only to 仅仅起到……作用
> Burglar alarms... **serve only to** annoy passers-by...

## 四、重点句型分析

### 1. deal with 处理，对付
> There are only four ways you can **deal with** rubbish.

### 2. turn...into... 把……变成……
> **Turn** it **into** something you can use again.

### 3. object to 反对
> A lot of people **object to** mobile phones.

object to + 名词/动名词，注意to是介词。

### 4. 长难句分析
> And if you think you'll abandon meat and become a vegetarian, you have the choice of very expensive organically-grown vegetables or a steady diet of pesticides every time you think you're eating fresh salads and vegetables, or just having an innocent glass of water!

这是一个讽刺性长句：if引导条件从句；every time引导时间状语；讽刺在于"以为在吃新鲜蔬菜实际上在吃农药"。

## 五、课文翻译

污染是我们为这个人口过剩、过度工业化的星球付出的代价。仔细想想，处理垃圾只有四种方法：倾倒、焚烧、回收利用和减少产量。我们一直在尝试所有四种方法，但全球产生的垃圾量之大，有压垮我们的威胁。

然而，垃圾只是污染地球的问题的一部分。生产越来越多的廉价食品的需要导致了另一种污染。工业化的耕作方法生产出廉价的肉制品：牛肉、猪肉和鸡肉。使用杀虫剂和化肥生产出廉价的粮食和蔬菜。我们为廉价食品付出的代价可能已经太高了：牛群中的疯牛病、鸡肉和鸡蛋中的沙门氏菌、奶制品中的李斯特菌。如果你认为可以不吃肉而成为素食者，你要么选择非常昂贵的有机蔬菜，要么每次你以为在吃新鲜沙拉和蔬菜时实际上在吃杀虫剂，或者仅仅是喝一杯看似无害的水！

然而，还有一种更加隐蔽的污染，尤其影响城市地区，侵入我们的日常生活，那就是噪音。防盗警报不管白天黑夜随时响起，只会烦扰过路人，实际上反而帮了窃贼的忙。汽车警报在街上不断向我们尖叫，是深深的烦恼之源。最近一项关于噪音影响的调查揭示（令人惊讶吗？），夜间不停地吠叫的狗在1到7的等级上被评为最高级别的噪音污染。调查揭示了大量我们真正厌恶的噪音来源。夏日里嗡嗡作响的割草机、公寓楼里深夜的派对、吵闹的邻居、各种车辆，特别是轰隆驶过宁静村庄的大型集装箱卡车、头顶飞过的飞机和直升机、在公共场所随身携带并以最大音量播放的大型收音机。新技术也为噪音做出了自己的贡献。许多人反对使用手机，特别是在餐馆或公共交通工具等公共场所使用。手机上的大声谈话侵入我们的思绪或打断与朋友安静聊天的乐趣。噪音污染调查揭示了一个相当令人惊讶且可能有趣的老式噪音来源——竟然是打鼾！男人被发现是最严重的违规者。调查显示三十多岁的男性中有20%打鼾。这个数字在六十多岁的男性中上升到了惊人的60%。与这些数字相比，只有5%的女性经常打鼾，而其余的人则不断被呼噜震天的伴侣吵醒或无法入睡。无论噪音来源是什么，有一点是确定的：寂静似乎已经成为金色的回忆。

## 六、语言点精讲

### 写作手法
1. **三段论式论证**：垃圾污染→食品污染→噪音污染，层层深入
2. **讽刺笔调**：防盗警报帮了窃贼的忙；"无害的"一杯水
3. **数据论证**：打鼾比例的统计数据增加说服力

### 文化背景
- 疯牛病（BSE）于20世纪90年代在英国爆发，引发食品安全恐慌
- salmonella（沙门氏菌）和listeria（李斯特菌）是常见的食品致病菌
- 噪音污染调查是真实存在的学术研究领域

## 七、课后练习要点

1. **too + adj. + a + n. 结构**：特殊词序
2. **让步状语**：whatever引导让步从句
3. **词汇搭配**：deal with, object to, serve to
4. **写作练习**：就某一种污染问题写一篇议论文

## 八、本课小结

本课从垃圾、食品、噪音三个层面论述了污染问题的严重性。语法重点是too+adj.+a+n.特殊词序、whatever让步从句和现在分词作定语。词汇方面掌握insidious、incessantly、pesticide、staggering等核心词。写作上学习三段论式论证和讽刺笔调。