2010301 Garbage Patch Expedition Finds Plastic Everywhere (1)

"Garbage Patch" Expedition Finds Plastic Everywhere

Scientists believe the trash washes down from places such as the San Francisco Bay Area or Japan

Scientists who returned to the San Francisco Bay area this week after an expedition to the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" brought piles of plastic debris they pulled out of the ocean. But what alarmed them most, they said, was the nearly inconceivable amount of tiny, confetti-like pieces of broken plastic. They took hundreds of water samples between the Farallon Islands and the notorious garbage patch 1,000 miles west of California. And every one had tiny bits of plastic floating in it. And the closer they sailed to the garbage patch, which some researchers have estimated to be twice the size of Texas, the more plastic pieces per gallon they found.

"Marine debris is the new man-made epidemic. It's that serious, said Andrea Neal, principal investigator on the Kaisei, a research ship on the trip. Neal said crews on the three-week voyage discovered tiny jellyfish eating bits of the plastic debris. The jellyfish are, in turn, eaten by fish like salmon or tuna, which people eat. Because the plastic pieces contain toxic chemicals, state toxicologists have taken hundreds of the objects, along with more than 300 fish, to an environmental chemistry lab in Berkeley. They want to see if any chemicals are moving up the food chain.





inconceivable adj. 令人無法想像的/不可思議的
=> hard to imagine or almost impossibe to even think of
eg: It is inconceivable that their new product could be so popular in such a short time!
eg: She really dislikes her job. But quitting is inconceivable.

notorious adj. 惡名昭彰的/聲名狼藉的
=> famous for bad reason
eg: He is one of the most notorious bank robbers in the country.
eg: The credit card company is notorious for having an unreasonably high interest rate.
eg: a notorious criminal

epidemic n. 氾濫的現象/問題
=> often refer to disease
eg: Due to the unemployment epidemic, thousands of people are without a job.
=> 由於失業現象越演越盛，上千人都沒有工作。

epidemic n. 傳染病
eg: The flu epidemic caused many schools to close temporarily.
=> 流感的大勢流行造成許多學校臨時地停課。

expedition
=> a journey with a purpose/mission

debris n. 垃圾
=> little pieces of something that has broken or been destoryed

confetti-like 像五彩碎紙

toxicologist n. 毒物學家/毒理學家

jellyfish n. 水母/海蜇

tuna n. 鮪

toxic adj. 有毒的
=> poisonous

//== Chat room ==//

trip n. 旅行/遠足
=> 可用於為工作而外出
eg: shopping trip 出門購物
eg: make a trip to the bathroom 上洗手間

expedition n. 遠征隊/探險隊/考察隊
=> 通常用於探險、作戰或為特殊目的所做的遠征/出征
=> 為了某個特別的目的所做的旅遊都可以叫做expedition
eg: shopping expedition 專門去購物旅行

trek n. 艱難的旅行(尤其是用步行的方式所做的探險)

safari n. 狩獵的遠征
=> 像是非洲的狩獵探險

voyage n. 航海/航行
=> 通常用於航海或是航空

//== More Information ==//

According to Answers com, about 20% of the Pacific Garbage Patch's garbage comes from ships. A typical passenger cruise ship, for example, produces over eight tons of solid waste weekly, much of it ending up in the water. It takes about five years for air and water currents to carry debris from the west coast of North America to the garbage patch, while garbage from Asia's east coast takes about a year.


//== Grammar on the Go ==//

The jellyfish are, in turn, eaten by fish like salmon or tuna, which people eat.
=> A piece of trash are first eaten by jellyfish. The jellyfish are then eaten by fish like salmon or tuna.

in turn
=> and then, or next in order

eg: After the bread is removed from the oven, it is, in turn, placed in a cool dry place.
eg: The goal of this project is to train twelve teachers. Each teacher will, in turn, go and train twelve other new teachers.




in turn 輪流
=> one by one

eg: Each student, in turn, gave a report to the whole class.