2024年12月四级第1套长篇阅读匹配原文翻译及答案

A) For all the innovation and choice that define the food and drink industries, if you want to make money, you could do a lot worse than fill a bottle with water and sell it. A litre of tap water, the stuff we have cleverly piped into our homes, costs less than half a penny. A litre of bottled water can cost well over a pound, especially for something fancy that has been sucked through a mountain.

尽管食品饮料行业充满创新和选择，但如果你想赚钱，没有什么比装瓶卖水更简单的了。一升自来水——我们巧妙地通过管道引入家中——成本不到半便士。而一升瓶装水可能要花费一英镑以上，尤其是那些从山中汲取的高档水。

B) Yet the bottled water market is livelier than ever. It defies our increasing awareness of the harm plastics do to the environment and a broader, growing sense that something has to change. Sales in the UK were worth a record 558.4 million this past year, an increase of 7%, according to the latest figures from the market analyst Kantar. Separate data from other analysts show that as of this year the British consumed more than 2.2 billion litres of bottled water, including "take-home" and "on-the-go" products. That's an annual rise in volume of 8.5%.

然而，瓶装水市场比以往任何时候都更加活跃。它无视我们日益增长的塑料对环境危害的认识，以及一种更广泛、日益增长的变革意识。根据市场分析师Kantar的最新数据，过去一年英国瓶装水销售额创下5.584亿英镑的纪录，增长了7%。其他分析师的单独数据显示，今年英国人消费了超过22亿升瓶装水，包括“带回家”和“即饮”产品。这是8.5%的年度销量增长。

C) Environmental campaigners are struggling to understand why nations blessed with clean tap water grow only fonder of the bottle. "It's very surprising to me," says Sam Chetan-Walsh, a political adviser at Greenpeace and campaigner against ocean plastic. "Public awareness has never been higher, but the message is not quite reaching all the people. Despite the best, where the message is causing concern. Plastic water bottles require oceans of fossil fuels to make and ship. Additionally, single-use plastics of all types are polluting our cities and seas. Numerous documentaries have shown how plastic is ultimately killing wildlife.

环保活动家难以理解为什么拥有清洁自来水的国家反而更偏爱瓶装水。“这让我非常惊讶，”绿色和平组织的政治顾问、反对海洋塑料的活动家Sam Chetan-Walsh说。“公众意识从未如此高涨，但信息并未完全传达给所有人。尽管尽了最大努力，信息仍引起了担忧。塑料水瓶的生产和运输需要大量的化石燃料。此外，所有类型的一次性塑料都在污染我们的城市和海洋。许多纪录片展示了塑料最终如何杀害野生动物。

D) Moves against various plastics have gathered pace, from shopping bags to straws and plastic-lidded coffee cups. Chetan-Walsh argues that bottled water is different because the alternatives are so obvious. "If a product that is so nakedly unnecessary can exist, then the whole system is failing," he says.

反对各种塑料的行动正在加速，从购物袋到吸管和带塑料盖的咖啡杯。Chetan-Walsh认为瓶装水不同，因为替代品显而易见。“如果一个如此明显不必要的产品能够存在，那么整个系统就失败了，”他说。

E) Hope is not entirely out of reach. The rate of growth has begun to ease (sales were up 7% in the year, compared with 8% the previous year).

希望并非遥不可及。增长速度已开始放缓（今年销售额增长了7%，而前一年为8%）。

F) But even if large numbers of people are quitting bottled water because of care for the environment, others are taking it up. The introduction of the "sugar tax" on juices and soda drinks has pushed more people to bottled water, while health awareness has boosted its desirability. Tap water consumption is growing at roughly the same pace (UK consumers still drink almost three times as much tap water as bottled water).

但即使许多人因关心环境而放弃瓶装水，其他人却开始饮用。果汁和汽水“糖税”的引入推动了更多人转向瓶装水，而健康意识提升了其吸引力。自来水消费量的增长速度大致相同（英国消费者饮用的自来水仍是瓶装水的近三倍）。

G) So the plastic tide only creeps higher. The industry is quick to point out that all its bottles are recyclable. "But collection rates are, at the most generous estimates, 56%, so the actual recycling rate will be lower than that," Chetan-Walsh says. And while bottles may be recyclable, very few are made of recycled plastic. One water bottle company launched recycled half-litre "ecom bottles" alongside its standard bottles. Another has pledged to use only recycled plastic across its range by 2025. Chetan-Walsh believes in a ban on single-use bottles. Bans do exist in some places. Organisers of a famous music festival announced that water bottles will not be sold this summer. San Francisco has banned them from city property and events. Last year, the UK government set out plans to ban single-use plastic from its estate.

因此，塑料潮只增不减。该行业迅速指出其所有瓶子都是可回收的。“但即使以最乐观的估计，收集率也只有56%，因此实际回收率会更低，”Chetan-Walsh说。尽管瓶子可能可回收，但很少是由再生塑料制成。一家水瓶公司推出了再生半升“生态瓶”，与标准瓶并列。另一家公司承诺到2025年在其整个产品线中只使用再生塑料。Chetan-Walsh支持禁止一次性瓶子。一些地方确实存在禁令。一个著名音乐节的组织者宣布今年夏天将不销售水瓶。旧金山已禁止在市政财产和活动中使用它们。去年，英国政府制定了禁止在其地产中使用一次性塑料的计划。

H) Water bottlers, unsurprisingly, don't support bans. But they raise concerns about health rather than profit margins. Last month one chief executive of a water bottling company said that bans would "result in greater consumption of sugary drinks, adding to obesity and dental decay". Kinvara Carey, general manager of an association of the biggest bottled water manufacturers, cites a survey in which people were asked what they would do if bottled water were not available. "Forty-four per cent would buy another drink, which is not great, 14% would go without and 4.5% said they would find a fountain," she says. "The choice is important."

毫不奇怪，瓶装水生产商不支持禁令。但他们提出的是关于健康的担忧，而非利润。上个月，一家瓶装水公司的首席执行官说，禁令将“导致更消费含糖饮料，增加肥胖和龋齿”。最大的瓶装水制造商协会的总经理Kinvara Carey引用了一项调查，询问如果瓶装水不可用，人们会怎么做。“44%的人会购买其他饮料，这不太好，14%的人会不喝，4.5%的人说他们会找喷泉，”她说。“选择很重要。”

I) What if fountains were more numerous, and tap water more clearly available in cafes, restaurants and elsewhere? Dozens of fountains are being installed in London. There are similar initiatives elsewhere. Before plastic and the marketing that made people think they needed bottled water in the first place, fountains were an urban fixture. Greenpeace, among others, is also pushing for a "deposit return" scheme. This would mean a tax on bottled water would be refunded to customers who returned the plastic for recycling.

如果喷泉更多，自来水在咖啡馆、餐厅和其他地方更易获得，会怎样？伦敦正在安装数十个喷泉。其他地方也有类似举措。在塑料和让人们认为需要瓶装水的营销之前，喷泉是城市固定设施。绿色和平组织等也在推动“押金返还”计划。这意味着对瓶装水征税，但将塑料退回回收的客户可以获得退款。

J) Even if bottled water sales are growing slightly more slowly, the industry is racing to adapt to changing concerns and tastes. Flavoured water is booming: sales of the sparkling variety shot up by 20%, according to the latest analyst data. Meanwhile, international water brands, as well as a range of new companies, are selling high-end reusable bottles. And if you must fill them with tap water, why not add flavouring?

即使瓶装水销售增长略慢，该行业也在竞相适应不断变化的担忧和口味。调味水正在蓬勃发展：根据最新分析师数据，气泡水销量飙升了20%。与此同时，国际水品牌以及一系列新公司正在销售高端可重复使用瓶。如果你必须装自来水，为什么不添加调味剂呢？

K) As the owner of multiple sugary drink brands and bottled water, PepsiCo is dancing between health and environmental fears. Last year, the company bought SodaStream (a drinks company that sells machines for making tap water bubbly and then consumers add flavours) for $3.2 billion. It also launched a range of fancy bottles that work with tap water and flavour packets. The bottle is reusable. The packets? Not so much, and, yes, they are made of plastic, although the company invites users to post them back for recycling.

作为多个含糖饮料品牌和瓶装水的所有者，百事公司在健康和环境担忧之间摇摆。去年，该公司以32亿美元收购了SodaStream（一家销售让自来水冒泡的机器，然后消费者添加调味剂的饮料公司）。它还推出了一系列适用于自来水和调味包的精美瓶子。瓶子是可重复使用的。调味包呢？不太是，而且是的，它们由塑料制成，尽管公司邀请用户邮寄回来回收。

L) As is so often the case, clever marketing can beat reason, awareness is rarely enough. "There is always this kind of slip between concern, intent and changed behaviour," says Giles Quick, an analyst of bottled water. "The best example is five a day, the recommendation to have at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. Almost everyone is aware of this, but something like 15% of us achieve it." Unless a far-reaching bottle ban does come into force, it will be up to consumers to not only demand change - but to act themselves.

正如经常发生的那样，巧妙的营销可以战胜理性，意识很少足够。“在关注、意图和行为改变之间总是存在这种滑脱，”瓶装水分析师Giles Quick说。“最好的例子是‘每日五份’，建议每天至少摄入五份水果和蔬菜。几乎每个人都知道这一点，但我们中只有大约15%的人做到。”除非实施广泛的瓶子禁令，否则消费者不仅要要求改变——还要自己行动起来。