您现在的位置：首页 > 英语听力 > 国外媒体资讯 > 英国卫报 > 正文

英国卫报:小冰块下的大生意(1)

时间:2021-01-29 17:07:00 来源:可可英语编辑:Vicki 可可英语APP下载 | 可可官方微信:ikekenet

字号：大 | 中 | 小

打印

收藏本文

The ice in your drink comes from one of two places: your freezer, or someone else's.
饮料中的冰块来自两个地方：你的冰箱，或者别人的冰箱。

For homemade ice, the supply chain is reassuringly familiar: water goes into the freezer, and a bit later, ice comes out.
对于自制冰块来说，其供应链是令人放心的：水进入冰箱，过一会儿，冰块就出来了。

But what about the ice cubes that you bought from a supermarket, or extracted, by the handful, from a plastic bag at a drinks party?
但是，你从超市买来的冰块，或者在酒会上从塑料袋里一把一把取出来的冰块来自哪里呢？

They were frozen when you took possession of them; they are long gone now. Where did they start out, back when they were water?
当你拿到它们的时候它们已经冻好了，现在它们早已消失。它们是从哪里开始的，当它们还是水的时候？

Follow their journey all the way back from the point of sale – through warehouses and depots and cold storage facilities and innumerable temperature-controlled lorries –
我们从销售点开始，一路全程追踪：经过一个又一个仓库、冷藏设施和无数的温度控制卡车——

and there's a decent chance that most of them came from the same place: an industrial estate just outside South Kirkby in West Yorkshire.
大部分的冰块很有可能来自同一个地方：即西约克郡南柯比郊外的一个工业区。

The company that made them is called The Ice Co, and if you haven't heard of it, you have almost certainly used its products.
生产这些冰块的公司叫The Ice Co，就算你没有听说过它的大名，但几乎可以肯定的是，你用过它的产品。

If you have grabbed a bag of ice from the freezer of a corner shop on a hot day, The Ice Co probably supplied it.
如果你在一个大热天从街角商店的冰箱里拿了一袋冰，它很有可能来自The Ice Co公司。

If you have bought ice from Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Morrisons or Ocado, The Ice Co thanks you for your business.
如果你在特斯科、森宝利、维特罗斯、莫里森或者奥凯多（均为英国商超）购买过冰块，The Ice Co公司感谢您的惠顾。

If you have ever plonked a bottle of prosecco into a house party ice bucket filled with cylindrical cubes, or pulled a cold can of Coke from the chilling bins at Glastonbury,
如果你曾经把一瓶普罗赛克葡萄酒倒入满是圆柱形冰块的家庭聚会冰桶中，或者从格拉斯顿伯里音乐节的冰柜里拿出一罐冰镇可乐，

or – indeed – endured the Arctic Enema ice bath obstacle at a Tough Mudder endurance course, it is highly likely that the ice originated in The Ice Co's ice factory,
或者在一次“最强泥人”耐力赛中忍受了冰浴的障碍，这些冰很有可能都来自The Ice Co的制冰厂，

a long, flat building nestled in the countryside between Doncaster and Leeds.
那是一栋长而扁平的建筑，坐落在唐卡斯特和利兹之间的一个乡村。

Like central heating and hot water, ice is one of those minor luxuries we scarcely think to notice.
就像中央暖气和热水一样，冰块是我们几乎不会注意到的小奢侈品之一。

And yet The Ice Co has turned frozen water into a 38m pound brand – at a retail price of roughly 1 pound a bag, that equates to plenty of people indulging every year.
然而，The Ice Co公司已经将冷冻水变成了市值3800万英镑的品牌——零售价大约是每袋1英镑，这告诉我们每年都有很多人为其买单。

It is perhaps surprising that there is even a market for packaged ice in the UK – let alone one that requires The Ice Co to produce 400 tonnes of the stuff per day, or 5bn cubes per year.
或许令人惊讶的是，英国竟然有一个包装冰的市场——更不用说一个需要Ice Co每天生产400吨或每年50立方的市场了。

We do not lack the specialised equipment required to make our own ice: 98% of British homes contain some form of freezer.
我们并不缺乏自制冰块所需的特殊设备：98%的英国家庭都有某种冰箱。

We do not, as a rule, have issues with our drinking water, so freezing our own in plastic or silicone trays is not unsafe.
我们的饮用水一般来说没有问题，所以我们把自己家的水放在塑料或硅胶托盘里冷冻并非不安全。

While British summers can be warm, they are nothing like summer in the southern US's so-called Sun Belt, the modern ice trade's heartland, where the largest operators produce over 1bn cubes a day.
英国的夏天可能很暖和，但和美国南部所谓的“阳光地带”的夏天截然不同。“阳光地带”是现代冰块贸易的中心地带，在那里，最大的冰商每天能生产10亿立方冰块。

We do not, strictly speaking, even need ice in our drinks – no one does! – which means that we must have acquired a taste for it; so much so, over the years, that we are now willing to pay for the privilege.
严格地说，我们并不需要在饮料里加冰块——没有人需要！——这说明我们一定是已经尝到了它的某种味道，以致于这么多年来已经愿意为这个特权付钱。

扫描二维码进行跟读打分训练

1.supply chain 供应链

In less-developed countries, such as those of sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia, wastage tends to occur primarily at the farmer-producer end of the supply chain.

在欠发达国家，如撒哈拉以南的非洲和东南亚国家，（食物）浪费往往主要发生在供应链的农民生产者端tPhM]NpG)WfS*B。

2.take possession of 占有，占领

The Philippines cannot take possession of the territory of others within 200 miles by using maritime jurisdiction.

菲律宾不能以海洋管辖权为由将200海里以内的外国领土也据为已有DhvM~[8FNj*3UQ。

译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载91PpMH_]4@。

上一页 [1] [2] 下一页 查看《英国卫报》更多内容>>

保存到QQ日志登录QQ空间

重点单词		查看全部解释
retail	['ri:teil]	想一想再看 n. 零售 vt. 零售，传述 ad
decent	['di:snt]	想一想再看 adj. 体面的，正派的，得体的，相当好的	联想记忆 X 单词decent 联想记忆： de地，cent硬币：我在马路边，拣到一分钱，把……（多么得体的行为！！）
produce	[prə'dju:s]	想一想再看 n. 产品，农作物 vt. 生产，提出，引起，	联想记忆 X 单词produce 联想记忆： pro向前，duce引导－引导出的产品－农产品
plastic	['plæstik, plɑ:stik]	想一想再看 adj. 塑料的，可塑的，造型的，整形的，易受影响的
estate	[is'teit]	想一想再看 n. 财产，房地产，状态，遗产	联想记忆 X 单词estate 联想记忆： state（n 领土；社会地位或等级）
brand	[brænd]	想一想再看 n. 商标，牌子，烙印，标记 vt. 打烙印，	联想记忆 X 单词brand 联想记忆： 1）brand商标，挥舞刀剑就是军队的商标。2）读：不愿dish（盘子）。工人罢工得时候会挥舞着刀剑大喊：我们不愿洗盘子。
contain	[kən'tein]	想一想再看 vt. 包含，容纳，克制，抑制 vi. 自制	联想记忆 X 单词contain 联想记忆： con全部，tain拿－全部拿住－包含
endurance	[in'djuərəns]	想一想再看 n. 忍耐，忍耐力，耐性	联想记忆 X 单词endurance 联想记忆： endure持久，坚硬+ance→忍耐力
minor	['mainə]	想一想再看 adj. 较小的，较少的，次要的 n. 未成年	联想记忆 X 单词minor 联想记忆： min小+or→较小的；较少的
privilege	['privilidʒ]	想一想再看 n. 特权，特别恩典，基本人权，荣幸 vt.	联想记忆 X 单词privilege 联想记忆： pri＝private（adj 私人的），vilege＝village（n 乡村）：有私人的村庄－特权