Bamboo cups are not environmentally friendly at all

浙江宁波市鄞州高级中学 彭文国

现在人们都非常喜欢使用环保的产品，比如竹纤维杯。 但令人惊讶的是，竹纤维杯并没有我们想象中的那么环保。 让我们一起到文章中一探究竟吧！

?

难词探意

1. mug /mΛɡ/ n. 杯子

2. evaporate /ɪ΄væpəreɪt/ v. （使）蒸发

For many people, food and drinks containers made from bamboo seem like a good choice because they are considered environmentally friendly. Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant on the planet, so there's no shortage of sustainable material. Plus, bamboo containers are reusable and can, therefore,replace the disposable containers used by coffee shops and other food and drink outlets.

However, a recent test by the consumer group that investigates and compares goods on the German market, has shown that by shifting to a bamboo cup you might be risking your health in the process. Having tested 12 different bamboo cup brands, Stiftung Warentest, a German consumer organization and foundation, found that buyers are generally given the impression that they are buying natural products. With descriptions such as “bamboomug” or “made from bamboo fibers”, producers cover the fact that the cups are made from a powder of bamboo fibers that are then glued together. All of the cups tested contained melamine resin (蜜胺树脂), a glue made from formaldehyde（甲醛） and melamine.

As reported by Food Packaging Forum, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has also recently classified melamine as being “possibly carcinogenic （致癌的） to humans”. Still, as long as certain conditions are met, melamine resin is not considered a dangerous substance. One of these conditions, however, is that it is kept under 70 °C. But these bamboo cups are being specifically marketed for hot drinks. The Stiftung Warentest testers did the tests where common hot coffee was added into the cups. The results showed that four of the twelve cups contained “very high amounts of melamine”after the third filling. In three of the other cups, this occurred after the seventh filling. The results were sometimes higher after the seventh test, suggesting that the harmful chemicals don't evaporatebut continue to spread into drinks with prolonged use.

Stiftung Warentest also criticized the manufacturers for not properly warning about the dangers of placing the bamboo cups in the microwave. When heated to high temperatures, the cup's material will begin to break up. As the cup's surface is destroyed, it will release even more melamine and formaldehyde.

Language

Study

Useful words in scientific articles

sustainable 可持续的

reusable 可以重复使用的

disposable 用后即丢弃的；一次性的

investigate 调查；研究

process 过程

product 产品；结果

classify 划分；界定

manufacturer 制造商

release 释放

Reading

Check

阅读短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

写作导引

概要写作是对一篇文章的主题思想的简单陈述。 它用最简洁的语言概括了原文的主题，主要包括三个步骤：（1）阅读；（2）写作；（3）修改成文。

在进行概要写作时，可采用以下几种小技巧：

（1）删除细节，只保留主要观点；

（2）选择一至两个例子即可；

（3）把长段描述变成简单句子；

（4）使用最短连接词。