Making Life Easier

董晓白

你为垃圾分类苦恼过吗？众所周知，近年来垃圾分类的好处正在逐渐渗透到人们的理念中，但在分类的过程中，仍然有一些难以解决之事，尤其是湿垃圾分类就常常让人叫苦不迭。然而上海市文莱中学的14岁男孩施源创造力爆棚，发明了一款湿垃圾“神器”，使我们的生活化繁为简。

If you live in Shanghai， you might have recently learned how to sort （分类） waste the hard way. You have to be careful when throwing away wet waste， which may include food or other kinds of garbage. Maybe these kinds of waste have made a big mess when you ve thrown them away.

Shi Yuan， 14， from Shanghai Wenlai Middle School， has made a special bag to help solve this problem. The plastic bag has a band of adhesive tape （粘贴带）. When one end of the tape is open， the bag can be turned upside-down. You can hold the bottom end and easily throw wet garbage into a trash can.

Shi came up with the idea after an unpleasant experience in which he got wet waste all over his pants while throwing it away. He found that many other people had the same problem. He became determined to solve this issue and invented his special bag.

He first thought about using a gunny （麻布） bag or placing a bag break on his trash cans. But neither of these ideas worked. So he decided to just design his own garbage bag. “I didn t want to put any extra burden （负担） on the bag， so I used adhesive tape，” Shi said.

However， the original tape was a one-off product （一次性产品） and not environmentally friendly. So Shi kept on improving his design. He remembered reading about the adhesive （粘合剂） used for Post-it notes （便利贴）. Shi thought this weak glue （胶水） could be used for the adhesive tape and allow the garbage bag to be reused.

Shi s bag has become popular in many communities. He has already sold 2 million bags online. His father is quite proud of him.

“Kids like to play. Shi just changed the way he ‘plays  and put his mind toward exploring a way to make life easier，” Shi s father said.

【难句解析】

1. If you live in Shanghai， you might have recently learned how to sort waste the hard way.

釋义：如果你是上海居民，那么最近你应该好不容易才学会了如何分类垃圾吧。

点拨：learn （sth.） the hard way 意为“历经挫折才懂得”，是一种习语的表达。在英语中，情态动词完成时连用是一个很有用的结构，体现为“情态动词+have done”的结构，表达对过去情况的看法或态度。不同的情态动词和have done连用，含义不同。例如：

How I regretted the days when I had played and should have studied. 我多么懊恼我把本该好好学习的日子都拿来玩了。

Since the ground is wet， it must have rained last night. 因为地面是湿的，昨晚一定下雨了。

They can t have lost themselves in the woods， because I drew a map to them. 他们不可能在树林中迷路，因为我给他们画了张地图。

You needn t have woken me up so early. It s Sunday today. 你没有必要这么早叫醒我。（因为）今天是星期天。

2. Shi came up with the idea after an unpleasant experience in which he got wet waste all over his pants while throwing it away.

释义：施源是在一次不愉快的经历后有了这个点子，当时他正在倒湿垃圾，结果弄得满裤子都是垃圾。

点拨：in which引导定语从句，修饰先行词an unpleasant experience。“介词+关系代词”引导的定语从句，是定语从句中一种介词前置的定语从句句型，介词与关系代词之间存在一种介宾关系。在此结构中，关系代词只能用which（指物）或whom（指人），即：介词+which / whom。本句中while引导时间状语从句，由于从句主语和主句主语一致，从句谓语中也包含be动词，故省去从句的主语和be动词，保留be 动词之后的部分。例如：

This is my pair of glasses without which I cannot see anything. 这是我的眼镜，离了它我什么也看不清。

While （you were） walking the dog， you were careless and it got loose and was hit by a car. 当你遛狗时，不小心让它挣脱了，结果它被汽车撞了。

3. He remembered reading about the adhesive used for Post-it notes.

释义：他记得他曾经看到过一种用在便利贴上的粘合剂。

点拨：used for Post-it notes作后置定语，修饰名词the adhesive。过去分词作定语，在语态上，表被动;在时间上，表示动作已经发生或完成，与它所修饰的名词有逻辑上的动宾关系。过去分词短语作定语要放在被修饰的名词后面，作后置定语，其作用相当于一个定语从句。例如：

Most of the people invited （=who were invited） to the conference were my old friends. 大多数被邀请参加会议的都是我的老朋友。

4. Shi just changed the way he ‘plays and put his mind toward exploring a way to make life easier.

释义：施源只不过是改变了他玩的方式，并且致力于探索一条简化生活的道路。

点拨：本句为the way作先行词的定语从句。当way 表示“方式、方法”，在定语从句中the way作先行词，并在从句中充当状语成分时，后面的引导词有三种，即：that / in which或省略。例如：

I don t like the way （that / in which） he laughed at me. 我不喜欢他嘲笑我的样子。

I. Choose the right answer.

1. What did Shi Yuan actually invent？

A. A trash can.     B. A special plastic bag.   C. A gunny.    D. An adhesive tape.

2. When did Shi come up with the idea？

A. When he graduated from primary school.

B. After he saw his father throw the waste away.

C. After he got his trousers dirty while throwing away the wet waste.

D. After he read about a kind of weak glue used for Post-it notes.

3. Which statement is TRUE？

A. Wet waste refers to household food waste.

B. When one end of the tape is open， the bag can be broken， so you can easily throw wet garbage into a trash can.

C. The original tape was one-off product but environmentally friendly.

D. Shi s bag has become popular in many countries.

4. What is the story mainly about？

A. How Shi Yuan invented the special bag.

B. Why Shi invented the special bag.

C. Shi s bag has many advantages.

D. A fourteen-year-old boy made a special bag to make life easier.

II. Fill in the blanks.

1. In the 19th century， Darwin ________ ________ ________ （提出） the theory of evolution.

2. My plan ________ （奏效了）， and I got them to agree.

3. He ________ ________ ________ （下決心） shape his son as a poet and writer.

4. Every right-thinking Chinese would ________ ________ ________ （以……自豪） them.

5. I have ________ ________ ________ ________ （弄得一团糟） of my life.