Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English – the show that brings you an interesting topic, authentic listening practice and six new items of vocabulary. I'm Dan…
And I'm Neil. In this episode we'll be discussing water burial.
我是 Neil。在这一集中，我们将讨论水葬。
Dan(担)
Yes. It’s a bit of a bleak subject, I’m afraid.
是的。恐怕这是一个有点凄凉的话题。
Neil(尼尔)
Something which is bleak is unpleasant or without hope.
黯淡的事物令人不快或没有希望。
Dan(担)
And, do you know what’s really bleak? It’s this week's question. On average, how many people die each hour? a) six thousand b) sixty thousand c) six hundred thousand
And we'll find out if you're right or not at the end of this show. So, the actual figure is 55m people each year. Now, religious or not, there is a practical issue to be dealt with, which is, Neil?
Exactly! So what are the options for the average person?
完全！那么普通人有哪些选择呢？
Neil(尼尔)
Well, there’s burial, or there’s cremation.
嗯，有土葬，或者有火葬。
Dan(担)
Burial is when a body is put into the earth and cremation is when a body is burnt. But there are big problems with both. For example, what two things do most people need in order to be buried?
Well, a coffin – or a box to put the body in and a grave. That’s the place the coffin and body go into.
嗯，一口棺材 —— 或者一个装尸体的盒子和一个坟墓。那是棺材和尸体进入的地方。
Dan(担)
Exactly, but coffins are most often made of wood. In the US they use four million acres of forest every year just to make coffins. And as for graves, cemeteries are beginning to get overcrowded – there’s no space left! After all, dying is not exactly a new thing! It’s been happening for years.
Aha, but with cremation, there’s no space needed. And they burn gas to dispose of the body. That’s got to be better.
啊哈，但是火化不需要空间。他们燃烧煤气来处理尸体。那必须变得更好。
Dan(担)
You’d think so, but no. I’ll let Sahar Zand, reporter for the BBC, explain why.
你可能会这么认为，但不是。我让 BBC 的记者 Sahar Zand 解释一下原因。
Sahar Zand, BBC reporter(SaharZand，BBC记者)
During the process, a number of toxins can be emitted into our environment, including mercury from dental fillings. Cremation also has a carbon cost. With the energy used to process one body, you could actually heat a home for the best part of a week in winter
So cremation can release toxins, or poisons, into the environment and it comes with a very high energy cost – enough to heat a home for almost a week! OK. I can see a smug look in your eye, Dan. What do you have up your sleeve?
This is where the body is put into an alkali solution and heated to 150 degrees centigrade. This breaks down the tissue and leaves only the skeleton.
这是将身体放入碱溶液中并加热到 150 摄氏度的地方。这会分解组织，只留下骨骼。
Neil(尼尔)
Interesting.
有趣。
Dan(担)
Yes! It has huge advantages over cremation
是的！与火葬相比，它具有巨大的优势
Neil(尼尔)
Such as?
如？
Dan(担)
Well for one thing, it takes only 4 hours to finish. It follows the same process as when a body decomposes, but quicker.
首先，只需 4 小时即可完成。它遵循与身体分解时相同的过程，但速度更快。
Neil(尼尔)
When something decomposes it breaks down and decays. Ok, anything else?
当某物分解时，它会分解和腐烂。好的，还有什么吗？
Dan(担)
It uses much less energy. Each body is weighed and then the computer calculates exactly how much of everything is needed.
它使用的能源要少得多。每具尸体都经过称重，然后计算机会准确计算出需要多少东西。
Neil(尼尔)
Ok, it’s more efficient too. Why are you smiling?
好吧，它也更有效。你为什么微笑？
Dan(担)
This is the best part! Listen to Sahar again.
这是最好的部分！再听一遍 Sahar。
Sahar Zand, BBC reporter(SaharZand，BBC记者)
All that’s left at this point is a brittle skeleton and any artificial implants that they may have had in their body – and they come out almost as good as new. There’s even talk of sending the implants to the developing world, where they can benefit populations that don’t have access to them, because they’re very expensive.
So after the process you have a brittle, or easy to break, skeleton and any implants that they had inside them.
因此，在该过程之后，您会得到一个脆性或容易断裂的骨骼及其内部的任何植入物。
Dan(担)
Implants are artificial additions to the body, such as plastic hips or an artificial heart. And they’re clean! They can be recycled and given to someone who needs them! Isn’t that cool?
It gets ground up into dust and put in a jar to give to the family – exactly the same as a traditional cremation. I love it! Sign me up! Would you like to give it a shot?
它被磨成粉末，放入罐子里送给家人 —— 与传统火葬完全一样。我喜欢！注册我！您想试一试吗？
Neil(尼尔)
Well, I can’t answer that question. But can I have the answer to our quiz question?
好吧，我无法回答这个问题。但是我能得到我们的测验问题的答案吗？
Dan(担)
Of course. I asked: On average, how many people die each hour? a) six thousand b) sixty thousand c) six hundred thousand
答案是肯定的。我问道：平均每小时有多少人死亡？a） 六千 b） 六万 c） 六十万
Neil(尼尔)
I said b) sixty thousand
我说 b） 六万
Dan(担)
And you, my friend, are dead in the water. Unfortunately, it’s a) six thousand
而你，我的朋友，已经死在水里了。不幸的是，这是 a） 六千
Neil(尼尔)
Ok. Well that’s probably better, isn’t it?
还行。嗯，这可能更好，不是吗？
Dan(担)
Yes.
是的。
Neil(尼尔)
Shall we have a look at the vocabulary then?
那我们来看看这些词汇吗？
Dan(担)
Certainly. Our first word was bleak meaning something unhappy, unpleasant or without hope. What types of things do we typically describe as bleak, Neil?
Oh, the weather in the UK can be bleak. It’s very, very dark in the winter. Next we had grave. A grave is a hole in the earth where a body is placed. However, there is another use.
Yes. We can talk about a situation being grave. The outbreak of war is a very grave situation for many people. Then we had toxin. A toxin is a substance which is poisonous. Have you ever been poisoned by a toxin, Neil?
Well, I suppose so, yes. I’ve had food poisoning and that’s caused by toxins. After that was decompose. When something decomposes, it breaks down and decays. Much like when fruit goes bad and turns black and then becomes liquid.
Then we had brittle. Something which is brittle is easily broken. For example, Neil?
然后我们就有了脆性。易碎的东西很容易折断。例如，Neil？
Neil(尼尔)
Glass, crockery, tiles and some plastic. Crisps! And finally we had implant. An implant is something artificial which has been put into the body – such as an artificial heart or a replacement hip. Would you like to have any implants, Dan?
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