VOA慢速英语 荷兰发明家发布了一种从河流中去除塑料的装置

Dutch Inventor Demonstrates Device to Remove Plastic from Rivers

A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to clean up floating plastic from the Pacific Ocean. He has developed a floating device to trap plastic waste moving into rivers before it reaches the high seas.

Boyan Slat was just 18 years old when he invented a system for catching¹ waste in the ocean. He also founded an environmental group called The Ocean Cleanup. Its purpose is to develop and deploy² the system.

Last Saturday, the 25-year-old Slat announced the next step in his fight: a floating device that he calls the “Interceptor.” It removes plastic out of rivers. The device is powered by energy from the sun.

“We need to close the tap, which means preventing more plastic from reaching the ocean in the first place,” Slat said. He added that rivers are “the arteries³ that carry the trash from land to sea.”

The Ocean Cleanup has been criticized in the past for directing its attention only on plastic waste already in the world’s oceans. Experts say 8 million metric tons of waste flow into the ocean each year from rivers, creeks⁴ and seaside areas. The plastic endangers fish and other sea creatures.

Three of the machines have already been deployed⁵ to Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Slat said a fourth is going to the Dominican Republic.

Izham Hashim, a Malaysian government official, was present at the Interceptor’s launch in his country.

Hashim told The Associated Press (AP) that he was happy with the machine. “It has been used for 1 1/2 months in the river and it’s doing very well, collecting the plastic bottles and all the rubbish,” he said.

Slat said he believes 1,000 rivers are responsible for about 80% of plastic going into the world’s oceans. He said he wants to try to clean them all in the next five years.

He added, “This is not going to be easy, but imagine if we do get this done. We could truly make our oceans clean again.”

Slat used his announcement to ask for support from countries interested in cleaning up their rivers. He also wants support from businesses prepared to offer financial support and help with the operation of the devices.

The Interceptor is designed to be secured in rivers. Its nose is shaped to deflect⁶ away larger floating objects like tree trunks. The interceptors work by guiding plastic waste into an opening in the front of the devices. The waste is then carried inside the machine where it is dropped into containers. The interceptor sends a text message to local operators that can come and empty it when it is full.

Slat demonstrated how it worked by putting hundreds of yellow rubber ducks into the water at the launch event in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The interceptor caught nearly all of them.

Each machine currently costs about $775,600. Slat said the cost will likely drop as production increases.

Jan van Franeker is with the Wageningen Marine⁷ Research institute. He has been critical of The Ocean Cleanup in the past, but said the new device looks promising⁸.

He told the AP, “I am really happy they finally moved toward the source of the litter. The design, from what I can see, looks pretty good.”

Slat argued that the economic effect of not removing plastic from rivers is higher than the cost of buying and using the machines.

“Deploying⁹ interceptors is even cheaper than deploying nothing at all,” he noted¹⁰.

I’m Caty Weaver¹¹.

Words in This Story

arteries – n. large roads, rivers, railroad lines, etc.

cheaper – adj. at a lower price

deflect – v. to keep something, such as a question, from affecting or being directed at a person or thing

litter – n. things that have been thrown away and that are lying on the ground in a public place; a messy pile or group of things

source – n. the cause of something, such as a problem

1 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

2 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 creeks   

n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪

参考例句：

• The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
• There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句

5 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

6 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。