2006年VOA标准英语-New Orleans Struggles to Deal with Trash;

By Greg Flakus
Washington, DC
28 February 2006
 
watch Carnival¹ Cleanup report
 

Carnival Cleanup  
  
The Carnival season has drawn² thousands of people to the streets of New Orleans over the past week.

The celebrations wrap up Tuesday, the day before the Christian³ Lent period of fasting, which in New Orleans carries the French name Mardi Gras.

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New Orleans is a city struggling with trash.

Nearly six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated⁴ much of the city, people are still trying to clean out homes and businesses.

Carnival cleanup - trash left over from Mardi Gras festivities  
  
Mardi Gras festivities produce even more trash. 

In an effort to keep the refuse under control, hundreds of volunteers have taken to the streets with plastic bags donated by Mardi Gras sponsor, the Glad Products Company, which manufactures the heavy-duty plastic bags called ForceFlex bags. (Glad is a subsidiary of the Clorox Company).

New Orleans native David Freidler is Director of Marketing⁵ for Glad Forceflex bags. 

David Freidler  
  
"When the Mardi Gras program came to us, we immediately jumped on board for the opportunity to take part in rebuilding this great city. Following Hurricane Katrina, Glad ForceFlex donated well over 1.2 million bags to the cleanup efforts to New Orleans and the Gulf⁶ coast. Starting today, we will be contributing over another 150,000 bags to make sure this is a safe, happy and clean Mardi Gras season."

This is the first time in its 150 year history that the New Orleans Mardi Gras has had a corporate⁷ sponsor.

City officials sought sponsors because New Orleans is essentially⁸ broke and needed help to get the event off the ground. The city would have liked more than one sponsor, but in the aftermath of Katrina there was little time to put a program together. 

 
Ernest Collins
  
Ernest Collins, Director of Arts and Entertainment for the City of New Orleans, say this was a good start. "We were a little disappointed with the result, we only have one sponsor, however we still feel it is a strong brand, New Orleans and Mardi Gras, a very powerful brand. The biggest lesson we learned was to start earlier and we will have much better results next time around."

In this case, the corporate sponsor's contribution went well beyond a cash donation and meshed⁹ well with ongoing¹⁰ efforts by volunteer citizens' groups to clean up the streets.

 
Debra English
  
Volunteer Debra English says she was happy to don the Glad tee shirt and do her part to pick up trash. "I had the morning free and what better way to spend my time than to help my city, in a very small way, but if we all do that, that is great."

And volunteers say they don't mind doing their work in the Glad company tee shirts, thereby¹¹ serving as advertising¹² platforms for the Mardi Gras sponsor.

1 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

6 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 meshed   

有孔的，有孔眼的，啮合的

参考例句：

• The wheels meshed well. 机轮啮合良好。
• Their senses of humor meshed perfectly. 他们的幽默感配合得天衣无缝。

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

11 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

12 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。