【英語多益通】美豬將進口,瘦肉精「殘留」的英文是?

▲ 國民黨曾在前行政院長林全首次施政總質詢時,抗議美豬進口(圖/ETtoday資料照)

文/李海碩

最近最大的新聞之一,莫過於美牛美豬將要開放進口的議題了。許多網友除了表示非臺豬不吃之外,也有網友表示美牛其實已經陪伴在我們的身邊許久了。若您想與外國友人討論這個話題,有哪些需要知道的關鍵多益英語詞彙呢?我們一起來看看。

一、怎麼說肉

豬與牛的英文大家一定都會,但是肉品肉類中許多都有自己完全不同的說法。

● 牛:(生物稱呼)cattle/(肉類)beef● 豬:pig/pork● 羊:lamb/mutton● 鹿:deer/venison● 其他特化肉品:小牛肉/veal、羔羊肉/lamb、春雞/spring chicken、乳豬/suckling pig

Local pig farmers are gathering to protest the upcoming eased pork import rules.(本地的豬農聚集抗議即將放寬的豬肉進口規範。)

二、怎麼說放寬規範

禁令在英文中的說法是ban,而解除禁令的動詞很特別,是用「提起來」的lift the ban。

The government is going to lift the ban on reselling masks on August 29th.(政府將於八月二十九日解除販售口罩的禁令。)

限制除了ban之外,也有restriction的說法,搭配動詞亦可使用lift。ban是直接禁止某個事物,restrict則有「限定於某個範圍」的意思

Travel restriction has not been lifted in many countries due to CO-VID19.(由於新冠疫情,許多國家尚未解除旅遊限制。)

本次主要的改變爲30個月以上的牛隻也可以進口,含瘦肉精的豬肉亦可進口,如下所示。

U.S. beef from cattle older than 30 months and pork containing Ractopamine are going to be imported soon. (30個月以上牛隻而來的美國牛肉、與含有瘦肉精的豬肉很快將會進口。)

三、進口的風險是什麼?

美牛的風險之一是狂牛病毒,亦即牛海棉腦病(bovine spongiform encephalopathy,簡寫爲BSE)。其中bovine爲牛的學術名詞、sponge是海棉、form是形狀、encephalo是腦、pathy是疾病。美豬主要的爭議則爲瘦肉精Ractopamine。

針對美豬需要做的瘦肉精殘留程度檢測,說法爲Ractopamine residue。residue即爲殘留物之意,通常與農藥殺蟲劑連用。

The FDA report has shown that the pesticide residue levels are below allowed limits.(食藥署的報告顯示,殺蟲劑的殘留等級低於允許上限。)

四、怎麼忽然要開放了

根據政府公告的資料,是因爲國際法規改變了。這邊的國際法規不能說成International Law,而需要以Codex(法典)來表達。這本法典是由FAO(Food and Agriculture Organization,聯合國糧食及農業組織)與WHO(World Health Organization,世界衛生組織)共同制訂,本法典的名稱爲Codex Alimentarius,即爲拉丁文中的Book of Food。

根據政府所公告的資料,此刻需要開放的原因還有,考慮國家利益(national interest)與策略發展(strategic development)。

The newly employed marketing strategies have raked in huge profit for the company. (新運用行銷策略爲公司拉進了大把利益。)

五、表達您自己的立場

討論熱門時事,都會有不同的意見和看法呢?以下介紹可以運用的詞句,讓您表達自己的立場。

若政策立場因時空而改變改變,最好而又簡單的表達方式就是「(A lot of/Lots of) Things have changed.」當事情都改變了,意思就是「狀況已經不同」了。這個用法很常見也有名,也是諾貝爾文學獎得主Bob Dylan一首歌曲歌名

Things have changed. Grammatical errors are often allowed in lyrics nowadays for better rhyming. (景物已非。現今歌詞中常爲了更好的押韻而允許文法錯誤。)

若這個簡單的用法無法滿足您,那可以用較爲高階的context。這個字來自於con-(一起)與-text(文字),放在一起的文字就是前後文的意思。而若使用contextual/background information就是表示其他應該瞭解的前後文/背景資訊

Don’t take things out of context! (萬勿斷章取義!)字面上的意思是別從前後文中單獨取出,當然就是斷章取義了。

You need to take the contextual/background information into consideration.(您需要把背景資訊一併列入考量。)

若您認爲政府是換了位置就換了腦袋,也有以下的說法。

It’s time for them to eat their own words. (該是他們撤回前言的時候了。)

Eat one’s word非常容易被誤會成「食言、不守信」,但其主要意思是「承認之前所說的話是錯誤的/撤回前言」。

The table has turned!(風水輪流轉!)

The table has turned.在這邊的意思可不是真的跑去轉桌子,而是「狀況跟之前不一樣了」,之前說話大聲的人現在可沒辦法大聲了。跟「Things have changed」比起來,這句話強調的不只是情況轉變,更有原本佔優勢者已經失勢之意。也因爲這樣,這句話常常以感嘆句的方式存在,「How the tables have turned!」或是「How the turntables!」的意思都相同。

【多益模擬試題

According to the newly revised regulations, U.S. beef from cattle more than 30 months and pork containing ractopamine will soon be imported into Taiwan.Local pig farmers are gathering to protest the upcoming eased pork import rules. Consumers, however, have shown very different perspectives. Some argue that American beef has been here since 2006. Others believe that there should be no worries for Taiwanese pork as it simply tastes better. The government believed this action is for the best of the national interest and future strategic developments. Opposers have located Internet posts from years ago to suggest that it might be a good time for the ruling party to eat its words.

1. According to the article, which is true? (A) Consumers in Taiwan are all very happy about the lifting of the ban(B) Some consumers really like Taiwanese pork(C) Local pig farmers are happy about the upcoming changes. (D) 2020 will be the first year for the U.S. beef to be imported into Taiwan

2. What can we infer from the passage? (A) We will not have U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months starting from now(B) There will be no U.S. pork starting from now. (C) Ractopamine is a common food seasoning(D) The ruling party might have taken a different stance in the past.

解析

1. 正解爲(B)。(A)、(C)爲錯誤,因爲第二段開頭便表示有豬農將進行抗議。(D)爲錯誤,因爲文章內已經表示2006年起便有牛肉進口。(B)的答案可由第二段中「許多人認爲臺灣豬肉就是較好」得知。

2. 正解爲(D)。(A)錯誤,開始開放30個月以上並不表示30個月以下限制不開放。(B)錯誤,豬肉爲開放而非禁絕。(C)錯誤,因爲food seasoning爲食物調味品,由第一段中便知道不會是常見的調味品。(D)可由最夠一段的eat its own words得知。

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