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0 [The growing amount of garbage] is a serious environmental problem. In Tokyo
「増えている」
「東京だけで」
alone/「the total amount of garbage] is about five million tons a year. This is (almost)
「1年につき」
equal to [the weight of one million elephants].
「…に等しい」
2 A lot of unburnable garbage ends up in [what are called landfills]. Some of
「最後に…に行き着く」
「いわゆる」
5
these landfill sites can be very large. Indeed,/[the attractions of the Odaiba area of
助~でありうる
Tokyo]are built/on a large landfill.
③ You may be surprised,/however,/to hear[that| the world's largest “garbage dump"
be surprised to do 「~して驚く」
is not on land,/but in the middle of the Pacific Ocean」. The Western Garbage Patch
not A but B「AでなくB」
is between Japan and Hawaii,/and the Eastern Garbage Patch is between Hawaii and
V1
California. Together/ they are known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch/and cover
be known as 「……として知られている」
an area of 1.4 million square kilometers,which is more than three times as large as
10
「合わせて」
S
V2
O 1siijmateu 「平方キロメートル」
「…を超える」
and it
Japan. Who dumps garbage <wayXout> in the ocean? Of course,/ no human beings
「はるかに」「彼方に」 in Hobinb
throw garbage (there),/but/ocean currents carry it to that area. Surprisingly,/[more than
「…の3倍の大きさ」
=way out in the ocean
=the garbage
four million tons of garbage] has drifted<there).
現在死了(完了)
=to that area
4 The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is (mostly》 made up of pieces of plastic. The
I0
boog ed ot mo banicu bns ram be made up of …から成り立っている」
sun's light breaks them into smaller pieces, /but/they never completely disappear.
「…の破片」
break O into. 「○を分解して…にする」
These tiny plastic pieces are poisonous/and marine animals and birds mistake them
for food.
mistake A for B「AをBと間違える」
6 Midway Island is near the Hawaiian Islands. Every year,/albatrosses raise half
「…を育てる」
a million chicks/on this island. These days,/however,/forty percent of the chicks die/
100万の半分=50万
because they have eaten plastic which) was (mistakenly》 given to them/ by their
現在完了(完了)
plastic
parents).
6 While [some of this floating mass of garbage]comes from ships,/eighty percent
圏「~ではあるが」
Comes from land. [Cleaning up the ocean] seems to be a very difficult task,/ bu
動名詞
seems to be C 「Cのように思われる」
Lreducing waste on land]is something ( we can all do). So,/next time you are at e
動名詞
store,/think about [|whether you really need a plastic bag]. That bag might end up I
(which)
next time S V 「今後~する時は」
