The volume of waste produced has plummeted during the coronavirus lockdown—a trend that may have environmental benefits, but is devastating for many waste collection businesses. Although households have been producing about 20 per cent more rubbish than usual over the period because people are at home, the level of commercial waste has dropped by around 50 per cent because of closed businesses, said Mr Scanlon, echoing similar figures from other companies.

(plummet 什么意思?)

思考题：

During the coronavirus lockdown, ___.

A.volume of household waste has dropped substantially

B.better environment brings benefits to waste treatment

C.waste collection has witnessed distinct drop of revenue

D.commercial waste has been moved to residential areas

词汇突破：

volume 数量

plummet 下降

the coronavirus lockdown 新冠疫情封锁

devastating 毁灭性的

echo 相呼应，相一致

句子解析：

句：

The volume of waste produced has plummeted during the coronavirus lockdown—a trend (同位语)that may have environmental benefits, but is devastating(定语从句) for many waste collection businesses.

参考译文：在疫情封锁期间，产生的废物量急剧下降;这一趋势也许具有环境效益，但对许多垃圾收集企业来说则是毁灭性的。

第二句：

Although households have been producing about 20 per cent more rubbish(状从主干) than usual over the period because people are at home//, the level of commercial waste has dropped by around 50 per cent (主句主干)because of closed businesses, said Mr Scanlon, echoing similar figures from other companies.

参考译文：斯坎龙表示，尽管在此期间，人们待在家里，居家垃圾的量比往常多20%，但由于停工歇业，商业垃圾的数量下降了约50%。这与其他公司的类似数据相呼应。

思考题解析：

During the coronavirus lockdown, ___.

在新冠疫情封锁期间_______.

A. volume of household waste has dropped

(家庭垃圾的量显著地下降了)

第二句说到了家庭垃圾的数量增加了。

所以A选项错误。

B. better environment brings benefits to waste treatment

(更好的环境有利于废物处理)

文章中没有谈论到，所以B选项错误。

C. waste collection has witnessed distinct drop of revenue

(垃圾收集业经历了明显的收入下降)

C选项正确。

D. commercial waste has been moved to residential areas

(商业废物已转移到居民区)

文章只说了商业废物数量减少，没有说， 废物转移到了居民区。

所以D选项错误。

文章来源背景和来源：

Lockdown leaves UK waste collectors feeling the pinch

封锁让英国垃圾收集商感到压力

Source: https://www.ft.com/content/008f1836-8a83-431c-8e2a-09bcb447b827

背景：也许许多人都没注意到，了解社会生活和居民消费变化最便捷的方法之一就是：翻垃圾桶。我们来看看疫情封锁期间垃圾收集公司反馈的信息。据英国的垃圾处理企业Suez收集的数据，疫情开始时的全民大屯货令4月中旬废易拉罐数量增长70%，同时由于居家的民众的酒水饮料增加，废玻璃瓶的数量也明显增多，而由于写字楼的关门，废打印纸的数据断崖式下跌。Suez的首席执行官斯坎龙表示，“垃圾桶实际上是经济的晴雨表。根据垃圾的数量，我们快速地了解到经济的整体走向。”目前的情况是，虽然居民区的垃圾量有所增加，但商业垃圾的大幅减少令垃圾收集企业感到前景堪忧。垃圾总量的大幅下降意味着经济总体趋势较为严峻，在经济拮据的大环境下，企业和个人都不会愿意为更环保也更昂贵的垃圾处理方式付费，而这部分业务已经越来越成为垃圾处理行业的主要利润来源之一。