# The perfect lawn. A bright green flag that tells the world and the neighbors you’ve achieved the American dream. From the tiniest L.A. front yard to the vast expanse of the White House lawn, from coast to shining coast, Americans are truly obsessed with turf. Barbecues, baseball, even impromptu musicals — it all happens on the lawn.
But there’s an ugly truth hiding behind America’s glorification of grass. Lawns are damaging our planet, ruining our health, and wasting our time. The obsession has its roots in the manicured lawns of the European aristocracy. The fashion caught on with the elites on both sides of the pond before it was reinvented for the white middle class in suburbia. And now, lawn grass is everywhere.
* lawn / grass : 정원
* turf 경기장/운동장의 잔디를 일컫음
* turf war 세력 다툼 (*땅, 구역의 느낌이 있음)
* kill 없애다
* a flag : 깃발 = a signal 표시 => 동사 to signal 알려주다, to weaken 깃발이 아래로 축 쳐지는 느낌
* expanse : 넓게 펼쳐진 어떤 것
* 전국적으로 : across the country = from coast to coast
* shining = sparkling
* impromptu : 즉흥적인 것 = improvised
* improvise
to do something without preparing it first, often because the situation does not allow you to prepare
* an ugly truth = an inconvenient truth 인정하기 싫은 진실
* glorification 미화
* glory 영광 = beauty 찬미, 찬사
gl- 빛난다
* manicured : 깔끔, 단장 = neat // well care-for 관리가 잘 되어 있는
* aristocracy: 귀족들
* catch on = become popular 인기를 얻다
* suburbia = suburbs 교외
suburbs in general, the people who live in them, or their way of life
I was brought up in middle-class suburbia.
# There’s more lawn than any other crop in America, even corn. So the problems it causes, and there are many, become magnified. The most egregious one? Water. Americans sprinkle so much water on their lawns every year that they could fill five million Olympic swimming pools. And of course, the drier the region, the more water needed to keep your neighbor jealous. Much of the American West is being fried by the worst megadrought in a millennium. “For the first time ever, officials in Southern California are declaring a water shortage emergency.” And lawns are directly competing against farms, our food supply, for scarce water. Some parched cities are so desperate, they’re now sending out patrols to enforce watering bans with harsh fines.
* crop : 작물
* more something than any other 단수명사 : 최상급의 의미
* magnify : 확대
* so much water : 얼마나(!!!) 많은 물을 뿌려대던지... = so는 정도의 느낌임
* 산불 = a wildfire (*wild = 걷잡을 수 없는)
* megadrought : 대가뭄
* in a millennium : 천년만에
* officials : 관계자들, 정부기관, 주무기관
* egregious = terrible 끔찍한
egregious DEFINITIONS AND SYNONYMS
* scarce : if something is scarce, there is not very much of it
* parched : 말라비틀어진 extremely dry because of hot weather
parched soil
* desperate : 지푸라기라도 잡는 심정
* harsh fines: 심각한 벌금
* enforce 집행하다
- law enforcement (법 집행 / 치안당국(경찰))
# Outside the American West, sure, there is way more water, but there are also more problems. Most American lawn grasses aren’t native to America, and they need a cocktail of fertilizers and herbicides to thrive. But herbicides can be really toxic, and millions of pounds of nitrogen fertilizers sprinkled over lawns every year — well, that’s a massive source of carbon emissions. And nitrogen runs off into lakes and rivers, turning them into dead zones choked with toxic algae.
* way more water : way는 강조의 의미
* be native to America : 미국이 원산자이다
* herbicide : 제초제
* thrive = succeed : 별 문제 없다
* emissions : 99%는 s를 붙여 "배출가스"라는 뜻으로 쓰임
* run off = flow : off는 여기서 떨어져서 저기로이동하는 모습을 강조
* choked with 숨이 막히다
* algae : 조류 (녹조류 같은)
# And when all this lawn treatment is done attacking the planet, guess what it attacks next? You. You have to cut your lawn with, you guessed it, a gas powered mower. These gas guzzlers churn out 5 percent of the nation’s toxic air pollution, and anyone standing near one is inhaling that good stuff straight into their lungs.
* done = finished
* done = done (with)
* you guessed it : 이미 추측을 했다 => 너도 알겠지만
* mow 잔디를 깎다
* guzzle 벌컥벌컥(생맥주)
* sip 홀짝홀짝(와인)
* a gas guzzler : 기름을 많이 잡아 먹는 자동차 (연비가 낮음)
* a gas sipper : 연비가 좋은 자동차
* churn out = produce 만들어내다
# In fact, Americans in some cities can spend up to 50 days of their lives looking after lawns. And while that’s something some people are into - "I like mowing my lawn.” - that’s still 50 days they’ll never get back. Thanks, lawns.
But get this: In spite of all the damning evidence, maintaining a manicured lawn is literally required by law in many municipalities. Punishments for not complying can be harsh. The city of Bloomington, Indiana, ruled that
grass could be no longer than eight inches. Resident Alexander Gould sued because he wanted an eco friendly un-mowed meadow instead. The case went to the state appeals court. Gould lost. Basically, the judges told him
to suck it up and keep mowing.
* in fact : 그런데, 오히려 (앞의 나온 내용과 다른 내용을 말함)
* up to : 최대
* look after = take care of
* He's into baseball. 광팬
* get this = listen 잘 들어봐, 그런데 말이야. (*get = understand )
* damning = 부정적인
* municipality: 지방정부
a town or other area that has its own local government
* punishment(s) : s가 붙으면 구체적인 처벌을 말함
* meadow : 목초지, 관목 => 큰 작은 나무
a field where grass and wild flowers grow
* appeals court: 항소심, 2심
* basically : 기본적으로, 사실상
* suck it up : 뱉지 말고, 빨아들어라 => 받아들여라
* suck it up and keep ~ : 잠자코 계속 해!
# Lawns have a powerful hold on America. To break it, two things have to happen. The first is simple. Local laws need to be more progressive and get real about the climate emergency and encourage, not block, grass free yards. The second is going to be a hard sell. It’s time for all of us to fall out of love with our lawns.
Now, a big breakup is easier if there are better prospects out there. "I want to see other people.” In the Nevada desert, a cash rebate scheme paid residents to remove 200 million square feet of grass and plant native vegetation that needs very little water and no mowing. It even looks good enough to make those European aristocrats jealous.
* hold : 잡다X => 잡고 있다 => 유지하고, 계속 하는 것
* have a hold on 영향을 끼치다, 좌지우지하다
* 좌우, 보수/진보
* 진보 : 앞으로 나아간다, 전향적인, 변화를 추구하는 progressive (후퇴의 반대말은 아니다)
<-> 반대말은 변화를 싫어하는 것임.
* get real = realize
* sell : 물건만 파는 것이 아니고, 생각도 팔 수 있다 => 설득의 느낌이 있음
I'm not sold on it. = I don't buy it. (*buy = believe의 느낌이 있음) 내가 그런 말에 넘어갈 것 같아! 안 믿는다.
* fall in love <=> fall out of love : fall은 사랑의 변화, 를 의미함
* prospect : 전망, 가능성 => 후보(뭔가를 맡기고 싶은데 맡길 - 가능성이 있는 - 사람), 라는 뜻이 있음
* scheme = plan 계획
* vegetation (집합명사라 s가 안 붙음) = plants
a type of vegetation that is found only in this part of the world
# Rainy Montgomery County, Maryland, is just the kind of wealthy suburb where lawns rule supreme, but the county took a bold step and ended mandatory grass. Then they banned some pesticides, distributed free trees, paid cash incentives and even made quit- your- lawn guides. Did that turn Montgomery into a scruffy overgrown dump? Nope. Montgomery’s
residents transformed their yards into sustainable, low maintenance meadow paradises. Ditch the lawn, and that could be you.
* rule : 지배하다
* supreme 최고의
* rule supreme = are supreme ~가 득세하다
* pesticide : 살충제
* scruffy : untidy or dirty 꽤재재, 정리가 안 된, 지저분한 = shabby
a scruffy old T-shirt
* overgrown: 멋대로 자란
* dump: 쓰레기장
* sustainable : 지속가능한 + 친환경의 느끼몯 있음
* low maintenace 손이 덜 가는 (사람에게도 씀) <-> high maintenace
* you can do that 할 수 있다
you could do that 할 수도 있다
'영어 초고속 말문 트기' 카테고리의 다른 글
| 영작공부하기 : 변심하다, 영어로 어떻게 말하지? (0) | 2023.04.27 |
|---|---|
| 영어뉴스 공부하기: Wife who lost husband to Alzheimer's wants to inspire other caregivers (0) | 2023.04.26 |
| 영작 공부하기: 상용화, 요요현상을 영어로 어떻게 말하지? (0) | 2023.04.23 |
| 영어뉴스 공부하기 : Self-driving issues force Tesla to recall 362,000 vehicles (0) | 2023.04.23 |
| 영어 뉴스 공부하기 : Billionaire aims for Spurs takeover (0) | 2023.04.16 |
댓글