Recycling—Quick and dirty(二)

[3] Such businesses first began to take off in student dormitories. These days young office workers are by far the biggest market. But there is much hand-wringing about the consequences of their popularity. Officials say the couriers threaten road safety. They ride electric bikes which are cheap, need no licence and are handy in cities like Beijing that restrict the use of motorcycles. Delivery people often mount pavements or drive against the flow of traffic to maximize earnings during the lunchtime rush. Last month officials in Nanjing said meal delivery bikes in the eastern city had been involved in more than 3,000 accidents in the first six months of the year. In one district of Shanghai police have introduced a penalty-points system. They order those who acquire a certain number of points to perform community service. The police can ask couriers’ employers to fire them.
[4] Another worry is the welfare of delivery people, many of whom are migrants from the countryside. In several ways they have it easier than other types of courier: food boxes are easier to handle than bulky parcels, and the recipients are always there. But China Labour Bulletin, an NGO in Hong Kong, says meal deliverers have been staging growing numbers of protests about poor treatment by their employers (usually
subcontractors), including wages paid late. Linking their pay to customer ratings has also made it easy for customers to demand more of them than they should: the purchase of groceries en route to their destinations, for example, or the disposal of household rubbish.

单词注解

take off

1.When an aeroplane takes off, it leaves the ground and starts flying. (飞机) 起飞
• We eventually took off at 11 o'clock and arrived in Juneau at 1:30.
我们终于在11点起飞，1:30到达朱诺。
2.If something such as a product, an activity, or someone's career takes off, it suddenly becomes very successful. 突然成功
• In 1944, he met Edith Piaf, and his career took off.
1944年，他遇到伊迪丝•琵雅芙，从此他的事业飞黄腾达.
3.If you take off or take yourself off, you go away, often suddenly and unexpectedly. (常指突然且出人意料地) 离开
• He took off at once and headed back to the motel.
他出人意料地立刻就离开了，然后回到了那家汽车旅馆
4.If you take a garment off, you remove it. 脱去
• He wouldn't take his hat off.
他不愿脱下他的帽子。
5.If you take time off, you obtain permission not to go to work for a short period of time. 休假
• Mitchel's schedule had not permitted him to take time off.
米切尔的日程表已不允许他休假。

hand-wringing 绝望的

翻译

【1】这样的生意首先在学生宿舍里腾飞。如今，办公室职员目前为止是最大的市场。但是外卖盛行导致的后果使人们有种绝望的感觉。政府官员说：外卖快递员威胁着道路安全。他们骑着电动车很便宜，不需要执照，像在北京这样限制摩托车使用的城市很方便。在午餐高峰期，外卖送餐员通常在人行道上行驶或逆行，以最大限度地提高收入。上个月，南京的官员表示：在上半年，送餐自行车在东部城市发生了3000多起事故。上海的警察已经引入了一个记分制度。他们惩罚那些达到一定分数的人去做社区服务，他们也可以要雇主把他们解雇。
【2】另一个担心是送餐人员的福利，许多送餐人来来自于农村。在许多方面，他们比另外的快递员要容易：食品盒比笨重的包裹更容易处理，而且收件人总是在那里。但是香港的一个非政府组织中国劳工通讯表示，餐送者们一直在抗议他们的雇主(通常是分包商)对他们的糟糕待遇，包括拖欠工资。将他们的薪酬与客户评级联系起来,也使得顾客更容易满足他们更多的要求，例如在前往目的地的途中去杂货店买东西，还有扔垃圾。

语法

Linking their pay to customer ratings has also made it easy for customers to demand more of them than they should
Linking their pay to customer ratings做主语，动名词做主语时，谓语动词用第三人称单数
has made 做谓语，it 做has made 的形式宾语，真正的宾语是后面的动词不定式。

it做形式主语

当不定式（短语）、动名词（短语）或从句在某个句子中作主语时，为保持句子结构前后平衡，避免头重脚轻，因此常用it作形式主语置于句首，而将真正的主语放在句尾。此时it只起先行引导作用，本身无词义。
It is wrong to tell a lie.(说谎是错误的。) 〔It为to tell a lie的形式主语〕
It is no use arguing about it.(争吵是没用的。) 〔It为arguing about it的形式主语〕
It is uncertain who will come.(谁要来还不确定。) 〔It为who will come的形式主语〕

It 作形式主语的常见句型：

① It + be + 形容词 + to do sth. / doing / that ….

It is very important to learn a foreign language.学一门外语非常重要。
It is useless crying over the spilt milk.覆水难收。
It was really surprising that she married a man like that.
她嫁给那样的男士真让人惊讶。

② It + be +名词词组 + doing / that ….

It is no good telling lies.撒谎没好处。
It is a pity that you didn’t go to see the film yesterday.
你昨天没看成那部电影真遗憾。
It is a truth that there would be no new China without the Communist Party.
没有共产党就没有新中国，这是毋庸质疑的。

③ It + be + 过去分词 + that ….

该句型常见动词有：say, hope, think, suppose, expect, report, know, believe, decide, etc.
It is said that they have invented a new type of computer.
据说他们发明了一种新型电脑。
It is believed that China will become one of the strongest countries in the world.
大家都相信中国将会步入世界强国之列。
It was reported that more than 170 thousand people died in the 2004 tsunami.
据报道，至少有十七万人在2004年那场海啸中丧生。

④ It + seems / appears / happens等不及物动词 + that ….

It seems that he enjoys pop songs very much.
似乎他非常喜欢流行歌曲。
It appears that Tom might change his mind.
看来汤姆可能会改变主意。

⑤ 若句子是疑问形式，就只能用it作形式主语。

Does it matter much that they won’t come tomorrow?
他们明天不来很重要吗？
Is it true that he will go abroad next week?
他下周出国是真的吗？

⑥ It + takes + (sb.) + some time + to do sth.

这是一个表示“（某人）花多少时间干某事”的句型，其中it是形式主语，代替后面的不定式（to do sth.），句型中的sb.也可以省略。
It took me some time to read the reading materials.
我花了一些时间才读完那段阅读材料。
It took him fourteen hours to go to New Zealand from Shanghai by plane.
从上海乘飞机去新西兰花了他14小时。
How long does it take you to go to Beijing from Qingdao by train?
从青岛坐火车到北京一般要花多久时间？
I am not sure, but I think it takes at least nine hours to get there.
我不能肯定，但估计至少要九个钟头才能到那儿。

It 用作形式宾语

当不定式（短语）、动名词（短语）或从句在某个句子中作宾语时，为保持句子结构平衡，避免句式结构的混乱，常用it作形式宾语，而将真正的宾语放在句尾。此时it仍只起先行引导作用，本身无词义。

下列四种情况须用it 作形式宾语：

① 当不定式（短语）、动名词（短语）或从句在复合宾语结构中作某些动词的宾语时（如think, make, find, consider, feel, suppose等）；

They found it pleasant that they worked with us Chinese.
他们发现与我们中国人一起工作很愉快。
I don’t feel it difficult to understand the Special English.
我觉得理解英语特别节目并不难。
He makes it a rule never to borrow money.
他立志决不向别人借钱。
I think it no need talking about it with them.
我认为没必要跟他们谈。

② 某些表示“喜、怒、哀、乐”的动词，如like, enjoy, love, hate等，往往不能直接接宾语从句；

I don’t like it that he’s so lazy.
我不喜欢他那么懒惰。
I hate it when my mother asks me to eat eggs.
我讨厌母亲要我吃鸡蛋。

③ that引导的宾语从句不能直接作介词的宾语；

You may depend on it that we shall always help you.
尽管放心，我们会随时帮你的。
Would you see to it that she gets home early?
你负责保证她早到家，好吗？
He insisted on it that he was innocent.
他坚持说自己是无辜的。

④ 由及物动词与介词组成的固定搭配中，宾语从句若作该动词的宾语时，须借用it。

I leave it to your own judgement whether you should do it.
我让你自己判断这事是否该做。
We owe it to you that there wasn’t a serious accident.
多亏了你才没有发生严重事故。