Online Class Notes (Mike)

IT IS NO secret that steaks and chops are delicious. But guzzling them incurs high costs for both carnivorous humans and the planet. Over half of adults in both America and Britain say they want to reduce their meat consumption, according to Mintel, a market-research firm. Whether they will is a different matter. The amount of meat that Americans and Britons consume per day has risen by 10% since 1970, according to figures from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

People who want to eat less livestock—but who can’t quite bring themselves to exchange burgers for beans—might take inspiration from two recent academic papers. A study published this week by scientists at Oxford University and the University of Minnesota estimates both the medical and environmental burdens of having an extra serving per day of various food types. The health findings were sobering. Compared with a typical Western adult of the same age who eats an average diet, a person who guzzles an additional 50g of processed red meat (about two rashers of bacon) per day has a 41% higher chance of dying in a given year.

Meat has an even starker impact on the environment. Compared with a 100g portion of vegetables—the standard serving size considered in academic papers—a 50g chunk of red meat is associated with at least 20 times as much greenhouse-gas emitted and 100 times as much land use. Averaged across all the ecological indicators the authors used, red meat was about 35 times as damaging as a bowl of greens.

Vocabulary

words about yourself:

stage fright (n)
How bad is your stage fright?

agreeable (adj.)

reticent (adj.) not talkative

introverted (adj.) 内向的
extroverted (adj.) 外向的

clean freak (n)

mysophobia (n) the extreme fear of dirt

positive personality types: 

autonomy (n)
Having autonomy in my work is crucial.
autonomous (adj.)

democratic (adj.)

meticulous (adj.) showing great attention to detail

down-to-earth

ambiguous (adj.) (of language) not clear in meaning
What she said is ambiguous.

open-mindedness
people person
Are you a people person?

negative types:

stingy (adj.) not generous

obstinate (adj.) stubborn

narrow-minded
nosy (adj.)
gossipy (adj.)
opportunist (n)
cunning (adj.): crafty
procrastinate (v) 拖延
procrastinator (n)
procrastination (n)