美語情景對話 第1371期:Expiration Dates 到期日期(1)

Todd: Rachel, I thought we would talk a little bit about items and their shelf life, like how long will you keep something? For example, like a book or clothing, because yesterday I was talking to my students and they were surprised when I admitted that the shirt I was wearing, I had had for over 10 years. Now, they're young and they can't imagine that.

託德：蕾切爾，我想來談談物品及其保存期，比如你會保存某樣東西多久？舉例來說，比如書或衣服的保存期是多久？昨天我和學生們聊天，他們對我身上這件T恤已經穿了10多年這件事感到震驚。他們現在很年輕，他們無法想象這種情況。

Rachel: No, that might be a function of being young.

蕾切爾：那可能就是年輕的一種體現。

Todd: Right, exactly.

託德：對，沒錯。

Rachel: Because their clothes of 10 years ago are obviously too small.

蕾切爾：顯然，他們10年前的衣服太小了，已經沒法穿了。

Todd: Yeah.

託德：對。

Rachel: It depends on the clothes.

蕾切爾：這取決於衣服。

Todd: Do you like to keep your clothes a long time?

託德：你會保留衣服很長時間嗎？

Rachel: If I really like them, I might.

蕾切爾：如果我非常喜歡那些衣服的話，我可能會。

Todd: Yeah. How often do you toss out your clothes?

託德：好。你通常多久清理一次衣服？

Rachel: I toss out clothes once or twice a year. I'll go through my wardrobe and throw out things that are too small or have started to look shabby. But there are other things that I just keep year after year after year, probably things people don't see as often like pajamas might last a little longer.

蕾切爾：我一般一年清理一到兩次衣服。我會檢查我的衣櫃，然後把太小或看上去有些破舊的衣服扔掉。不過我也有會保留很多年的衣服，那就是睡衣，其他人可能認爲這類衣服通常不會穿太長時間。

Todd: Yeah.

託德：對。

Rachel: Some people advise that if you haven't worn something for six months, you should throw it out, but that seems to me to be not logical, given that there are four seasons and they last a year. If you haven't worn something for a year, maybe you should consider throwing it out. But yeah, definitely, at the start of the season, not in the opposite season. You have to think about the weather.

蕾切爾：有人建議說，如果有的衣服半年還沒有穿壞，那就應該扔了，但是對我來說這種說法不符合邏輯，因爲一年有四個季節，所以衣服可以穿一年。如果有衣服一年還沒有穿壞，那應該考慮扔掉了。當然，要在一個季節開始時扔掉那些衣服，而不是在相反的季節。要考慮到天氣因素。

Todd: Yeah. What about food? We live in Japan. We're both teachers in Japan. One thing I often wonder about is the sashimi and the sushi, the raw fish. How long can you keep it before you eat it? They say you're supposed to have it that night, but I sometimes eat it the next morning or even for lunch.

託德：好。那食物呢？我們現在生活在日本。我們兩個人都在日本當老師。我經常在想的是生魚片和壽司。這些食物在吃之前你能保存多久？他們說應該在當天晚上吃掉，可是我有時會在第二天早上甚至是中午才吃。

Rachel: With fish, as well as other meats, I think it's very easy to tell, because you can tell by the smell whether something's good or not. I actually think that rice is more dangerous.

蕾切爾：我認爲魚類和其他肉類很好判斷新鮮度，因爲可以從味道辨別食物是否新鮮。實際上我認爲米飯很危險。

Todd: Oh really?

託德：哦，真的嗎？

Rachel: Yeah, because it will grow bacteria. Because it's been warm, it will grow bacteria easily at room temperature. The rice is the part you need to be careful about.

蕾切爾：對，因爲米飯會滋生細菌。因爲天氣很暖和，所以米飯很容易在室溫下滋生細菌。米飯是需要留意的部分。

Todd: Oh. Well what about other foods? Like are you somebody who's really strict about the expiration date?

託德：哦。那其他食物呢？你是那種會嚴格遵守過期日期的人嗎？

Rachel: I'm not. I think the expiration date on most products errs on the side of safety. And another thing is people confuse the best by date with the expiring date.

蕾切爾：不是。我認爲大多數產品上的過期日期在安全方面過於保守了。另外，人們會混淆最佳食用日期和到期日期。

Todd: Right.

託德：對。

Rachel: The best by date is just about freshness, flavor. For example with spices ...

蕾切爾：最佳食用日期指的是食品的新鮮度和味道。比如調料……

Todd: And that's the date they put on the package in the store.

託德：這是商店裏包裝袋上標註的日期。

Rachel: That's often the date that people go by.

蕾切爾：人們通常會參照這個日期。

Todd: Sell by, yeah.

託德：對，保質期。

Rachel: Yeah, sell by and best by. For example spices might have a best by date. After that, they might plump a little, they might lose a little flavor, but they're not dangerous.

蕾切爾：嗯，保質期和最佳食用日期。比如，調料可能會標明最佳食用日期。後面可能還會標註：它們可能會損失一點兒味道，但不構成危險。

Todd: You can still eat it.

託德：仍然可以食用。

Rachel: You can still use them, yeah.

蕾切爾：對，還可以食用。

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重點講解：
1. throw out 扔掉，丟掉(廢棄物)；
In just one day, Americans throw out 136 million kilograms of packaging.
僅僅一天，美國人大約扔出一億三千六百萬公斤的成包垃圾。
2. be supposed to do sth. (按計劃或期望)應當，應該，須；
She was not supposed to go but she insisted on going.
不該她去，她偏要去。
3. err on the side of 寧願過於…；力求…；
They may be wise to err on the side of caution.
他們過於謹慎也許是明智的。
4. go by 遵循；遵照；
You can't go by what he says, he's very untrustworthy.
你不能根據他的話判斷，他是很不可靠的。