每日一词学英语(123): pepper with

不从超市里买，而是改吃天然野生食品，有助于减少碳排放。与通常的观念不同，城里的绿地、灌木丛中有不少野生的可食用绿色植物。Contrary to popular opinion, urban 'wildernesses' such as scrubland, parks and hedgerows are peppered with edible greens. (From BBC, 4 January 2009: Foraging for food)

pepper sth with sth: [often passive] to include large numbers of sth in sth.
*He peppered his speech with jokes.

需要注意，只有确认采摘的植物可以食用再去吃，否则可能有害健康。

每日一词学英语(117): spurn

英国人过去一直用烘干机烘干衣服，现在渐渐开始改为在室外凉衣服，超市里的晾衣绳和卡子因此热销。For the first time in 50 years, Brits are spurning tumble dryers in favour of old-fashioned line-drying: washing lines and wooden clothes pegs are flying off supermarket shelves. (From BBC, 30 April 2008: Drying clothes outside)

无疑，这是保护环境的好方法。看看以下事实：
Tumble dryers are the most energy intensive household applainces - nearly two thirds more than washing machines - and create 310kg of CO2 a year each on average. Drying clothes on a washing line creates no emissions and saves about £70 a year in fuel bills. Plus, drying your clothes in the fresh air doesn't risk shrinking them and shortening their lifespan. 滚筒烘干机是最耗能的家电，比洗衣机多消耗将近三分之二能量，平均每年产生310公斤二氧化碳。室外晾衣碳排放为零，每年节约大约70英镑电费，而且不会让衣服缩水，有助于延长衣服的使用寿命。

看来，英国的好天气虽然不多，烘干机无法完全退出市场，但在可能的条件下，还是多在室外凉衣服比较好。

spurn: verb [及物动词] to reject or refuse sb/sth, especially in a proud way
同义词：shun
*Eve spurned Mark’s invitation.
*a spurned lover
*The president spurned the tight security surrounding him and adopted a more intimate style of campaigning.

每日一词学英语(77): squeamish

鸟类保护工作中一项重要内容是对鸟类进行监测，先给鸟类佩戴标识环，然后跟踪其死亡的时间和地点。自上世纪五十年代开展标识环活动以来，标识环的返还率由最初的4%下降至最新（2006年）纪录的1%(From The Times, July 13, 2009: Bird conservation hit by decline in public help to record the rings)。

The drastic fall has been put down to people not spending as much time in the countryside or on remote beaches, an increasing reluctance to post letters, and simply being more squeamish than they were 50 years ago. “People are terrified of touching something that’s dead. And now bird flu has made it even worse,” said Mark Grantham, a research ecologist at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). 这一明显下降是因为人们不像50年前那样涉足乡村或荒滩，并且不愿意把标识环寄回来，而且更加大惊小怪，不愿意碰死动物，尤其是现在又有禽流感。“ornithology”我们在第30课（May 28, 2009）学过。

Wiktionary解释：easily bothered or upset; tending to be nauseous or nervous
*He might have made a good doctor, had he not been so squeamish about the sight of blood.

每日一词学英语(63): al fresco

又到了barbecue的季节，How pleasant to cook and dine al fresco, as the sun casts long shadows across the lawn. 不过要注意，空气中不光飘着热气和香味，温室气体也随之排向大气(From Economist.com, June 29, 2009: The not-so-great outdoors)。

这个词源于意大利语，意思是：Outdoors, in the open air (Wiktionary)，也可以写作alfresco。

从环境保护的角度看，对barbecue要从三方面着手改进：the style of barbecue used, the food that is cooked on it and where that food comes from。不过也许最环保的办法是放弃barbecue，改吃绿色天然食品。But to be truly green, perhaps it would be best to dispense with the barbecue all together and settle for a cucumber sandwich—spread with soya, naturally.

每日一词学英语(51): ethos

Remeber every bit counts!
积少可以成多，为了节约能源，有人提出把浏览器首页设为黑屏(blackle.com)，——不是完全黑屏，搜索功能和Google一样，只不过背景是黑的，据说这样每年可以省750度电。

某位专栏作家为了践行这一节能精神，特意在博客上开了个黑天窗。In keeping with this ethos, allow me to present a small area of darkness for your screen。我也有样学样，见上图。

Wiktionary的解释: The character or fundamental values of a person, people, culture, or movement. “echos”是单数形式，复数是ethe or ethea。这个词和21课的“Zeitgeist”类似。

不过有人表示反对，说黑屏对眼睛不好，建议用“绿Google”(forestle.org)代替“黑Google”，这样每次搜索可以拯救0.1平米热带雨林。

绿Google和黑Google，无论你选用哪个，记住，在不用的时候关掉显示器。