你是什么垃圾？
How does garbage sorting work in China?
Name: ________________ Date: ________
二零一九年七月，上海人见面的时候，常常笑着问：“你是什么垃圾？”这不是骂人。从那个月开始，上海人扔东西以前，都要先把它们分开。
上海的垃圾分四种。第一种是能再用的，比如纸、瓶子和旧衣服。第二种是对人不好的，比如用过的手机电池和药。第三种是“湿垃圾”，比如吃剩的饭菜和水果。第四种是“干垃圾”，就是别的东西。
湿的和干的最难分。有一个简单的办法：小猪能吃的，是湿的；小猪不能吃的，是干的。
很多小区只在早上和晚上的几个小时让大家来扔。有的时候，旁边还会站着一个人，看大家有没有分对。后来，北京和很多别的城市也开始这样做了。
你来试一试：一个用过的纸杯子，是什么垃圾？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh; to smile |
| 过 | guò | (particle) marks a past experience: have ever |
| 药 | yào | medicine; drug |
| 旁边 | pángbiān | beside; next to; nearby |
| 站 | zhàn | station; stop |
| 开始 | kāishǐ | to begin; to start; beginning |
| 这样 | zhèyàng | like this; this way |
| 见面 | jiànmiàn | to meet; to see each other |
| 常常 | chángcháng | often; frequently |
| 以前 | yǐqián | before; previously; formerly |
| 先 | xiān | first; in advance |
| 分开 | fēnkāi | to separate; to part |
English (for the teacher)
In July 2019, when people in Shanghai met, they often asked with a laugh: “What kind of garbage are you?” It wasn’t an insult. From that month on, before throwing anything away, people in Shanghai had to sort it first.
Shanghai’s rubbish comes in four kinds. The first is things that can be used again, such as paper, bottles and old clothes. The second is things that are bad for people, such as used phone batteries and medicine. The third is “wet waste”, such as leftover food and fruit. The fourth is “dry waste”: everything else.
Wet and dry are the hardest to tell apart. There’s an easy trick: what a piglet can eat is wet; what a piglet can’t eat is dry.
Many residential compounds let people bring their rubbish only for a few hours in the morning and evening. Sometimes someone even stands beside the bins, checking whether everyone has sorted correctly. Later, Beijing and many other cities started doing the same.
Try it yourself: a used paper cup. What kind of garbage is it?