《中英對照讀新聞》Italian river 'flowing with cocaine' 義大利的河「流著古柯鹼」

◎張其賢

cientists have been stunned to discover huge amounts of cocaine residue in an Italian river, suggesting massive consumption of the drug among local people, a British environmental journal revealed recently.

科學家因為在義大利的一條河內發現巨量古柯鹼殘留物而感到震驚，這項發現顯示當地居民大量使用古柯鹼，一份英國的環境期刊最近披露。

The findings calculated about 40,000 doses of cocaine per day are consumed in the Po valley, northern Italy, home to around five million people. The Po is Italy's longest river, flowing westward from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea through Turin. Milan is also in the Po valley.

這項發現推算，在義大利北部、約有五百萬居民的波河河谷，每天古柯鹼用量約有四萬劑。波河是義大利最長的河，從阿爾卑斯山向西流經杜林流入亞德里亞海。米蘭也在波河河谷內。

Italian researchers meausred levels of Benzoylecgonine in the water. The chemical, found in urine, cannot be produced by any other means than cocaine use. Through urine, the chemical found its way into the Po and the sewerage system.

義大利研究人員測量了河水中的苯甲醯基愛哥寧濃度。這種存在於尿液中的化學物質，只能經由古柯鹼的使用而產生。通過尿液，這種化學物質進入波河和污水處理系統。

“The large amount cocaine (at least 1,500 kilogrammes) that our findings suggest are consumed per year in the river Po basin would amount, in fact, to about 150 million US dollars in street value,” the scientists wrote.

「我們的發現所顯示的每年在波河河盆使用的巨量古柯鹼（至少一千五百公斤），實際上市價將高達一億五千萬美元左右」，科學家寫道。

新聞辭典

be stunned：動詞句型，感到震驚。例句：Brazil was stunned by the shooting of an innocent compatriot by London police, once remembered as a model force.（巴西對一位無辜國民遭到曾經是人們記憶中的模範警力的倫敦警方射殺感到震驚）。

by any other means than A：片語，藉由A之外的任何方法。other than A是一個常用片語，指除了A之外。從這個片語衍生出any means other than A的用法，指「除了A之外的任何方法」。any other means than A乃是此一用法的不同表達方式。

sewerage system：名詞，污水處理系統。