At half past one一点半, the school cafeteria学校食堂 /ˌkæf.əˈtɪr.i.ə/ was almost empty. On the floor地面 /flɔːr/ beside the return counter餐盘回收台 stood four large很大的 /lɑːrdʒ/ bins. One held untouched未动过的 /ʌnˈtʌtʃt/ bread面包 /bred/, another held vegetables, and the last最后的 /læst/ two contained mixed leftovers剩饭剩菜 /ˈleftˌoʊ.vɚz/. Jack looked at the digital数字化 /ˈdɪdʒ.ɪ.t̬əl/ scale秤 /skeɪl/ and then at Priya. "Are we really going to weigh称重 /weɪ/ all of that?" he asked. "That is what an audit审计；调查 /ˈɑː.dɪt/ means," Priya replied. "We measure测量 /ˈmeʒ.ɚ/ the waste浪费 /weɪst/ before we recommend建议 /ˌrek.əˈmend/ a solution解决方案 /səˈluː.ʃən/."
Their Green Group绿色小组 had received permission许可 /pɚˈmɪʃ.ən/ to investigate调查 /ɪnˈves.tɪ.ɡeɪt/ food waste食物浪费 /weɪst/ for one week. Each tray餐盘 /treɪ/ returned to the kitchen厨房 /ˈkɪtʃ.ɪn/ would be sorted by category类别 /ˈkæt̬.ə.ɡɔːr.i/. The students would record记录 /ˈrek.ɚd/ the weight重量 /weɪt/, count unopened packages未开封的包装食品, and conduct进行 /kənˈdʌkt/ a short短的 /ʃɔːrt/ survey调查 /ˈsɝː.veɪ/ about portion size份量大小, taste口味 /teɪst/, price价格 /praɪs/, and lunch午饭 /lʌntʃ/ schedules.
The first第一 /fɜːrst/ result结果 /rɪˈzʌlt/ was worse than expected. In a single lunch period午餐时段, students discarded丢弃了 /dɪˈskɑːr.dɪd/ twenty-three kilograms of food. Nearly a third consisted of由……组成 vegetables, while dozens of sealed milk牛奶 /mɪlk/ cartons纸盒 /ˈkɑːr.tənz/ had gone straight直接地 /streɪt/ into the bin. Priya interviewed Mr. Gomez, the head cook主厨. "Why do you prepare the same quantity数量 /ˈkwɑːn.t̬ə.t̬i/ every day when attendance出勤人数 /əˈten.dəns/ changes?"
"We receive the final最终的 /ˈfaɪ.nəl/ attendance出勤人数 /əˈten.dəns/ figure数字 /ˈfɪɡ.jɚ/ too late," he explained. "The kitchen厨房 /ˈkɪtʃ.ɪn/ must order订购 /ˈɔːr.dɚ/ ingredients食材 /ɪnˈɡriː.di.ənts/ in advance, and health regulations规章 /ˌreɡ.jəˈleɪ.ʃənz/ prevent阻止 /prɪˈvent/ us from serving some cooked food the next下一个 /nekst/ day. We would rather have a small surplus富余量 /ˈsɝː.pləs/ than leave使……没有 /liːv/ students without没有 /wɪˈðaʊt/ lunch."
Jack observed the serving line取餐队伍. Younger students received the same portion份量 /ˈpɔːr.ʃən/ as older ones, and anyone who disliked a dish菜肴 /dɪʃ/ had no way to request less. At the far end远端；尽头, a broken断裂的 /ˈbroʊ.kən/ card reader读卡器 created a delay延误 /dɪˈleɪ/. Several students abandoned放弃了 /əˈbæn.dənd/ their trays because the lunch break午休时间 was nearly over. "So not every leftover means the meal was unpopular," Jack said. "Some waste食物浪费 /weɪst/ is caused by the system."
The group群体 /ɡruːp/ designed a questionnaire问卷 /ˌkwes.tʃəˈner/ and collected 186 responses. The data数据 /ˈdeɪ.t̬ə/ revealed揭示了 /rɪˈviːld/ three main factors: portions were often too large, queues队伍 /kjuːz/ were too slow缓慢的 /sloʊ/ on busy繁忙的 /ˈbɪz.i/ days, and the menu菜单 /ˈmen.juː/ gave little information about ingredients食材 /ɪnˈɡriː.di.ənts/. Students with allergies过敏症 /ˈæl.ɚ.dʒiz/ sometimes bought a full一整份的 /fʊl/ meal only to discover that they could not safely eat吃 /iːt/ it.
On Friday, Jack and Priya presented their report to the school manager校方负责人 /ˈmæn.ɪ.dʒɚ/. They proposed提出了 /prəˈpoʊzd/ three practical实用的 /ˈpræk.tɪ.kəl/ changes: offer a smaller portion份量 /ˈpɔːr.ʃən/ at a lower更低的 /ˈloʊ.ɚ/ price, publish发表 /ˈpʌb.lɪʃ/ the weekly menu菜单 /ˈmen.juː/ with allergy information, and send the kitchen厨房 /ˈkɪtʃ.ɪn/ an accurate准确的 /ˈæk.jɚ.ɪt/ attendance出勤人数 /əˈten.dəns/ estimate预计人数 /ˈes.tə.mət/ before ten each morning. They also suggested placing unopened fruit水果 /fruːt/ and packaged food on a share table食物分享桌, provided that safety安全 /ˈseɪf.ti/ rules were followed. The manager校方负责人 /ˈmæn.ɪ.dʒɚ/ studied their chart. "A campaign宣传活动 /kæmˈpeɪn/ telling people to care在意 /ker/ would be easy容易的 /ˈiː.zi/," she said. "Changing改变 /ˈtʃeɪn.dʒɪŋ/ the process过程 /ˈprɑː.ses/ is harder. Your evidence证据 /ˈev.ɪ.dəns/ shows where we can begin."
The school approved批准 /əˈpruːvd/ a two-week trial两周试行. By the end of the first week, total总量 /ˈtoʊ.təl/ waste食物浪费 /weɪst/ had fallen下降 /ˈfɔː.lən/ by eighteen percent百分比 /pɚˈsent/. The bins were not empty, but the improvement改善 /ɪmˈpruːv.mənt/ was visible显而易见的 /ˈvɪz.ɪ.bəl/. Jack wrote the final figure beneath在……下面 /bɪˈniːθ/ the original原来的 /əˈrɪdʒ.ə.nəl/ total总量 /ˈtoʊ.təl/. For once这一次；难得地, an environmental环境的 /ɪnˌvaɪ.rənˈmen.t̬əl/ project项目 /ˈprɑː.dʒekt/ had not ended with a general笼统的 /ˈdʒen.ɚ.əl/ promise承诺 /ˈprɑː.mɪs/. It had changed what happened at lunch the next day.