How helpful are houseplants?
室內植栽知多少 室內植物有多少好處？
Four. That's the number of plants inside my house. Houseplants look good and can help reduce anxiety. Many people also believe indoor plants can help clean the air. But can they?
The idea started in the 1980s when a NASA scientist started reporting on houseplants. He was testing plants' ability to get rid of pollutants in the air. According to the scientist, plants seemed to be a "promising, economical solution to indoor air pollution."
But there was just one problem: He was in a lab.
The air quality inside a house is much harder to control than in a lab. Recently, a professor face-checked the claims about indoor plants. He reviewed the results from nearly 200 experiments. He found it would take over 100 plants per square meter to clean the air. Thousands of plants would be needed in a single apartment to do the job. I can't fit that many plants in my place! So my four houseplants don't give me cleaner air but I still enjoy having them.
Info Cloud
green thumb 很會種花或是其他種類的植物
Hi, everyone. Welcome to Info Cloud. So, Rex, do you have a green thumb?
Do I have a green thumb? Um... no, Andrea, I … I do not have a green thumb. Look! My thumb is not green.
OK. No, I'm not talking about the color of your thumb, though I can see how you would think that. I want to talk about the phrase, green thumb. When you have a green thumb, you are able to or have the natural ability to take care of plants that are often green, and you can do that very well.
Oh, right, I have heard of that. And actually, Andrea, then I do have a green thumb. I have a small garden at home. And I love to take care of my plants, and they are growing well. I'm even growing herbs in the garden right now that my family uses for cooking.
Wow. Rex, that is impressive. So, Andrea, do you have a green thumb?
No. No, I do not have a green thumb. I actually have a black thumb. A black thumb? Yes. I can't keep any plants alive. I can't even keep a cactus alive. Plastic plants would probably even die in my home. OK, I'm... I'm joking about the plastic plants part. But having a black thumb is the opposite of having a green thumb. When you have a black thumb, you cannot keep plants alive.
很多人喜歡種植一些花花草草，今天就跟大家分享跟種植植物有關、相當有趣的用語，首先，如果一個人很會種花或是其他種類的植物，你可以用 green thumb 來形容他，thumb 是拇指，green thumb 就是綠色的拇指，代表這個人的手指頭照顧過很多綠色的植物，John really has a green thumb. John很會照顧植物，只要經過他手中的花花草草，都長得很好。
另一方面，如果有人種什麼都失敗的話，那就要用 black thumb 黑色的拇指來形容他，因為經過他手指頭的植物，都死掉了，這樣子的形容方式是不是相當有趣?
Language Lab
pollutant n. 會污染的東西、汙染物
a substance that makes land, water, air, etc., dirty and not safe or suitable to use : something that causes pollution
- The pollutants in the air are making Neil cough.
空氣中的汙染物讓Neil 一直咳嗽。
- The pollutants in the pond are affecting the fish.
池水中的汙染物，影響到水裡的魚。
- Sarah is looking for an air filter to clear out the pollutants in her apartment.
Sarah 在找一台空氣過濾器，來清掉她公寓裡的汙染物。
economical adj. 經濟實惠、省錢的
using money, resources, etc., carefully
- Jeremy can’t afford to go on a vacation at a resort; he needs a travel plan that is more economical.
Jeremy 付不起到度假村旅遊，他需要一個比較經濟實惠的旅遊計畫。
- Sally is trying to be more economical so she can save up her money.
Sally 為了要存錢，試著更節約。
- Gary likes to shop online because he finds it is more economical.
Gary 喜歡網購，因為他發覺這樣比較省錢。
lab n. 實驗室 (laboratory 的縮寫)
a room or building with special equipment for doing scientific experiments and tests
- The scientist had been in the lab all day. 那位科學家已經在實驗室裡待了一整天。
lab n. 電腦教室 (=computer lab)
a room with equipment (such as computers or tape recorders)
- The students were busy in the computer lab. 學生們在電腦教室裡忙著。
lab n. 拉不拉多犬 (=labrador 的縮寫)
- The boy was playing with his black lab. 小男孩跟他的黑色拉不拉多犬一起玩。
experiment n. 實驗、試驗
a scientific test in which you perform a series of actions and carefully observe their effects in order to learn about something
- Jenny loves chemistry and enjoys doing experiments.
Jenny 很愛化學課，他非常喜歡做實驗。
- Brian wants to do an experiment to see how his cats respond to different kinds of music.
Brian 想來做一個測試，看看他的貓對不同音樂有什麼反應。
experiment v. 做實驗、做測試
to make or do an experiment: such as
- Mary is trying to bake the perfect cake and has experimented with different kinds of ingredients.
Mary 想烤一個完美的蛋糕，並請用了好多不同種的食材來做測試。
skepticism n.
/ˈskɛptəˌsɪzəm/
an attitude of doubting the truth of something (such as a claim or statement)
- She regarded the researcher's claims with skepticism.
- It's good to maintain a healthy skepticism about fad diets.
