11月25日是世界素食日，又稱國際無肉日，鼓勵大家響應無肉飲食。不少食品工廠也嗅到素食商機，研發推出台灣稱為「植物肉」、「未來肉」的肉類替代品，成為素食人士的一大福音。
不同於台灣大多使用黃豆提油脫脂後的豆粕、大豆油製作素肉，國外食品工廠會採用小麥、豌豆、椰子油、芥花油做原料，產生不同於台灣素肉的口感。就在植物肉將成為趨勢的現在，我們先來看看國外的報導，順便學習多益常見的英文單字吧！
1. The plant-based meat substitute maker has sold 13 million burgers since its 2016 debut and just last week admitted it is having trouble meeting demand after multiple Whole Foods stores ran out.
（這個以植物為主的肉類替代品製造商，自從2016年初登場以來，已經賣出高達一千三百萬美元價值的商品，上週製造商也承認目前在多間全食超市的庫存賣完後，他們將面臨產量供不應求。）
● substitute (n.) (v.) 替代品、替代
動名詞同型，有替代品或是替代的意思。如：
We will substitute the plan with a new one to make sure it will proceed successfully. （我們會採用一個新計畫來替代這個舊計畫，以確保它會順利進行。）
在例句裡採用名詞用法，這邊注意使用with介系詞表達「用……替代」的用法。meat substitute就是肉類替代品，類似的用法有substitute teacher，指的是代課老師。
● Have trouble meeting demand 達標有困難
這個說法要拆成兩個部分來看。第一個要看片語have trouble，意指「做……有困難」，注意後面一定要接動名詞V-ing，其他替代說法還有have difficulty/a problem/a difficult time等，大家可以替代使用增加單字量，但是使用方法都一樣，必須要接動名詞。
第二部分是meet demand。meet在英文裡有「遇見、見面」的意思，但是在這裡則表示「達到」。在此meet的字義無法用原本的定義來看，否則就會發現拆開單字來看都懂，合起來閱讀句子卻不懂。這是許多台灣學習者的弱點，也是考多益需要加強的語文力。因此推薦各位在學習新單字時，要採用語句方式學習、多累積慣用語的學習法，而非單獨學習單字。
另外demand是要求的意思，在此表示達到要求。由於無法達到要求，因此「have trouble meeting demand」可翻作「供不應求」。
2. Several cultural trends led to Beyond Meat’s success, but so has its commitment to tweaking its collection of ready-to-cook products.
（許多的文化趨勢促使未來肉的成功，但是這些趨勢也致力於調整其提供肉類半成品的商品清單。）
● commitment (n.) 致力於……、承諾
commitment來自動詞commit的名詞變化，不管是動詞或名詞，介系詞都是加上to，如同文章所寫。大部分的學生可能對於動詞片語commit suicide不陌生，但重點是commit本身代表「從事……」，suicide就是殺自己，「sui-」代表「self（自己）」，「-cide」有「kill（殺害）」的意思，因此犯下殺自己的行為，就是自殺。
另外常見的慣用語有commit a crime，「犯下……罪行」，以及上文中所使用的說法，如：
Men have difficulty committing to a relationship.
（男人難以在一段感情中下承諾。）
● tweak (v.) 修整、調整
tweak原本是指扭、擰這個動作，但是在這裡則有調整、修整的意思。這邊因為前面出現了介系詞to，因此後方動詞必須更改為動名詞V-ing。
【多益模擬試題】
Seldom before has the international banking system undergone the scrutiny to which it is subject at the moment, but the examination now underway is of pivotal importance if there is to be a light at the end of the tunnel and if the banking system is to maintain its integrity. The events of the past two years have so profoundly shifted our perspective of how the global banking system should function, that change is inevitable. Most market analysts now conform to the view that the financial crisis that led to the global recession can be blamed on the imprudent investment policies pursued by the major international banking institutions over the past decade.
We have learned a very hard lesson which shows us that globalization has many pitfalls, perhaps the greatest of which is the cascade effect that recently saw one global bank after another go into financial freefall. We now know that the kamikaze investment policies of a few unscrupulous bank executives can have a knock-on effect throughout the entire global financial system. Junk bonds can be packaged with less risky investments, but if the bottom falls out, then the pyramid collapses and the monetary system is brought to its knees. Banks are so interdependent nowadays, that prudence and transparency have never been more important.
No one is suggesting we revert to the old ways, adopt a protectionist philosophy and close our borders to trade, but it is clear that the banking system needs to be overhauled. Investment bankers are rewarded huge bonuses based on the frequency with which and the volumes in which they trade rather than on the quality of the transactions they make. This simply encourages irresponsible behavior on stock exchange floors across the world. Traders are prepared to risk all in search of lucrative performance bonuses, overlooking the fact that they are not just playing a game of numbers but rather gambling people’s livelihoods and savings.
To ensure that this sorry state of affairs we now find ourselves in is never repeated, the bonus system must be changed. Bankers should be given fixed salaries and only modest bonuses based on their year-to-year performance. Only when their investments have consistently shown good returns – say over a five-year period – should they be given large bonuses. This would discourage investors from gambling recklessly for short-term gain, and create a more stable financial environment.
1. What, in paragraph 1, does the writer say caused the current financial crisis?
(A) The reckless investment policies of big banks.
(B) The prudent investment decisions made by market analysts.
(C) The difficult recessionary period of the last two years.
(D) Recruitment policies of banking executives.
2. According to paragraph 2, what is probably the biggest disadvantage of globalization?
(A) The poor decisions of a few banks can affect financial institutions globally.
(B) The pyramid system is too stable.
(C) Prudence and transparency are not very important.
(D) Not a single economy in the world can escape the recession.
解析：
1. 正解為(A)。題目問「根據第一段的線索，是什麼造成了目前的金融危機？」第一段最後一句所說「Most market analysts now conform to the view that the financial crisis that led to the global recession can be blamed on the imprudent investment policies pursued by the major international banking institutions over the past decade.（大多數市場分析家一致指出，這場引起全球衰退的金融危機可歸咎於主要國際銀行機構，在過去十年追求的輕率投資政策。）」因此可以判斷答案是(A)。
本題考的是imprudent的同義詞reckless的用法，字首「im-」和字尾「-less」都表示否定，prudent有謹慎的意思，加上字首「im-」就變成輕率的；而big是major的同義詞。因此，答案很明確是(A)。
2. 正解為(A)。題目問「根據第二段所述，什麼是全球化最大的缺點？」這段的第二句提到「We now know that the kamikaze investment policies of a few unscrupulous bank executives can have a knock-on effect throughout the entire global financial system.（我們現在知道，幾間不擇手段的銀行主管神風自殺式的投資政策，可能造成貫穿整體全球金融系統的連鎖效應。）」這邊就算不知道kamikaze（自殺式攻擊），但是unscrupulous也給了讀者一些訊息。unscrupulous意思是肆無忌憚的，用字首「un-」表達否定的意思，scrupulous指的是細心謹慎的，跟poor可說是同義詞的表達。另外knock-on effect（連鎖效應）則呼應了動詞affect，因此答案應選(A)。
文／Buffy Kao
延伸閱讀》你聽Podcast嗎？從播客學即興創作、入行門檻的英文
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