(单词翻译:单击)
Birds face many man-made mortal threats: windows, cats, habitat destruction, even climate change. And now, there's poison—in their bird seed.
鸟类面临着许多人类制造的致命威胁：窗户，猫，栖息地破坏，甚至是气候变化。然而如今，鸟类食用的植物种子又出现毒素。
You see the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company had been in the habit of applying banned pesticides to its wild bird food products. In particular, the company applied a chemical known as Storcide II to its bird food despite a warning label for that product that reads "Storcide II is extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other wildlife."
你是知道的，Scotts Miracle-Gro 公司早就习惯于在野生鸟类食物上喷洒禁止使用的杀虫剂。最为特别的是，这家公司在鸟食中加入一种叫做 Storcide II 的化学物质，尽管在产品标签上示有警告“Storcide II 对鱼类毒性极强，对鸟类和其它野生物也有毒害。”
Why add a compound toxic to birds to food meant to be eaten by birds? Because Scott didn't want bugs infesting its bird food during storage.
为什么这家公司会在鸟类的食物上掺入有毒物质呢？因为 Scott 不想让害虫大批出没于储存的鸟食里。
By the time Scotts stopped adding the pesticide in March 2008, the company had sold some 70 million bags of adulterated bird food. The company also submitted false documents to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, distributed pesticides with misleading labels and distributed illegal pesticides. As a result, the EPA slapped the company with $12.5 million in criminal fines and civil penalties.
直到2008年3月 Scotts 才停止向鸟食中添加杀虫剂，之前这家公司总共出售了七千万袋掺假的鸟食。这家公司还向美国环境保护局递交了虚假文件，散布贴有误导人标签的杀虫剂，并且散布非法农药。结果美国环保局对该公司进行刑事和民事处罚，罚金高达一千二百五十万美元。
So when you put out new bird seed this winter, at least you won't be inadvertently poisoning any chirpers. Oh, and keep those cats inside, too.
因此，今年冬季向室外播撒鸟食时，至少不要在无意间毒害鸟类。啊，还要把猫关在家里。
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