009 美元钞票的人生

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Every day people around the world use one-dollar bills

每天，世界各地的人们都在使用一美元纸币。

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The U. S. government prints billions of them every year!

美国政府每年印制数十亿张！

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People sometimes call these bills " paper money."

人们有时称这些纸币为“纸钞”。

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But bills are not really made of paper

但纸币其实不是用纸做的。

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They are printed on special cloth

它们印在一种特殊的布料上。

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Seventy-five percent of the cloth is cotton — just like the cotton in your favorite jeans!

这种布料的百分之七十五是棉——就和你最爱穿的牛仔裤里的棉一样！

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The rest of the cloth is linen

其余的布料是亚麻。

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This cloth is much stronger than paper

这种布料比纸张结实得多。

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Oh, and the bills' ink is special too

哦，纸币的墨水也很特别。

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It doesn't wash off!

它洗不掉！

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The front of the bill has black ink

纸币的正面是黑色油墨。

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But the back of the bill is printed in green

但纸币的背面印成了绿色。

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Green fades less quickly than other colors

绿色比其他颜色褪色慢。

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This green ink gives all U. S. dollars a nickname — greenbacks!

这种绿色油墨给了所有美元一个绰号——绿钞！

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Dollar bills are very sturdy

美元纸币非常结实。

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But they get passed from hand to hand

但它们会在人们手中传来传去。

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They're folded in wallets and shoved into pockets

它们被折叠在钱包里，塞进口袋中。

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They get torn and wet

它们会被撕破、弄湿。

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Over time they wear out

时间一长，它们就磨损了。

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An average dollar bill lasts less than six years

一张普通美元纸币的寿命不到六年。

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So the U. S. government has to replace worn-out bills

所以美国政府必须更换这些破损的纸币。

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They print new bills to replace the old ones

他们印刷新币来替换旧币。

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The new bills go to banks for people to use

新纸币送到银行供人们使用。

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Banks collect the old bills and send them back to the government

银行回收旧币，再送回政府。

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Workers shred the old bills to destroy them

工人们把旧币切碎销毁。

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Yep, that's right. Money gets destroyed!

没错，就是这样。钱被销毁了！

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In fact, the United States shreds about ten billion dollars a year

事实上，美国每年大约要切碎一百亿美元。

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That's enough waste to fill 750 dump trucks!

这废料足够装满750辆垃圾车！

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In the past this waste got dumped in a landfill

过去，这些废料会被倒进垃圾填埋场。

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But today getting rid of greenbacks is a much greener process

但如今，处理绿钞的过程可环保得多了。

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The government recycles a lot of old paper money

政府回收利用大量旧纸币。

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Some shredded money goes into roofing material

有些碎钞被用作了屋顶材料。

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Some goes into home insulation

有些用于房屋隔热。

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Other bills become fuel for power plants to make electricity for homes

还有些纸币成了发电厂的燃料，为家庭发电。

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Oh, and some paper money becomes filling for mattresses

哦，还有些纸币变成了床垫的填充物。

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So you could even be sleeping on money!

所以你甚至可能正睡在钱上呢！

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Other bills are sent to farms that use them for compost

其他纸币被送到农场，用作堆肥。

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I bet the soil is very rich in those gardens!

我敢打赌，那些花园里的土壤一定非常肥沃！

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I usually spend my dollar bills as soon as I receive them

我通常一拿到美元纸币就花掉了。

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But I didn't know that dollar bills have such a hard life!

但我不知道美元纸币的生活这么不容易！