最近一周多的时间里，澳洲陆续发生的“草莓藏针”事件已经引起了民众的恐慌。近日“草莓藏针”事件持续升级，据澳洲媒体报道，藏针事例也出现在了别的水果种类中。在新南威尔士州，就分别发现了一例“苹果藏针”及一例“香蕉藏针”事件。

真是一波未平一波又起，目前布里斯班部分超市里的草莓货架已被撤空。

澳洲的草莓供应商正在尽最大努力让草莓重回货架。部分供应商已花费几万澳币，在工厂传送带上安装金属探测器，希望得以有效减少藏针的草莓流入市场。

下面就跟小编一起来看一下，news.com.au今天的这篇报道：

Drastic method to get Australian strawberries back on shelves

drastic adj. 激烈的；猛烈的 n.烈性泻药

Strawberry growers have arrived at an extreme solution as they try to recover from a terrifying sabotage campaign.

grower n. 栽培者；生长物

sabotage n. 破坏；破坏活动；怠工 v. 妨害；从事破坏活动

campaign n. 运动；活动；战役 v. 作战；参加竞选；参加活动

The strawberry contamination scare has now spread the length of the country, with authorities in Western Australia confirming the state’s first case.

contamination n. 污染，玷污；污染物

A member of the public went to York Police Station, west of Perth, to report the discovery on Monday afternoon.

The man told police he spotted a needle in his kitchen sink after preparing strawberries for his family.

spot v. 认出；弄脏；用灯光照射；满是斑点 n. 地点；斑点 adj. 现场的；现货买卖的 adv. 准确地；恰好

sink n. 水槽；洗涤槽；污水坑 v. （使）下沉；（使）消沉；渗透；挖掘

“He did not recall the needle being in the sink prior to preparing the strawberries,” a WA Police spokesman said.

The strawberries in question were “produced and packaged in Western Australia”, the spokesman said, although the brand has not yet been released.

Growers are working hard to get the fruit back on supermarket shelves with some suppliers taking the drastic measure of installing metal detectors on their conveyor belts.

detector n. 探测器；检测器；侦察器；发现者

conveyor belt 传送带；输送带

IN WA, a supplier that puts around one-third of the state’s strawberries onto the shelves of Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and IGA has forked out tens of thousands of dollars on a metal detector.

fork out 支付；放弃

Canning Vale market agent Allstates Farms paid $30,000 for the device which local farmers hope will help the crippled industry.

cripple v. 削弱；使跛；使残废 n. 跛子；残废 adj. 跛的；残废的

“Strawberries are scanned and it will stop if there is any metal present,” quality control manager Manjeet Singh told PerthNow .

“It means people can buy these strawberries with confidence.

“All existing stock and new stock coming in will all be going through the scanner, punnet by punnet, tray by tray, then each tray will be sealed with a security sticker.

punnet v. 圆形浅底小篮

seal v. 密封；盖章；猎海豹 n. 密封；印章；海报；封条；标志

The news came just minutes before authorities in South Australia confirmed a second case there, with a needle found in a punnet of Mal’s Black Label strawberries purchased from Adelaide Fresh Fruiterers in Morphett Vale.

fruiterer n. 水果商，卖水果的人

A consumer discovered a metal object embedded in one of the strawberries when cutting into it, police said.

embed v. 使插入，使嵌入；使深入脑海中；栽种

Yesterday, a seven-year-old girl from the Adelaide Hills was lucky to escape serious injury when she bit into a strawberry containing a hidden sewing needle.

sewing needle 缝合针；缝纫机针

“She bit into one of the strawberries and discovered a needle, which she told her mum about,” Detective Inspector Billy Thompson told reporters today.

inspector n. 检查员；巡视员

“The father took the strawberries to the store in Littlehampton, reported it to the manager, who in turn advised that the matter should be reported to police.”

That batch of the fruit originated in WA, forcing the state’s Health Minister Roger Cook to insist this morning that people should be “very confident” about local strawberries.

batch n. 一批；一炉；一次所制之量 v. 分批处理

originate v. 发源；产生；起航；引起；创作

force v. 促使，推动；强迫；强加 n. 力量；武力；军队；魄力

Health Minister 卫生部长

“There has been no incident of tampering of strawberry products in WA,” he told reporters today, just hours before the needle discovery in Perth.

tamper v. 损害；干预；削弱；篡改；玩弄；贿赂 n. 填塞者；捣棒

The strawberry industry has been in chaos since the first discovery of a needle in a punnet of strawberries bought in Burpengary in Queensland more than a week ago.

In that case, a man who bit into a strawberry with a needle inside it and ended up in hospital.

Since then, needles or pins have been reported in strawberries in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

Affected brands include Berry Obsession, Berry Licious, Love Berry, Donnybrook Berries, Delightful Strawberries and Oasis.

A nationwide manhunt is under way for the culprit or culprits responsible for the numerous cases of deliberate contamination.

manhunt v. 追捕，搜捕；搜索

be under way 进行中；正在开展

culprit n. 犯人，罪犯；被控犯罪的人

deliberate adj. 故意的；从容的；深思熟虑的 v. 仔细考虑；商议

Consumers are urged to cut up any strawberries before eating them.

urge v. 强烈要求；力劝，催促；驱策，推进 n. 强烈的欲望，迫切要求；推动力

小伙伴们最近吃水果前

一定记得先切开看看呀！