English news everyday：Fashion houses 'need to clean up their act'

李金颖

【新闻背景】都说美丽的背后充斥着苦难与丑陋，看来这话果然不假。时尚工业创造了美丽，但是为了这些美丽他们污染了多少江河湖海又有多少人知道？前几天看新闻报道说岳阳洞庭湖里连续发现10多具江豚的尸体，它们突然批量死亡难道和水系污染没有关系吗？有的时候我们不得不思考一下，发展中有没有盲目的成分，有没有畸形的发展。发展是为了生活的更好，但是当发展把未来生活的根基都破坏的时候，我们又如何无忧地享受这暂时的发展？
Some top brand names may be contracting river polluters as suppliers, reports Li Jing in Beijing.
The fashion industry is no longer as glamorous as it may appear and by wearing a pair of jeans you may have contributed to the pollution of China's rivers.
"For ordinary consumers, it's hard to know how many polluting companies there are behind each of the popular fashion brands," said Li Li, the founder and director of EnviroFriends, a Beijing-based environmental organization.
Li made the comment in a recent report called Clean up the Fashion Industry, published by five Chinese grassroots environmental organizations, which alleged that 46 Chinese and international clothing brands are being supplied by textile companies that violate the country's environmental laws.
The brands named in the report include a slew of internationally famous fashion houses such as Levi Strauss, Burberry, Polo Ralph Lauren, Guess and Zara, along with China's 361 Degrees, Anta and Youngor.
The website of Nanjing Zhongtian Yuanteng Textile, headquartered in the capital of Jiangsu province, said the company supplies a range of clothing brands, including Esprit, Guess and C&A.
However, the Nanjing government issued its most serious "red card" warnings against the company in both 2008 and 2009 for failing to adhere to environmental regulations.
Meanwhile in 2010, Nanjing Zhongtian received a "yellow card" for illegally discharging waste water without an official permit.
While it comes as little surprise that the country is registering such high levels of pollution, the findings have prompted renewed concern about whether the high price it is paying, in terms of the environment and health, is worth it, especially now that China is the world's second-largest economy and could provide more funding for environmental protection.
According to statistics from the China Textile Industry Association, the country processed 41.3 million metric tons of fibers in 2010, about 52 percent of the global total. In addition, the total export volume of clothing was worth $212 billion, 34 percent of the global total. However, those heady figures came at a heavy price.
Official figures from China's environmental authorities show that the textile industry discharged 2.5 billion metric tons of sewage in 2010, making the sector the third-biggest water polluter among 39 industries.

一个向长江排污的管道口
【单词提示】
fashion industry ：时尚工业       Levi Strauss：LEVI'S（李维斯）牛仔服饰品牌       Burberry：柏博利（英国服饰及香水品牌）       Polo Ralph Lauren：拉夫.劳伦，美国休闲服饰品牌      Guess：盖尔斯，美国服饰品牌        ZAZA：西班牙服饰产销联合品牌         youngor：雅戈尔中国服饰品牌