VOA慢速英语 2008 1209a
时间：2018-12-01 作者：英语课 分类：VOA慢速英语2008年（十二）月
A new study says almost forty percent of China is losing soil because of wind and water erosion 1. The Chinese government recently announced the results of a three-year study. The study was the largest of its kind since China became a communist nation in nineteen forty-nine.
A worker harvests rice in Yunnan province, in southwestern China
Researchers found that China has three and one-half million square kilometers of eroded 2 land. Water has eroded more than one and one-half million square kilometers of that territory. Wind has damaged almost two million square kilometers.
The researchers blamed farming and the clearing of forests for much of the damage. Rural 3 areas are not the only ones losing soil. Land is also being affected 4 in cities and near mines and factories.
The researchers say that every year, four and one-half billion tons of soil are washed or blown away. At that rate, they say, grain production in northeastern China could decrease forty percent within forty to fifty years. The country depends on that area for grain; the northeast is often called China's breadbasket.
The research team estimates 5 that erosion has cost China at least twenty-nine billion dollars in economic losses since two thousand. The team also says that seventy percent of China's poor live in areas damaged by soil loss.
Xinhua, the official news agency 6, reported that the team said China is in a worse situation than many other countries suffering from soil erosion. These include India, Japan, the United States and Australia.
Land sometimes becomes desert and can no longer support plants. This process is called desertification. A study published earlier this year suggested that climate change has been a major cause of this in China. The paper appeared in Earth-Science Reviews in June.
Scientists say more than ninety percent of grasslands 7 in northern China have decreased in quality as a result of desertification. Dried lakes in the north produce most of the dust that affects life for people in cities like Beijing and Tianjin.
Still another problem for China has been flooding along the Yangtze River. Widespread flooding took place in the late nineteen nineties. After that, the government limited tree cutting along the sides of mountains near the river.
And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Archives of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Jim Tedder 8.
- The erosion of beach here is serious.这里海岸的腐蚀很严重。
- Drought and soil erosion had long been a major problem.干旱和水土流失一直是个老大难问题。
- He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
- We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。
- She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
- His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
- Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
- We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
- He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。
- Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》