2006年NPR美国国家公共电台八月-The Peasant Life, for a Student's Summer

Commentator 1 Jill Vaughan has a small farm in upstate New York. And right now, that means she's hiring teenagers who aren't afraid of really working at their summer jobs.

We still need peasants in our corner of the country. On our farm, we make hay the old fashioned way. Small square bales are conveyed on a hay elevator to a tall loft 2. Adolescents with strong backs are a necessary part of the process. The kids lift and swing the bales into high stacks after they fall off the elevator, and bounce end to end on the wood floor. The heat is crippling.

When a hay wagon 4 is emptied, kids swing down from the hill mill, their broad backs glistening 5 with sweat and dusted with hay. They gulp 6 cold water, and stick their heads under the faucet 7 in the milk house. Then they sprawl 8 under the maple 9 trees. A few head out on the tractor to get another full wagon. The cows watched them over the fence, their nostrils 10 flaring 11 at the scent 3 of clover and alfalfa.

The tractor is back and kids pry 12 themselves off the grass. They bump into each other's shoulders and box on the way back to the barn. Conversations center around cars, and sports, and local gossip. Our little girls hang around, listening to these exotic adolescents.

During the morning, the kids belt out songs from this year's school musical. By suppertime, the sweltering heat and heavy bales have taken their toll 13. So they eat their pizza in silence. We paid them what we can, but money is not the only reward they get. Their parents hayed as youngsters, now they want their kids to have the experience.

Haying is teamwork, but it's different than sports. There is no adult on the team. The adults are running the machinery 14 in the field. No coach is urging competitiveness. They have to cooperate for efficiency.

Teens have a sharp sense of justice that keeps the workload 15 fair. If someone doesn't pull their weight, they'll be left out of conversations and not asked back. If a regular has a bad day though, the others take up the slack.

At dusk, the air looses its heat and their spirits perk 16 up. The moon rises and the kids shoot baskets under the light of the front door bulb. I write checks, giving them extra if the day was more grueling than usual. They've worked harder than I have a right to expect. And they've learned more than they will / most days of their lives. They've formed the team, taken the lead if they needed to, problem solved, and physically 17 endured.

The haying crew changes every year, by the time they're 18, other jobs are available. Why wear yourself out when you can wash dishes and run a cash register? It's getting harder to find help, but new kids stop by and give us their phone number. They're not sure what they are getting into, but they want the camaraderie 18 and confidence they've sensed in the others who have worked here.

Jill Vaughan's farm is in Amarro, New York.

【WORLD BANK】
upstate
in the northern part of a particular state
upstate New York
bale
a large quantity of something such as paper or hay that is tightly tied together especially into a block
a bale of straw
loft
??ON A FARM??
a raised area in a barn used for keeping hay or other crops
a hayloft
wagon
a strong vehicle with four wheels, used for carrying heavy loads and usually pulled by horses
??see also cart
tractor
a strong vehicle with large wheels, used for pulling farm machinery
flare 19
[intransitive and transitive] if a person or animal flares 20 their nostrils (=the openings at the end of the nose) , or if their nostrils flare, their nostrils become wider because they are angry
The bull flared 21 its nostrils and charged.
clover
[植]三叶草, 苜蓿
alfalfa
[植]紫花苜蓿
box
also box up
[transitive] to put things in boxes
Want to help me box up the Christmas tree lights?
??see also boxed
belt something out phrasal verb
to sing a song or play an instrument loudly
She was belting out old Broadway favourites.
musical
a play or film that includes singing and dancing
Webber had three musicals playing in London at one time. Broadway/West End musical (=one that is performed in New York's or London's important theatres) Carroll appeared in a number of Broadway musicals.
toll
a very bad effect that something has on something or someone over a long period of time
toll on
Years of smoking have taken their toll on his health. a heavy toll on the environment
pull your weight
to do your full share of work
He accused me of not pulling my weight.
take up/pick up the slack
a) to make a system or organization as efficient as possible by making sure that money, space, or people are fully 22 used
Without another contract to help pick up the slack, employees may face job losses.
 to do something that needs to be done because someone else is no longer doing it
c) to make a rope tighter
perk up phrasal verb
1
to become more cheerful, active, and interested in what is happening around you, or to make someone feel this way
She seemed kind of tired, but she perked 23 up when Helen came over.
perk somebody ?? up
There's no doubt coffee perks 24 you up.
2
to become more active, more interesting, more attractive etc, or to make something do this
perk something ?? up
A little chili 25 will perk up the sauce.
cash registe
<美>收银机, 现金出纳机
crippling
1
causing so much damage or harm that something no longer works or is no longer effective
the crippling effects of war on the economy
2
a crippling disease or condition causes severe pain and makes it difficult or impossible for someone to walk