时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2012年(九月)


英语课

 


European Farmers Work to Boost Global Grain Supplies



Britain has just been hit with its wettest summer in 100 years and that's been bad news for a lot of farmers, especially inland and in the north. But in the eastern pocket of Suffolk, wheat yields have been good.


Farmer Robert Raven 1 has already harvested his wheat and says the quality seems to be high. He says although agriculture here does suffer shocks, on the whole farmers in western Europe tend to get by.


"Europe has a less variable harvest over the years purely 2 because our weather is more predictable. So although we do suffer from volatility 3 ourselves it's certainly not the extremes you get elsewhere," Raven said. "When we talk about a bad year it's nothing compared to what you get in other parts of the world where they get complete crop failures because of the weather."


The European Union is one of the world's top grain producers and a key supplier to neighboring regions in the Middle East and North Africa. So it's good news that, although its harvest is expected to be slightly lower than normal this year, it's a relatively 4 small shortfall.


Elsewhere it's a different story.


In the United States, the world's leading corn producer, the worst drought in over half a century has depleted 5 crops. The government estimates this year's production to be the lowest in the past six years.


In Russia, another top grain supplier, a heat wave has slashed 6 the wheat harvest by around one-quarter. 


The poor harvests are causing grain prices to spike 7 and raising concerns about a global food crisis.


Peter Hazell, an expert on world food problems at Imperial College London, says relatively good yields in the European harvest this year is good news but won't resolve worries over food insecurity.


"Europe produces about 300 million tons of cereal each year. The U.S. produces about 400 million tons," he said. "To put that in perspective the world produces 2.4 billion tons a year. So Europe is a significant producer but it also has a lot of people and it actually exports quite a small amount."


Hazell says this year's poor harvests are likely to impact the world's poorest the most. And it wouldn't be the first time.


Four years ago, prices rose dramatically, making basic staples 8 unaffordable for many.


The crisis contributed to economic and social instability in a number of countries and, in some places, to rioting.


Hazell says in recent years the ratio of supply and demand has become too finely balanced. 


"All the food that we produce these days is used," he said. "Whereas in the past we always had surpluses - we don't have those surpluses anymore so when we get a drought there is a shock in the system, we do not have the stocks to release to buffer 9 it."


He says with price spikes 10 already a problem, and an extra two billion people expected by 2050, there are no easy answers.


But he says in the long term, extra food won't be coming from countries that are already the world's top producers, like in Europe or North America, but from places where land has yet to be fully 11 exploited.


"A lot of the future potential lies in the developing countries, particularly in Africa and Latin America," Hazell said. "These are countries where a lot of poor people are engaged in farming so here is an opportunity to grow more food to feed the world and have some of the poorest people engaged in that process solving their own income and employment problems in the process. So that is the real win/win opportunity."


But in the short term, farmers in Europe and around the world are working to get the greatest yield out of the land they have.


Robert Raven sold much of this year's wheat months ago. But with prices now high he will be making a good profit on the extra grain and expects his profits to top recent years'.


European farmers, he says, are doing their best to make sure people around the world can eat. 


"We will be exporting as much as we can to try to help fill the shortfall left by the U.S. and Russia," Raven said. "Obviously when the world can only produce as much grain as it does we cannot completely fill the gap but Europe is certainly emptying the barns as much as possible."


And with crops yet to be harvested this year in many parts of the world, farmers in those countries are hoping for good weather and strong yields to add to the global stock. 




n.渡鸟,乌鸦;adj.乌亮的
  • We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
  • Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。
adv.纯粹地,完全地
  • I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
  • This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。
n.挥发性,挥发度,轻快,(性格)反复无常
  • That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
  • Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而,由于相当长的时间里波动性小,灾难短视就获胜了。
adv.比较...地,相对地
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 );鞭打;割破;削减
  • Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
  • He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.长钉,钉鞋;v.以大钉钉牢,使...失效
  • The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
  • They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。
n.(某国的)主要产品( staple的名词复数 );钉书钉;U 形钉;主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )
  • The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
  • I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句
n.起缓冲作用的人(或物),缓冲器;vt.缓冲
  • A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时,很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
  • Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。
n.穗( spike的名词复数 );跑鞋;(防滑)鞋钉;尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 );偷偷地给某人的饮料加入(更多)酒精( 或药物);把尖状物钉入;打乱某人的计划
  • a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
  • There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉,以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
学英语单词
Abeele
ablative coatings
absorption conductor cathode
acoustic grating
albedo particles
amplitude contour
angiocardiograms
apex pin
asarylic acid
ASTM (American Standard of Testing Materials)
audio track circuit
avalanche injection diode
ayah
become a prey to
biacidic base
blood-and-guts
brain-mapping
buccal tablets
c-suite
calibrated radiation source
cam shaft thrust bearing
capital goods in the agricultural sector
carroch
cetrelia sinensis
cluster compound
cocultures
coefficient of evaporation
coracesium (alanya)
count me in
dissipating phlegm and resolving masses
Dry Ridge
ellen
enzyme hydrolysis
eucriotettix oculatus
everglades national parks
forboded
get long
Goldschmidt classification
homuncle
hot landing
in-by
initially
internal photoeffect
King's Park
lent
LESP
lithocyte
lustration
mainshaft synchronizer gear
markee
multiple-purpose communication
Nansen Basin
navicula cryptocephala
non staining
North Canadian R.
nulliparae
oval bush
parallel planing machine
pickup arms
polyarthra trigla
pre-milk stimulator
progressive apoplexy
Puerto Valdés
rear end compaction
red worms
resolution refutation system
ringworm of nails
RMETS
rubus niveus wall.subsp inopertus focke
sales associates
salvage gear
sarabands
saron
segmental brownian motion
selected text
shavuoths
sigma notation
simian virus
strongly connected automation
Särkisalmi
tank duel
tensor shear strain
territorial dominion
theatre sister
titanium(ii) oxide
top cutting edge
transthoracic
trickments
triple reassortant
unicameral
unprincess
unrightful
unsovable labeling procedure
vecinos
veinlets
vickerl's hardness number (vhn)
Warrington hammer
well-to-do
wesleyan methodist churches
wintling
Witheridge
x-knife stereotactic radiosurgery system