时间:2019-01-14 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2013年(六月)


英语课

 



Rising Crop Prices Linked to Decline in World's Bee Population


 


Terrence Ingram considers himself a naturalist 1. He said he’s best able to commune with the natural world around him at the center of a swarm 2... of bees. “I love beekeeping. It’s one of God’s greatest miracles."


Since 1954, Ingram has raised tens of thousands of honeybees in managed colonies behind his house in rural Apple River, Illinois.


“We had 250 hives at one time. We sold five, six tons of honey a year,” said Ingram.


Falling honey supplies


But that amount is dwindling 3. "Now we’re down to about probably four tons." And that's not because the 73-year-old Ingram is slowing down, but because he says there are fewer bees producing honey, something he blames on the use of insecticides and herbicides in the farmland surrounding his property. The gradual decline in his bee population began in 1996.


“Every three weeks that summer, they were spraying with the airplane, and by the end of the year, I didn’t have any of my 250 hives left,” he said.


This phenomenon caught the attention of researchers like Purdue University Entomology Professor Christian 4 Krupke.


“There have been similar reports from Europe in the past, and so we looked into it a little bit further from the point of view of wondering first of all what is killing 5 these bees, and second how are these bees acquiring whatever this toxic 6 chemical is,” said Krupke.


There are many reasons for the worldwide bee decline, not just insecticides.


But in this instance, Krupke and his colleagues focused on insecticides - known as neonicotinoids - that adhere to the seeds as they are planted in the ground, rather than from spraying above.


“The two compounds that kept coming up when we tested these dead bees were the pesticides 7 clothianidin and thiamethoxam. Those are insecticides that are applied 8 to corn seed. The key route for those acute bee kills that we have seen in past years and again this year is the planter exhaust. The talc that contacts seed and then is exhausted,” said Krupke.


Omitting insecticides


About 30 years ago, there were about 4 million of these kind of managed bee colonies throughout the United States. Today, there are less than 2 million, and researchers say that’s due in part to the introduction of these insecticides.


“Can we get by without neonicotinoids insecticides in these field crops? I think we can. I believe we have data that show that we can. So that’s maybe something that’s a little more promising 9 as far as reducing the stress on the honeybee population,” said Krupke.


In December, the European Union plans to ban the use of certain insecticides researchers linked to bee deaths. But no such restrictions 10 are planned in the United States. For Illinois beekeeper Ingram, some of the damage already done is permanent.


“We’ve got many bee keepers who have quit, just gone out of business because they can’t succeed,” he said.


But not Ingram, who said his passion for bees is just as strong as it was when he tended his first colony, more than 60 years ago. 


 



n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)
  • He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业,同时是个博物学爱好者。
  • The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。
n.(昆虫)等一大群;vi.成群飞舞;蜂拥而入
  • There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
  • A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。
adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )
  • The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
adj.有毒的,因中毒引起的
  • The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
  • There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。
n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 );除害药物
  • vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
  • There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
adj.有希望的,有前途的
  • The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
  • We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则)
  • I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
  • a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制
学英语单词
acronic
alternating current propulsion
aluminium dihydrogen phosphate
applied factory burden
as common as the hedge
atlacomulco
attaintment
authorized capital
bead condensation
Bondil
breached
bushbash
cacalias
calcareous cement
catastrophists
centrifugal potential energy
chemical mediator
civic right
clear hawse pipe
complaint management
consistentwiths
copybook
decidedness
declutters
Donghai Coastal Current
Donnemarie-Dontilly
electronic decelerometer
erizepine
errite
Estonian Sign Language
exchange money
family disruption
fluoroethylene resin
free of particular average English conditions
galactic cosmic radiation
gastrocolic reflex
glow lamps
Gualeguay
haliotis rufescens
herd into
hexa-net
hinghman
Houlka
intermediate spinning frame
investment center
lake st. clairs
latticed dune
leggedness
life time of energy level
lisk
maslows
memory management fault
Michaelmas
Milanaise
millepora dichotoma
milli-mass-unit
multiple address computer
Myurocloda
nightspot
nosogeography
orifice flow
owners
paradoxical pupil phenomenon
percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy
Pop Idol
prehension (of an animal)hunt for food
Prirechensk
prostatoxin
receptor protein
remote broadcast
renie
rosy view
rotary coordinate system
self-discharging bucket
send control procedure
shared read-only system residence disk
shear rate thixotropy
silodosin
skip out on
slab-column structure
solita
soogee
standard change gear
statement of financial operations
stef
suborder alcyonaceas
support bearing
swineherder
tooth-shell
trichinelloses
tricholomoid
tunnel entrance brilliance
vad-
variable speech control
very large crude-oil carrier
vulcanizing apparatus
water-extractable acid of soil
windthorne
work cloths
work-session-initiation processing level
writ of replevin
yruled