VOA慢速英语20061205a
时间：2019-01-30 作者：英语课 分类：2006年慢速英语(十二)月
AGRICULTURE REPORT - Experts Say 'Lost' Crops Can Fight Hunger in AfricaBy Jerilyn Watson
Broadcast: Tuesday, December 05, 2006
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Scientists around the world are being urged to study and improve native vegetables in Africa. A report from the National Research Council in the United States says improving local crops could reduce hunger and poverty in Africa.
The report lists eighteen promising 1 crops that a committee of scientists chose out of hundreds of native plants. The scientists say plants like moringa, lablab and dika are not only good food resources. They can also grow in difficult climate and soil conditions.
The report, called Lost Crops of Africa, deals with vegetables. A similar study of grains was published in nineteen ninety-six. Soon to come is a report about fruits.
Growing amaranth in East Africa
The report just published by National Academies Press notes that many villagers grow native plants like amaranth, cowpea and egusi. Amaranth, for example, is rich in protein and other nutrients 2. But the scientists consider the crops lost because they have not been developed more widely.
Calestous Juma of Harvard University says scientists and policymakers in other parts of the world generally show little interest in these plants. Colonial 3 rulers in Africa imported crops like rice, wheat, corn and soy. But Professor Juma notes that some of these crops grow poorly in many areas of the continent.
Moringa is a tree that produces pods, leaves, seeds and roots that can all be eaten. Another crop listed in the report is the bambara bean plant which is highly nutritious 4. And another one is the locust 5 bean. This tree legume can grow as tall as twenty meters. The seeds become ripe in the dry seasons. The tree is valuable for leaf cover as well as food.
Calestous Juma is co-chairman of an expert committee on modern biotechnology for the African Union and the New Partnership 6 for Africa's Development. Professor Juma says further research on these lost crops will help not just Africa. It would help prepare the world in the event of a food crisis 7 in other areas.
Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug led the committee that prepared the report. He won the nineteen seventy Nobel Peace Prize for a green revolution based on improved wheat he developed.
Norman Borlaug was a Rockefeller Foundation scientist for many years. In September, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Gates Foundation announced a joint 8 effort called the Alliance 9 for a Green Revolution in Africa.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.
- 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。
- a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
- Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
- The people of Africa have successfully fought against colonial rule.非洲人民成功地反抗了殖民统治。
- Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
- Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
- A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
- This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。
- The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
- Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。
- He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
- The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。
- I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
- We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。
