时间:2018-12-07 作者:英语课 分类:农业与发展


英语课

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Californians Vote on Biotech Crops
By Mario Ritter


Broadcast: Tuesday, November 09, 2004


This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.


Voters in the American state of California did not just choose government representatives in elections on November second. In some areas, voters also made decisions about agriculture. Four counties decided 1 if they wanted to ban products of genetically 2 engineering.


This was not the first time that Californians have voted on the issue. In March, Mendocino County became the first area in the United States to ban genetically engineered crops and animals. Trinity County approved a similar ban in August.


Last week, four more California counties voted on the issue. Butte County rejected a measure to ban genetically engineered crops. So did voters in San Luis Obispo County. A similar measure in Humboldt County was declared unconstitutional. However, Marin County, to the North of San Francisco, voted to ban such crops and animals.


The votes are the latest clashes in a campaign to limit the spread of genetically changed products. Environmental groups support votes to ban such products. Many environmentalists are concerned that genetically engineered crops will mix with traditional crops.


In October, the Environment Protection Agency released a study on a genetically engineered kind of grass. It found that the grass could fertilize 3 grasses up to twenty-one kilometers away. That surprised scientists.


Many farmers oppose bans on crops they can grow. The California Farm Bureau Federation 4 wants voters to reject bans on genetically changed products. And many farmers are concerned that their products may become less competitive if they cannot use the latest technology.


But, the success of local votes on genetically changed crops depends on the agricultural interests in those areas. In Mendocino County, for example, organic grape growers are an important part of the economy.


Wine-making companies such as Fetzer and Frey use organically grown grapes from Mendocino. These companies have found that organic wines are an expanding part of the American and foreign wine markets.


Organic growers may fear losing their organic approval if genetically engineered crops are nearby. At the same time, organic wine-making is a growth industry in the American wine market. That market is worth nearly twenty-two thousand million dollars.


This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Gwen Outen.



1 decided
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
2 genetically
adv.遗传上
  • All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
  • Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物
3 fertilize
v.使受精,施肥于,使肥沃
  • Fertilizer is a substance put on land to fertilize it.肥料是施在地里使之肥沃的物质。
  • Reading will fertilize his vocabulary.阅读会丰富他的词汇。
4 federation
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会
  • It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
  • Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。
学英语单词
acardias
Adephos
advisory funds
aflatoxins M
aluminum plant
Angerboda
Antichristic
aphthovirus
appeal against a charge
appellativeness
aquanaut work
arch contour
astragaluss
batching by weight
Bragg-Gray principle
butt cable
c-series
character specifier
charge storage flip-flop
chargehouse
consistency limit
copy-protections
deaf theater
desire of
double-sideband multiplex equipment
dray-horses
dummy pill
eddr
electric performance
entocythere
erratic variation
eye-brain system
fazzini
fertilizer unit
fifty-second
flash back voltage
FTIR-Ramanbb
fueling-defueling system
gas fuel nozzle
half-days
hand tester
have belief in
heavy dumper
Inspector Poo-sow
iophobia
Klisura
leakage testing socket
lethal dose (LD)
line-of-sight course
linear wave
locomotive repair in works
loppered
man-induced factor
massicotite
Maurer's nomogram
maybelle
mechanical thermal conversion
Monticelli d'Ongina
Mutāli'
Myodin
niobium-stabilized
noncondom
onto something
oological
otono
P.V. diagram
Pan-Asianism
penalty kill
phosphatidate
phrenicoabdominal branches
piston unit area power
positive air pressure control
post-detection integral
purple osier
push-back
pyxine sorediata
ramera
reputational
responsible cabinet
returned cheque
revenues from special assessment
rolling speed control
rotary planing
Ruffini cylinder
saccharine vegetable
San Jaime
scissortailed flycatcher
segur
Semenchenko
shuttle feeler bracket
somesthesis
sports-minded
successour
time multiplexed system
toggle-type tablet machine
trichroic mineral
tubotaiwine
twigil
Vanoise, Messif de la
variable speed generator
Yandina
yard arm group