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
acanthoidine
adjacent line
air-breather
ambiguohypoglossal
avoking
bestower
buffer reagent
buy-and-holds
catanator
caveling
chlordan
cost-reimbursement
de-activation
Deinotherioidea
democratic values
desoxypyridoxine
dexamethasones
diameter of working disk
diatonic auxiliary note
discretamine
domain magnetization
double-layer fluorescent screen
dropper plate of free grain
Drusze
dynamicize
editon
elbow equivalent
electrode-travel motor
embraced
endomycopsis hordel
Engler viscosimeter
fairwells
fang-likest
fawns on
federal radio act 1927
fling oneself into the breach
fluoroolefin
free-taking
general staff
grinding media charge
hachi
hard-fightings
Hatsukaichi
HRST
ignition of precipitate
inverse mercator
iodine trap
jM-factor
karhunen loeve transform (klt)
kemerer
laughing-eyed
liege poustie
light-alloy armo(u)r
Longué-Jumelles
lophocoronids
Louis Henri
market chaotic
multistage linear amplifier
Narfeyri
Ngoso
octuplex
optical fiber ribbons
organised-crimes
pass in a program
pelviroentgenography
photoelectrocatalytic reactor
phrenemphraxis
polar moments of inertia
portcullised
practice range
prevelar
primordisl endoderm cells
reave
Rectocillin
residual concentration
Riemann upper integral
rifle shot
safo
saltations
screw-tap
sebiferic acid
second anchor
short-lived asset
sleight-of-hand
sniol
sound-barriers
speed change control
stalk extractor
structurality
Tharrawaw
thirst bucket
thoughted
three-dimensional imaging
throw dust in someone's eyes
transnationally
unwed mother
vel non
voiced sounds
votes down
well-customed
wharfies
wrecking