VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - Thanksgiving, but US Turkey Farmers Aren't Celebrating

Agriculture Report - Thanksgiving, but US Turkey Farmers Aren't Celebrating

农业报道 - 感恩节来临 火鸡大餐登场

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report in Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday that Americans celebrate on the fourth Thursday in November. This autumn festival is traditionally celebrated 1 with family and friends over a big meal that takes hours to prepare.

感恩节是一个全国性的节日，美国人每年在11月的第四个星期四庆祝感恩节。这个秋季佳节通常会花几小时准备一顿大餐与家人朋友们一起庆祝。

The meal usually includes turkey served along with dishes like cranberries 2, sweet potatoes, green beans and pumpkin 3 pie. The turkey is usually seasoned and roasted in an oven, but some people fry the bird in oil or cook it on a grill 4 or in a smoker 5.

这顿大餐通常包括火鸡，配以小红莓、红薯、青豆、南瓜饼等。火鸡通常加以佐料在烤箱中烘烤，但有些人用油炸火鸡，或用烤架烤制，或用熏烟箱熏制。

The National Turkey Federation 6 estimates that Americans ate forty-six million birds for last year's holiday. The government expects turkey production to increase two percent this year. About two-thirds of the turkeys raised in the United States came from six states: Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia and Indiana.

美国火鸡联合会预计去年节日美国人吃掉了4600万只火鸡。美国政府预计今年火鸡产量会提升2个百分点。大约2/3美国喂养的火鸡来自以下六个州：明尼苏达州，北卡罗莱纳州，阿肯色州，密苏里州，弗吉尼亚州和印第安纳州。

Turkey is eaten all year, and Americans have been eating more of it over the years, though chicken, beef and pork are still more popular. Federation president Joel Brandenberger says twenty-twelve will not be as profitable for turkey farmers as the last two years were. Feed costs are up while turkey prices are about the same.

美国人全年都吃火鸡，虽然鸡肉、牛肉和猪肉仍然更受欢迎，但多年来美国吃火鸡越吃越多。美国火鸡联合会主席乔尔·布兰登贝格尔（Joel Brandenberger）表示，2012年火鸡养殖户的盈利能力可能不如过去两年。火鸡价格上涨的同时饲料成本也在涨。

"Corn is our number one feed ingredient, and the drought has obviously increased the price of corn dramatically and, frankly 7, the fact that an ever-increasing amount of the corn crop is being diverted to ethanol production also has increased the cost of corn. So that's created some difficulty for the industry this year." 

“玉米是我们喂养火鸡的头号饲料原料，很明显干旱显著提升了玉米的价格，同时坦率地说，转向乙醇生产的玉米数量不断增加也提升了玉米的成本。今年这些因素给火鸡行业造成了一些困难。”

The Pilgrims' feast in sixteen twenty-one is often considered the nation's first Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims were early settlers of Plymouth Colony in what is now Massachusetts. They held a three-day feast to celebrate a good harvest. However, other European settlers in North America also held ceremonies of thanks. These included British colonists 8 in Virginia in sixteen nineteen.

1621年美国新移民的庆祝活动通常被认为是美国第一个感恩节。新移民是普利茅斯殖民地，也就是现在的马萨诸塞州的早期殖民者。他们举行了三天的庆祝活动欢迎丰收。然而，北美的其他欧洲殖民者也举行了感恩仪式，其中包括1619年弗吉尼亚州的英国殖民者。

In eighteen sixty-three, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. In nineteen thirty-nine, as the Great Depression was ending, President Franklin Roosevelt established the holiday on the fourth Thursday. He did not want to shorten the Christmas holiday shopping season in years when November has a fifth Thursday.

1863年美国内战期间，亚伯拉罕·林肯（Abraham Lincoln）总统宣布11月的最后一个星期四为全国性的感恩节。1939年随着大萧条的结束，富兰克林·罗斯福（Franklin Roosevelt）总统将该节日确定到第四个星期四。他不希望那些11月有第五个星期四的年份圣诞假期购物季有所缩短。

The season traditionally begins with a busy shopping day on the Friday after Thanksgiving, although some stores are now opening on the holiday itself.

圣诞购物季通常在感恩节之后的星期五以一个繁忙的购物日开始，虽然现在一些商店感恩节当天就开放。

One of America's founders 9, Ben Franklin, thought the turkey would better represent the country as its official bird than the bald eagle. But Joel Brandenberger disagrees.

美国开国元勋之一的本杰明·富兰克林（Ben Franklin）认为火鸡比秃鹰（白头海雕）更能作为国鸟代表美国。但布兰登贝格尔对此不赞同。

"I think we're better off having the bald eagle on our coins and the Thanksgiving turkey on our dinner table."

“我认为最好还是让秃鹰留在硬币上，而感恩节火鸡留在餐桌上。”