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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
I learned a few things this past weekend about the fruit industry. My husband has been involved in national and international export of fruit for over twenty years, and right now, he is *up to his neck in this season's fruit: the cherry. Washington state is one of the major cherry producers, and July and August are the two months for harvesting and shipping1. We happened to be in a town called Brewster which is about an hour and a half north of Wenatchee. As you head north, the landscape becomes dryer2, and fascinatingly *moon-like. You travel right along the Columbia river all the way up North. At either side of the river are high, dry hills, that continue off into the distance for miles. There are countless3 *gullies and tucked-away areas where wildlife live, such as coyotes, deer, and even big horn sheep. Down at the river's edge is a different story. Because of the available water, communities have sprung up, including many lush parks, and, of course, the orchards5. Ironically, the dryness of the area and the heat suit many of the kinds of fruit that are grown. The water that they need is simply supplied through irrigation. So, you have a contrast between the dry, earthy, barren hills, and lush green areas all the way up the river. Brewster is a small town right on the Columbia that is in the heart of orchard4 country. My husband works with people who have hundreds of thousands of acres of orchards. And when it comes to cherries, there is a short window of opportunity to get them picked, packed, and shipped off. It is a very perishable6 fruit, and a lot of care and attention are required in bringing fruit to the customers that is in excellent condition. My visit to Brewster was actually not to visit orchards. The cherries had already been picked. There is a huge packing plant there, and that was our destination. As we approached the packing house, I could see that it was a busy season for them. The parking lot was full, and workers were coming and going, starting new shifts, and getting off of completed shifts. Hundreds of people are employed, in many different capacities. My children and I were all wide-eyed as we were shown around. We went into the cold storage room, where thousands of boxes that were already ready, were waiting to be shipped to supermarkets around the world. There were fork-lift trucks zooming7 forwards and backwards8, busily stacking boxes up high. And then, we went to a sorting and packing line, where people sorted through a conveyor belt of cherries. They had to take out unwanted cherries, and let the others fill up various containers of different sizes. It was a fast job. There were also lines of clean water flowing past much of the machinery9; a lot of washing takes place. As we left the plant, I noticed a man-made lake infront of the building. I was told that they are planning on recycling their water, and also using it for both the heating and cooling of water inside the plant. It's incredible to think that about four million boxes get packed in the region, this particular plant doing at least one million. To say that it is a remote area, there is a lot *more going on than meets the eye.
1 shipping | |
n.船运(发货,运输,乘船) | |
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2 dryer | |
n.干衣机,干燥剂 | |
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3 countless | |
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
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4 orchard | |
n.果园,果园里的全部果树,(美俚)棒球场 | |
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5 orchards | |
(通常指围起来的)果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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6 perishable | |
adj.(尤指食物)易腐的,易坏的 | |
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7 zooming | |
adj.快速上升的v.(飞机、汽车等)急速移动( zoom的过去分词 );(价格、费用等)急升,猛涨 | |
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8 backwards | |
adv.往回地,向原处,倒,相反,前后倒置地 | |
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9 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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