彭蒙惠英语：Soybean Farming Impacts Environment

Soybean Farming Impacts Environment

 

By Kevin G. Hall / © 2004, Knight¹ Ridder Newspapers.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services / Images © KRT Direct

 

A boom in soybean production is transforming South American agriculture

 

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A soybean boom is sweeping² South America like a gold rush. Farmers with soy fever are plowing³ by moonlight, investing in jungles and dreaming of digging new canals to carry their soybeans from the continent’s vast and fertile interior to Atlantic and Pacific ports. The boom, fueled largely by China’s growing appetite, is transforming global agriculture and hastening the demise⁴ of the Western hemisphere’s last virgin⁵ savannahs and tropical rainforests.

 

Argentina’s farmers planted about 17 million acres of soybeans in 1997. Today, they plant more than 34 million. Brazilians planted 32 million acres in 1997. Now they plant 57 million. South America’s farmers are clearing acres as fast as they can burn them. Latin leaders, with some exceptions, are turning blind eyes to the devastation⁶.

 

Global demand

Historically, Latin booms have gone bust⁷, from rubber tapping to eucalyptus⁸ farming. But the soy boom appears to be built around real and durable⁹ demand: As standards of living have increased across much of the globe, so has the demand for meat products, cooking oils and sauces. Enter the soybean, low in cost and rich in protein. It’s an ideal additive¹⁰ to processed foods and the perfect protein supplement in animal feed to fatten¹¹ pigs, poultry¹² and cattle. According to John Baize, an international adviser¹³ to the American Soybean Association, the global demand for soybeans grew by 101 percent from 1990 to 2004.

 

Environment impact

In Bolivia, South America’s poorest country, roughly 500,000 acres of savannah and forests disappeared each year between 1993 and 2000, according to a report by The World Wildlife Fund last year. Most were cleared for farming or grazing cattle. The politically moderate environmental group wants South American governments to do a better job enforcing environmental laws.

 

Vocabulary Focus

demise (n) [di5maiz] the end of something that was previously¹⁴ considered to be powerful or great

virgin (adj) [5vE:dVin] relating to something that has not yet been cultivated or used by people

turn a blind eye to (idiom) to ignore something one knows is wrong

go bust (idiom) forced to close because of a lack of finances; to lose all or most of one’s money

 

Specialized¹⁵ Terms

savannah (n) 热带草原 a large, flat area of land covered with grass, usually with few trees, which is found in hot countries

rubber tapping (n phr) 橡胶采集 the process of drawing from a certain tropical tree the liquid used to make rubber

eucalyptus (n) 桉树，尤加利树 any of several types of trees, found especially in Australia, which produce a strong-smelling oil used in medicine and industry

 

黄豆种植影响环境

 

黄豆栽种激增使南美洲农业转型

 

张明绮 译

 

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黄豆种植的激增正如淘金热般地横扫南美洲。对黄豆一头热的农夫们夜间犁地种黄豆，在丛林中投资，梦想着开凿新的运河，将他们的黄豆从广大肥沃的内地运送到大西洋岸与太平洋岸的港口。主要受到中国对黄豆需求渐增的影响，这股种植黄豆的浪潮，正在使全球的农业转型，也在加速摧毁西半球最后的热带草原处女地与热带雨林。

1997年，阿根廷的农民们种植了约1700万英亩的黄豆。如今此作物的种植已经超过3400万英亩。1997年，巴西种植的黄豆面积是3200万英亩，如今则是5700万英亩。南美洲的农民们以放火烧荒一般的速度如火如荼地垦地。拉丁美洲国家的领导者，除了几个例外，对此极尽蹂躏土地的现象均熟视无睹。

 

全球需求

回顾以往，从采集橡胶到种植桉树，拉丁美洲的经济热潮已经破产停顿。但是黄豆热似乎建立在实际且持久的需求：随着全球大部分地区生活水准的提高，肉制品、烹调用油与酱料的需求也随之增加。价格低廉且蛋白质丰富的黄豆便在此时登场。黄豆是加工食品理想的添加物，也是使猪、家禽以及牛增肥的饲料中完美的蛋白质补充品。据美国黄豆协会国际顾问约翰·贝士所言，从1990年到2004年，全球黄豆需求增长了101个百分点。

 

环境冲击

根据世界野生物基金会去年的一则报道，南美洲最穷的国家玻利维亚，1993-2000年间每年有约50万英亩的热带草原和森林消失。大部分都是为了耕种与放牧牛群。政治温和的环保团体希望南美洲政府加强执行环境保护法令。

 

1 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

2 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

3 plowing   

v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀，宝贝儿。 来自飘（部分）
• Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后，他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句

4 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

5 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

6 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

8 eucalyptus   

n.桉树，桉属植物

参考例句：

• Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and pains.桉树油可以很好地缓解肌肉的疼痛。
• The birds rustled in the eucalyptus trees.鸟在桉树弄出沙沙的响声。

9 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

10 additive   

adj.附加的；n.添加剂

参考例句：

• Colour is often an additive in foods.颜料经常是各种食物中的添加物。
• Strict safety tests are carried out on food additives.对食品添加剂进行了严格的安全检测。

11 fatten   

v.使肥，变肥

参考例句：

• The new feed can fatten the chicken up quickly enough for market.新饲料能使鸡长得更快，以适应市场需求。
• We keep animals in pens to fatten them.我们把动物关在围栏里把它们养肥。

12 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

13 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

14 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

15 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。