AGRICULTURE REPORT - Corn, Part 2

AGRICULTURE REPORT — December 3, 2002: Corn, Part 2

By Mario Ritter

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Last week, we told about the use of corn to feed cows in the cattle industry. This week we tell about other
industrial uses for the crop. For example, corn is the most important sweetener used in the American food
industry. Sugars from corn can be found in a huge number of products. One sweetener, high fructose corn syrup¹,
is found in popular drinks and sweet food. It is sweeter than natural sugar and also less costly².

About seventy-percent of corn is starch³. Cornstarch is a kind of complex
carbohydrate⁴. Cornstarch is added to many foods. It is also used to make paper and
many other products. Corn is even used to make explosives.

Surprisingly different substances can be made from corn products. Corn can be
processed in one way to make oil for cooking. Processed another way, it can be used
to make alcohol. Both alcoholic⁵ drinks and industrial alcohol can be made from a
mixture of crushed corn.

Corn can even be used as a fuel. The United States Department of Agriculture has supported research on ethanol,
a fuel alcohol, for many years. Ethanol can be added to gasoline to make high quality fuel for cars. However,
ethanol is more costly than gasoline.

The research agency of the Department of Agriculture continues to look for ways to produce ethanol at a lower
cost. The Agricultural Research Service has found a method to continuously produce ethanol more effectively
than ever before. Farmers in the central part of the United States support ethanol as a new market for their crop.
Yet there are problems with the increasing ethanol market.

Ethanol becomes more useful economically when corn prices and gasoline prices are low. But these conditions
reduce profits for the farmers who grow corn and reduce the need for ethanol.

Also, programs to increase the use of ethanol have not been successful in the past. It may be surprising, but the
first widely-produced car in America, the Ford⁶ Model T, could use ethanol fuel as well as gasoline. Yet ethanol
has not been important in America since the end of World War Two.

In many industries, new uses for corn are being found all the time. Corn continues to become more economically
important. But, can a crop become too successful? Next week, we will tell about the hidden costs of corn.

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

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1 syrup   

n.糖浆，糖水

参考例句：

• I skimmed the foam from the boiling syrup.我撇去了煮沸糖浆上的泡沫。
• Tinned fruit usually has a lot of syrup with it.罐头水果通常都有许多糖浆。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。

4 carbohydrate   

n.碳水化合物；糖类；(plural)淀粉质或糖类

参考例句：

• You should not have too much carbohydrate in your diet.你日常饮食中不该有过多碳水化合物。
• Cashew nuts are rich in carbohydrate.腰果含丰富碳水化合物。

5 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。