VOA慢速英语20061212a

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The northeastern state of Vermont is the leading producer of maple¹ syrup² in the United States. This sweet, sticky liquid is a favorite on pancakes and other foods generally eaten in the morning.

The United States Department of Agriculture says Vermont produced more than one and one-half million liters of it this year. That was almost one-third of the nationwide amount and it was worth more than eleven million dollars. Other big producers include Maine and New York State.


Paul Limberty selling his product

Paul Limberty has been producing maple syrup in Vermont for ten years. The process is called sugaring. Each February, Mister Limberty and his wife, Jennifer Esser, drill holes into their sugar maple trees. They have more than one thousand sugar maples³ on their property in Huntington.

They collect the sap that flows from the holes, through pipelines⁴ and into tanks. Sap can flow in two directions -- up from the tree's roots or down from its branches.

The best time to collect sap is on a warm spring day after a cold night. During the spring, rising temperatures create pressure inside the tree. Sap flows out when the pressure inside the tree is greater than the atmospheric⁵ pressure.

The next step is they boil the harvested sap in a wood-fired evaporator. They use wood that they collect throughout the year when they remove dead or overcrowded trees on their property.

The boiling season generally lasts from March through April. Boiling steams away water in the sap. All that is left is maple syrup. Paul Limberty and Jennifer Esser produce four grades of it.

Vermont Grade A Fancy has a light golden color and a light maple taste. It is often made at the beginning of the boiling season.

Grade A Medium Amber⁶ is a popular choice for the table. Grade A Dark Amber has a deep golden color and a strong maple taste.

Grade B is the darkest and strongest tasting of the four. It is often made during the last days of the boiling season. Grade B is considered best for use in cooking and baked goods.

Paul Limberty and Jennifer Esser call their operation Dragonfly Sugarworks. They produced one thousand seventy-nine liters of maple syrup this year. And the price per liter is about the same for all grades -- about fourteen dollars.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jill Moss⁷. At www.unsv.com, you can see a picture of Paul Limberty selling his maple syrup. And to learn more about Vermont, listen next Monday at this time for THIS IS AMERICA. I'm Steve Ember.

1 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

2 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。

3 maples   

槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木

参考例句：

• There are many maples in the park. 公园里有好多枫树。
• The wind of the autumn colour the maples carmine . 秋风给枫林涂抹胭红。

4 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

5 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

6 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

7 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。