VOA慢速英语20060801a

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Japan Imports U.S. Beef AgainBy Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 01, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.


Jiro Kawasaki, Japan's health minister, announces the end of the ban on U.S. beef

American beef is returning to Japan. The Japanese government last week ended a ban in place since January over concerns about mad cow disease.

Japanese officials recently inspected thirty-five beef processing centers in the United States. They said all but one met Japanese safety requirements.

The ban on beef led to threats in Congress of trade restrictions¹ against Japan.

The Japanese were the top buyer of American beef. The government first banned shipments in December of two thousand three. That was when the United States reported its first case of mad cow disease -- bovine² spongiform encephalopathy, or B.S.E.

The Japanese lifted their ban last December, but renewed it in January after the discovery of backbone³ material in a meat shipment.

In all, there have been three confirmed cases of B.S.E. in the United States. The first was in a Canadian-born cow in Washington state. Last year a cow in Texas was found to have B.S.E.. And in March of this year, a cow in Alabama tested positive for the disease.

About twenty nations continue to ban American beef; others restrict some kinds of cattle products. Japan accepts only beef from cattle twenty months of age or younger. Also, processors must remove backbones⁴ and other parts that experts say could spread the disease.

Eating infected meat products has been blamed for more than one hundred fifty deaths, mostly in Britain.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns says American beef is extremely safe.

The Japanese ended their ban one week after Mister Johanns announced reductions in the B.S.E. testing program. The program will now test about forty thousand animals a year. That is still ten times the level suggested by the World Animal Health Organization.

Since June of two thousand four, the Agriculture Department has tested an average of more than one thousand animals per day. Two years of testing found two cases of B.S.E. Mister Johanns noted⁵ that both animals were born before the United States banned feeding cattle protein to other cattle.

A seven-year government study estimated the most likely number of cases at between four and seven out of forty-two million adult cattle.

But critics say the United States should be testing more cattle, not fewer.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts⁶ and archives of our reports are at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 bovine   

adj.牛的；n.牛

参考例句：

• He threw off his pack and went into the rush-grass andand munching,like some bovine creature.他丢开包袱，爬到灯心草丛里，像牛似的大咬大嚼起来。
• He was a gentle,rather bovine man.他是一位文雅而反应迟钝的人。

3 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

4 backbones   

n.骨干( backbone的名词复数 )；脊骨；骨气；脊骨状物

参考例句：

• Why do hummingbirds and gorillas both have backbones? 为什么蜂鸟和大猩猩都有脊骨？ 来自辞典例句
• Simply adding bandwidth to the Internet backbones is not an answer. 只是简单的在互联网骨架上增加带宽是应付不了的。 来自互联网

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句