VOA慢速英语 2007 0522a

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

This season, American farmers expect to plant their biggest corn crop since World War Two. Growing demand for ethanol fuel is the driving force, along with strong export sales.

Based on March estimates¹, the Agriculture Department expects farmers to plant thirty-six million hectares of maize². The area is fifteen percent more than last year and the largest since nineteen forty-four. 

Farmers could harvest thirteen billion bushels. More than three billion of that is expected to become ethanol. Bad weather, though, delayed some planting. That could mean fewer bushels -- and even more competition between ethanol producers and other users³ of corn, like the food industry.

Corn prices are not as high as they were a few weeks ago. But in the past year they have gone from two dollars a bushel to almost four dollars. Growers of corn, like some other crops, also receive government subsidies⁴.

In January, President Bush called for a big increase in the use of other fuels in place of imported oil. But some critics argue that making ethanol out of corn takes more energy than it provides. Not only that, it provides less energy than gasoline⁵ and is only adding to already high fuel costs, they say.

Critics argue that other kinds of plant-based fuels are more efficient -- for example, Brazilian ethanol made from sugar cane⁶. But imported ethanol is taxed, while the United States ethanol industry receives tax credits⁷.

Some agricultural specialists say increased corn production could be bad for the land. Farmers usually plant corn one year and soybeans the next. But area planted to soybeans is expected to decrease eleven percent this year.

Also, because corn gets more fertilizer⁸ than some other crops, critics say there is more risk of water pollution around farms.

Farmers in almost all states are planting more corn but Iowa is still the leader. The United States produces forty percent of the world's corn and more than half of all exported corn. Two economists⁹ recently said in Foreign Affairs magazine that the ethanol situation "is sending shock waves through the food system."

Some critics say at current rates, ethanol production could use as much as half of the American corn supply before long. But a growing fight over that supply could turn attention more to the development of other plant-based fuels.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.

1 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

3 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

4 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 gasoline   

n.(美)汽油

参考例句：

• This car runs 5 miles on a gallon of gasoline.这部汽车一加仑汽油可以行驶五英里。
• There is still some gasoline left in the tank.油箱里还剩下一些汽油。

6 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

7 credits   

n.节目前后字幕；信任，信用，声望，荣誉， [财务]贷方，银行存款；信任( credit的名词复数 )；存款；学分；（借钱偿还的）信誉link-v.相信，信任，把…归给

参考例句：

• He credits me with having better sense than that. 他认为我的见识要比那强得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Does this item go among the credits or the debits? 这笔账应记入贷方还是借方？ 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 fertilizer   

n.肥料，化肥

参考例句：

• Fertilizer enriches the soil.肥料使土壤肥沃。
• Get some more fertilizer for the garden.给花园再多施些肥料。

9 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》