VOA慢速英语 2008 1202a

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The search for new fuels has led some researchers to algae¹. Algae is a name for thousands of different organisms. They include single-celled plants as well as kelp and other large plants.
　

Blue-green algae earlier this year in China

Kenneth Bruland is an ocean sciences professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He says many experts also consider plant-like bacteria to be a form of algae. These bacteria make food from the sun like plants do.

Algae grow quickly and some contain a lot of oils. Most algae-to-energy researchers are growing algae in huge tanks. But one company, Blue Marble Energy in Seattle, Washington, uses algae already growing along coastlines. Workers pump it into bags on a boat. They have to be careful not to suck up young fish or other small creatures.

Blue Marble says its work could help prevent harmful algae blooms. A bloom is when a dense² area of algae forms and spreads. Some blooms can harm people, animals or the environment.

Warmer water can cause blooms, and some scientists think global warming is adding to an increase in large ones. Nutrients³ from sewage and agricultural fertilizers also help algae grow.

Blue Marble is a start-up company with private investors⁴. It also has a contract with Washington state to collect the algae called ulva, or sea lettuce⁵, in parts of Seattle's Puget Sound waterway. In Puget Sound, big blooms of sea lettuce often break down in Dumas Bay. This process of rotting uses up oxygen and kills marine⁶ life. And when the sea lettuce washes up on the beach, it smells terrible.

Blue Marble President Kelly Ogilvie says his company has collected almost four thousand kilos of algae in two harvests. The next step is to use bacteria to break down the algae into natural gas and different chemicals. Most companies doing algae-to-energy research are creating liquid biofuels for cars or airplanes.

But some people have concerns about harvesting wild algae. University of Washington researcher Kevin Britton-Simmons says removing the algae does not solve the problem. He says keeping fertilizer and other pollutants⁷ out of the water would prevent a lot of unnatural⁸ blooms.

He also says it is difficult to tell the difference between natural algae blooms and those caused by human activity. He says removing natural blooms would remove valuable food for marine life.

And that's the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE Report. I'm Steve Ember

1 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

2 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

3 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

6 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

7 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。