VOA慢速英语 2008 0513a

Agriculture Report - Honey Bee Losses Still a Problem in US
Beekeepers reported losing about 35 percent of their hives in the fall and winter of last year. Transcript¹ of radio broadcast:
12 May 2008

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Honey bees add billions of dollars in value to around one hundred thirty crops in the United States. But since the nineteen eighties, researchers have been concerned about the health of these valuable pollinators.

Worries grew after the winter of two thousand six. Some pollination² services reported losses of anywhere from thirty to ninety percent of their hives. The beekeepers did not find dead adult bees as they often do after winter. Instead, the bees were gone. Experts gave a name to this mysterious situation: colony collapse³ disorder⁴.

A report in Agricultural Research magazine, from the Department of Agriculture, takes a fresh look at C.C.D. It says the disorder is truly a serious problem. But it says there were enough honey bees to provide all the agricultural pollination needed last year.

Still, beekeepers reported losing about thirty-five percent of their hives in the fall and winter of two thousand seven. It two thousand six, it was thirty-one percent.

The United States has almost two and one-half million managed beehives. Experts from the Agriculture Department and the Apiary⁵ Inspectors⁶ of America did a study involving about one-fifth of them.

One finding was that beekeepers who found no dead adult bees were more likely to have the most severe losses. Also, a virus called I.A.P.V., for Israeli acute paralysis⁷ virus, was present in almost half the colonies studied.

But researchers say they do not know if this virus causes a colony to collapse. They say the lack of affected⁸ bees to examine makes it difficult to know exactly what the new disorder is.

Losses in honey bee populations can result from a number of causes. A big problem, for example, is the varroa mite⁹, a deadly parasite¹⁰. And experts keep looking for other answers for the current situation.

Scientists at the University of Virginia recently reported that air pollution may prevent bees from finding flowers to pollinate. They think ozone¹¹ in the air is keeping bees and other pollinators from smelling the flowers. Bees feed on nectar and pollen¹² from flowers.

Jose Fuentes and his team at Virginia studied how far the scent¹³ of flowers travels with the wind. Before the eighteen hundreds, they say, it was more than one thousand two hundred meters. Now, they say, the scent can travel only about three hundred meters at best. Their study is in the journal Atmospheric¹⁴ Environment.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For more about bees, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Faith Lapidus.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 pollination   

n.授粉

参考例句：

• The flowers get pollination by insects.这些花通过昆虫授粉。
• Without sufficient pollination,the growth of the corn is stunted.没有得到充足的授粉，谷物的长势就会受阻。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 apiary   

n.养蜂场，蜂房

参考例句：

• My sister was put in charge of the apiary.我姐姐被派去负责养蜂场。
• He keeps an apiary.他有一个养蜂场。

6 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 mite   

n.极小的东西；小铜币

参考例句：

• The poor mite was so ill.可怜的孩子病得这么重。
• He is a mite taller than I.他比我高一点点。

10 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

11 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

12 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

13 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

14 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。