VOA慢速英语2009年-Development Report - The Importance of a S

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A simple water pump is helping¹ to improve the lives of poor families in several Asian and African countries.
　
A treadle pump in vegetable fields in Bangladesh

The treadle pump is based on a design developed in the nineteen seventies by Norwegian engineer Gunnar Barnes. It can be made locally. A group based in the United States, IDE, International Development Enterprises, has created programs in different countries.

The program in India won an Ashden Award in two thousand six for using local sources of energy to improve quality of life. Last year the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded IDE twenty-seven million dollars. The money is to be used to expand small irrigation projects to the other half of India's twenty-eight states.

The treadle pump is easy to build from bamboo or other wood and two metal cylinders² with pistons³. The pistons go up and down as a person stands on lever devices -- treadles -- and uses a natural walking motion.

How many hours a day the pump needs to be operated depends on the season and how much water is needed for crops. It could be two hours a day. It could be seven hours a day.

Small children sometimes stand with their parents on the treadles. Everyone in the family can take turns operating the pump.

The Acumen⁴ Fund is a nonprofit group that invests in business projects to fight poverty. It studied the effects of treadle pumps in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh has three treadle pump manufacturers and more than seventy-three thousand pumps.

Acumen reported that families using them ate more vegetables, because they were able to grow more to eat and to sell. Many of these families also drank more milk, because they bought a cow with their added earnings⁵. Men with treadle pumps often no longer have to leave the farm to seek extra work in cities.

The pumps can also improve education. Farmers often use their extra earnings to buy books for their children or to pay for schooling⁶.

A farmer in Zambia said he hoped to have enough money in three years to buy a diesel⁷-powered pump. Then he could grow more crops over a larger area.

But the world economic crisis has had an effect on some farmers. IDE executive director Zenia Tata says some who were able to buy diesel pumps now do not enough money to buy fuel. So they are using their treadle pumps again.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Karen Leggett. Transcripts⁸, MP3s and archives of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 cylinders   

n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物

参考例句：

• They are working on all cylinders to get the job finished. 他们正在竭尽全力争取把这工作干完。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That jeep has four cylinders. 那辆吉普车有4个汽缸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 pistons   

活塞( piston的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some pistons have seating rings of metal or leather. 有些活塞上有金属或皮革的密封环。
• A pump uses valves and pistons. 泵使用阀和活塞。

4 acumen   

n.敏锐，聪明

参考例句：

• She has considerable business acumen.她的经营能力绝非一般。
• His business acumen has made his very successful.他的商业头脑使他很成功。

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

7 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

8 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