VOA慢速英语2010年-Agriculture Report - An African Grain

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Teff is a common part of the diet in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. This nutritious¹ grain is very small. It has a mild, nutty taste.
People use teff flour to make bread and other foods. Now teff is finding new uses in foods for people with celiac disease.
People with celiac disease cannot process gluten. Gluten is a protein in wheat, rye and barley². Glutens can be found not just in foods but also medicines and other products.
The immune system is supposed to protect the body. But celiac causes the immune system to damage the small intestine³. The disease can cause stomach pains, bloating and diarrhea. It can also cause weight loss and make people feel continually hungry. It interferes⁵ with the body's ability to absorb nutrients⁶ from food.
In the past, celiac disease was considered rare and limited mostly to people of European ancestry⁷. The rate of reported cases was one in ten thousand people.
Today the estimate is about one in one hundred thirty-three Americans. But celiac researcher Alessio Fasano says until recent years not much was known about the disease.
Teff is a gluten-free staple⁸ grain from eastern Africa ALESSIO FASANO: "Now, with large epidemiological studies done everywhere including here, we can say with a great level of confidence that the disease affects roughly the same percentage of the general public worldwide. That is roughly one percent. So it is not rare at all."Doctor Fasano directs the Center for Celiac Research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He says the disease can be very mild. But more serious cases can interfere⁴ with a child's growth. Adults can suffer liver damage, joint⁹ pain and other problems.
The main way to control the disease is to avoid glutens. There is a growing market for products that are gluten-free.
Farmers in Nevada grow about half the teff produced in the United States. The crop is currently worth only about one million dollars to farmers in that state. But teff grower David Eckert is hopeful.
DAVID ECKERT: "The non-gluten market, I think is going to be a big market. I think it's just getting there and knowing the right people, getting into the larger companies that are going to really use the product."Some people without celiac disease say they feel better when they avoid gluten. But many scientists question if this is really true.
Seven years ago, Anna Quigg was surprised to learn that she has celiac disease. She says gluten-free products are much easier to find these days. She buys teff and other whole grains.
ANNA QUIGG: "Who thinks they are allergic¹⁰ to bread, you know?"And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson with Steve Baragona. I'm Bob Doughty¹¹.

1 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• 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。

2 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

3 intestine   

adj.内部的；国内的；n.肠

参考例句：

• This vitamin is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine.这种维生素通过小肠壁被吸收。
• The service productivity is the function,including external efficiency,intestine efficiency and capacity efficiency.服务业的生产率是一个包含有外部效率、内部效率和能力效率的函数。

4 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

5 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

6 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》

7 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

8 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

11 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。