VOA慢速英语2010年-Agriculture Report - Scientists Recycl

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Recycling programs usually give new life to materials like paper, metal, plastic and glass. But a program in the eastern United States is recycling shellfish to help the Chesapeake Bay.
Oysters² are filter feeders which means they help clean the water. At the same time, generation upon generation of oysters form reefs. These structures provide homes for fish and crabs³.
Oysters are a Chesapeake tradition. And they are good for the bay. But environmental damage and too much harvesting have cut the oyster¹ population of the Chesapeake.
An organization called the Oyster Recovery Partnership⁴ started the recycling program earlier this year. Baby oysters need to attach themselves to a shell or other hard surface as they grow. Scientists are using recycled shells as part of an oyster reproduction program.
More than fifty restaurants, seafood⁵ dealers⁶ and other businesses have joined the Oyster Shell Recycling Alliance. Two states, Maryland and Virginia, are also taking part in the program.
One of the restaurants involved is in Washington, near the White House. Oysters are a specialty⁷ at the Old Ebbitt Grill⁸, and manager Christian⁹ Guidi says that means lots of shells.
The Oyster Recovery Program plants more than two billion baby oysters in state protected waters. CHRISTIAN GUIDI: "We serve between fifteen hundred and three thousand oysters a day, and that obviously does create a lot of waste."But the restaurant no longer throws away all those shells. The Oyster Recovery Partnership takes them away for recycling.
First the shells get washed. Then they go to the Center for Environmental Science at the University of Maryland for further processing.
The shells are placed in tanks with hundreds of millions of oyster larvae¹⁰. This way, the baby oysters can be raised until they have grown big enough to be moved to the Chesapeake.
This year, the Oyster Recovery Partnership helped produce and plant more than four hundred fifty million baby oysters in the bay.
Don Meritt heads the oyster recovery program at the University of Maryland. He says the goal is not just to increase the oyster population.
DON MERITT: "Our real goal here is to try to restore healthy oysters to the Chesapeake Bay so that we can help restore a healthy Chesapeake Bay. Not just a healthy oyster population, but a healthy bay."Mr. Meritt says it will take many years of work before the Chesapeake Bay has a good supply of oysters again.
DON MERITT: "We did not get to this crisis in a few years and we are not going to get out of it in a few years. It is going to take a concerted effort over a long period of time."And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson and Elizabeth Lee. You can find all of our programs with transcripts¹¹ and MP3s at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty¹².

1 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

2 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

3 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

5 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

6 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

7 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

8 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

11 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

12 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。