VOA慢速英语2013 感恩节前话火鸡

 

Talk Turkey Before Thanksgiving Day 感恩节前话火鸡

From VOA Learning¹ English, this is the Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

On Thursday, most Americans will gather around a table with family and friends to give thanks. Traditionally, a turkey is at the center of the table on Thanksgiving Day. 

本周四，大多数美国人都会和家人朋友围坐一桌表达感谢。通常在感恩节，一只火鸡会摆在桌子的正中央。

Turkeys are grown in many areas across the United States. Last year, near 70 percent of the birds came from one of seven states: they were Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri, Indiana and California. And estimated² forty-six million turkeys were raised in Minnesota.

美国很多地方都饲养火鸡。去年，美国近70%的火鸡都来自于这七个州：它们是明尼苏达州，北卡罗来纳州，阿肯色州，弗吉尼亚州，密苏里州，印第安纳州和加利福尼亚州。同时据估计其中4600万只火鸡是在明尼苏达州饲养的。

The United States Department of Agriculture says 253 million turkeys were raised from January 2013 through September. There is a pleasant surprise about the cost of serving a turkey meal this month.

美国农业部表示，今年1至9月美国共饲养了2.53亿只火鸡。这个月吃一顿火鸡大餐的费用有个意外惊喜。

Each year, the American Farm Bureau³ Federation⁴ prepares a study of the prices and sales of foods served on Thanksgiving. The group says the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal for ten people this year is forty-nine dollars and four cents. That is forty-four cents less than last year.

每年，美国农场局联合会都会准备研究感恩节食用的食物的价格和销售情况。该组织表示，今年一顿10人感恩节大餐的平均费用是49美元4美分，比去年便宜44美分。

Scott Aronson of Maryland says he had to buy a large turkey because of all the people coming to his home on Thanksgiving day.

马里兰州的斯科特·阿伦森（Scott Aronson）说，因为大家都到他家过感恩节，他不得不买一只很大的火鸡。

"Each year we celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family. This year we will be hosting 16 people with a 23 pound turkey."

他说，“每年我们都和家人朋友一起庆祝感恩节。今年我们将用一只23磅的火鸡来招待16位客人。”

Some Americans like to purchase their turkey directly from a farm. This can cost more than buying one at store. Nicole Roza said it is worth the extra money because Thanksgiving comes just once a year. Last year, she spent 70 dollars for a 7 kilogram farm turkey. Some people may choose to buy a turkey directly from a farm, because they are told what the turkeys have been feed.

一些美国人喜欢直接从农场购买火鸡，这比在商店买更贵一些。妮可·罗扎（Nicole Roza）表示，多花点钱也值，因为感恩节一年只有一次。去年，她花了70美元买了一只7公斤的农场火鸡。一些人可能选择直接从农场购买火鸡，是因为他们被告知了这些火鸡是用什么饲养的。

Polyface Farm in Virginia Shenandoah Valley, for example, says its turkeys are raised on pasture⁵, that lets the animals eat many kinds of grasses and other bird feed. In addition, they eat oats, corn and whole roasted soybeans. This year, Polyface Farm has already presold about 12 hundred turkeys. The orders come from restaurants, small businesses, farm customers and other buyers. 

举例来说，弗吉尼亚州雪兰多山谷的波利弗斯农场表示，他们的火鸡是在牧场饲养的，这使它们能吃到各种各样的草和其它鸟饲料。此外，它们还吃燕麦、玉米和烘烤大豆。今年，波利弗斯农场已经预售出大约1200只火鸡。这些订单来自于餐厅、小企业、农场客户和其他买家。

Many countries have a smaller supply of turkeys than the United States, or perhaps, they have none of the birds. Turkeys do not grow in some parts of Africa for example. And in other areas, the animals can be very costly⁶. A precooked, ready-to-serve turkey can cost as much as 100 dollars in places like Singapore.

许多国家在火鸡供应量上都小于美国。或者他们完全没有火鸡。例如非洲的一些地区就没有火鸡。而在其它地区，火鸡可能非常昂贵。在新加坡等地，一直预先烹饪过的火鸡可能要花费高达100美元。

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 estimated   

adj．根据估计的

参考例句：

• She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
• The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。

3 bureau   

n.提供或收集消息的机构；局，司，处；署

参考例句：

• The weather bureau makes daily reports on weather conditions.气象局每天报告天气状况。
• The Tourist Bureau arranged everything for our journey to Rome.旅游局已为我们去罗马旅行准备了一切。

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 pasture   

n.牧场，牲畜饲养

参考例句：

• This is the place where they used to pasture.这就是他们过去经常放牧的地方。
• The boy got up very early every morning to pasture cattle.这男孩每天起得很早去放牛。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。