VOA常速英语2007-California Dates Shipped Around the World

By Ade Astuti and Susy Tekunan
Palm Springs, California
12 October 2007
 

Dates have been a staple¹ food in the Middle East for thousands of years -- and they are especially consumed by Muslims during Ramadan.  Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran are the world's top producers of dates -- but the fruit is also grown in the western U.S. state of California.  First brought to the region by the Spaniards in the 18th century, the date palm is a lucrative² crop for some California farmers -- as we learn in this report by  Ade Astuti and Susy Tekunan, narrated³ by VOA's Bill Rodgers.

Date palms are grown in Coachella Valley -- an irrigated⁴ agricultural area in southern California.   This irrigated desert valley is the biggest producer of dates in the United States.

Sea View Ranch⁵ is one of the prime growers of dates in Coachella Valley.  Owner Dennis Jensen says the first dates were brought to the valley in the early 1900s.

"There were some travelers who had been to Morocco, Algeria, and different areas and noticed that our weather and our temperatures were very similar to the climates that they had in that region," explained Jensen. "So a few of them got together and imported some date offshoots into this area and they attempted to raise them and they seem to thrive very well."

Like any fresh fruit, there are many varieties of dates but the pride of Sea View Ranch is the Mejdool variety.  It is known as the King of Dates. "It's size, its texture⁶, its quality and the taste --  all seem to come together in one date and because it is the largest of all the dates we know of, they call it the King of Dates."

Demand for dates picks up during Ramadan, and the pace quickens at Sea View's processing plant.  Dates are washed and then carefully sorted before being boxed and shipped.

But not all varieties of dates ripen⁷ in time for Ramadan, says Dennis Jensen. "They follow Mother Nature's cycle. When it's time to be ripe, which is usually in September, they'll be ripe. So, every year, Ramadan will show up about ten days earlier and consequently our date supply for the beginning of Ramadan wasn't there. So a lot of these dates will be frozen for Ramadan for the following year."

The product of these and other date plantations⁸ in Coachella Valley are shipped around the world, including Europe and  the Middle East.

1 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。

2 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

3 narrated   

v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 irrigated   

[医]冲洗的

参考例句：

• They irrigated their crops with water from this river. 他们用这条小河里的水浇庄稼。
• A crop can be sown, weeded, irrigated, and fertilized uniformly. 一种作物可以均匀一致地进行播种，除草，灌溉和施肥。

5 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

6 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

7 ripen   

vt.使成熟；vi.成熟

参考例句：

• I'm waiting for the apples to ripen.我正在等待苹果成熟。
• You can ripen the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill.把西红柿放在有阳光的窗台上可以让它们成熟。

8 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句