VOA标准英语2009年-New Yorker Creates a Human Habitat on a Ba

By Martin Phillips
New York
01 October 2009

The effects of global warming are a concern to many. In the United States, the worry is that large areas of coastline will be lost as water levels rise. Now, a woman from New York thinks she may have a solution. A self-contained barge¹ called the "Waterpod."

 
NY waterpod home and place of work for Mary Mattingly
 
It's known as the Waterpod, a kind of working farm at sea. It's on a barge docked at Staten Island, one of New York City's five boroughs².

Photographer Mary Mattingly designed it as home and work place for five people. On the barge, they grow their own food. "We have a lot of fried green tomatoes these days. We have cucumbers, potatoes, pumpkins³ lots of lettuces⁴, and kale," she explains, "Vegetables are grown here hydroponically, in nutrient⁵ solutions funneled⁶ through soil. This plant is expected to produce 50 tomatoes so we'll see how it goes."

There are chickens on board too, not to eat, but for their eggs. "They are laying about 4 eggs a day," she said.

The Waterpod has a small kitchen with a sink and a refrigerator. There are four cabins for sleeping, made from discarded wood.

"This paper that we are covering the wall with is from the set of 'As The World Turns' that soap opera," she states.

Just about every structure on board was donated or recycled.

"This was from art crates," she says, "They packed paintings and were used once and then we recycled them from there."

 
Mary Mattingly sits on a chair made of recycled materials
Even this chair is made from recycled material. "It's pretty nice," she says of the chair, "A nice way to relax on a hot day."

This small community gets its water from rain. It has a pumping system to distribute it. The energy to run the pump comes from these solar panels.

If that fails, there are ways to charge batteries on this bicycle that can produce the electricity.  

No one knows how long people could live here. But one thing is clear, visitors who come to look, want to try.

"I like how it rocks," one visitor says, "Rocks back and forth⁷. Yeah I like that."

"It sounds like an interesting life style," another visitor says, "I'd like to do it yeah."

As for the barge itself, it's the costliest⁸ part of the project. But the rent is paid by public and private groups concerned with the environment.

1 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

2 boroughs   

（尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇

参考例句：

• London is made up of 32 boroughs. 伦敦由三十二个行政区组成。
• Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City. 布鲁克林区是纽约市的五个行政区之一。

3 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

4 lettuces   

n.莴苣，生菜（ lettuce的名词复数 ）；生菜叶

参考例句：

• My lettuces have gone to seed. 我种的莴苣已结子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Are these lettuces home-grown or did you buy them in the market? 这些生菜是自家种的呢，还是你在市场上买的？ 来自辞典例句

5 nutrient   

adj.营养的，滋养的；n.营养物，营养品

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The roots transmit moisture and nutrient to the trunk and branches.根将水分和养料输送到干和枝。

6 funneled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• The crowd funneled through the hall. 群众从走廊中鱼贯而过。
• The large crowd funneled out of the gates after the football match. 足球赛后大群人从各个门中涌出。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 costliest   

adj.昂贵的( costly的最高级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history. “卡特里娜”飓风造成了近810亿美圆的损失，是美国历史上最严重的自然灾难之一。 来自互联网
• Senator John Kerry has proposed a tax on the costliest health plans sold by insurance companies. 参议员约翰？克里(JohnKerry)已经提议对保险公司销售的高价值的保险计划征税。 来自互联网