纽约时报 令人爱恨交加的转基因作物(1)

 

 

    Since their introduction in the mid-1990s, G.M.O.s have remained wildly unpopular with consumers,自上世纪90年代中期推出以来，转基因生物在消费者中一直不受欢迎，who see them as dubious¹ tools of Big Ag, with potentially sinister² impacts on both people and the environment.

    他们认为转基因生物是大型农业公司的可疑工具，对人类和环境都有潜在的有害影响。

    In the three decades since G.M.O. crops were introduced, only a tiny number have been developed and approved for sale,自转基因作物问世以来的30年里，只有少数作物得到开发并获准销售，almost all of them products made by large agrochemical companies like Monsanto.

    几乎所有这些产品都由孟山都等大型农用化学品公司生产。

    Within those categories, though, G.M.O.s have taken over much of the market.

    然而，在这些类别中，转基因生物占据了大部分市场。

    Roughly 94 percent of soybeans grown in the United States are genetically⁵ modified, as is more than 90 percent of all corn, canola and sugar beets,美国种植的大豆约94%是转基因作物，玉米、油菜籽和甜菜也有90%以上是转基因品种，together covering roughly 170 million acres of cropland.

    总共覆盖约1.7亿英亩的农田。

    At the same time, resistance to G.M.O. foods has only become more entrenched⁶.

    与此同时，对转基因食品的抵制只会变得更加根深蒂固。

    The market for products certified⁷ to be non-G.M.O. has increased more than 70-fold since 2010, from roughly $350 million that year to $26 billion by 2018.

    自2010年以来，被认证为非转基因产品的市场增长了70倍以上，从当年的约3.5亿美元增加到2018年的260亿美元。

    There are now more than 55,000 products carrying the "Non-G.M.O. Project Verified" label on their packaging.

    目前有超过5.5万种产品的包装上贴有“非转基因项目认证”标签。

    Nearly half of all U.S. shoppers say that they try not to buy G.M.O. foods,将近一半的美国购物者表示，他们尽量不买转基因食品，while a study by Jennifer Kuzma, a biochemist who is a director of the Genetic⁴ Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University,而生物化学家、北卡罗来纳州立大学基因工程与社会中心主任詹妮弗·库兹马的一项研究发现，found that consumers will pay up to 20 percent more to avoid them.

    消费者会多付20%的费用来避免转基因食品。

    Our distrust might also stem from the way G.M.O.s were introduced.

    我们的不信任也可能源于转基因生物的引入方式。

    When the agribusiness giant Monsanto released its first G.M.O. crop in 1996 — an herbicide-resistant⁸ soybean — the company was in need of cash.

    1996年，农业综合企业巨头孟山都推出了第一种转基因作物——一种抗除草剂的大豆，当时该公司急需资金。

    By adding a gene³ from a bacterium⁹, it hoped to create crops that were resistant to glyphosate, the active ingredient in its trademark¹⁰ herbicide, RoundUp,通过添加来自细菌的基因，该公司希望创造出抗草甘膦的作物，草甘膦是其除草剂商标“农达”的活性成分，enabling farmers to spray weeds liberally without also killing¹¹ the soy plant itself — something that wasn't possible with traditional herbicides.

    使农民能够在不杀死大豆植株本身的情况下自由喷洒杂草，这是传统除草剂无法做到的。

    Commercially, the idea succeeded.

    从商业角度来看，这个想法成功了。

1 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

2 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

3 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

5 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

6 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

7 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

8 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

9 bacterium   

n.(pl.)bacteria 细菌

参考例句：

• The bacterium possibly goes in the human body by the mouth.细菌可能通过口进入人体。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

10 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。