新奇事件簿 种子库保卫世界食物供应的未来

A special vault¹ storing the world's most precious seeds has now amassed² over one million different plant varieties. It recently took delivery of a consignment³ of seeds from 70,000 different crops. Global Seed Vault is buried deep in an icy mountain in the Arctic Circle area of Svalbard, Norway. It was started ten years ago to safeguard the future of the world's food supply. Climate change is causing more and more droughts around the world, which are threatening different species of plants. The vault holds back-ups of seed samples stored in other seed banks around the world. Hannes Dempewolf, a senior scientist at the Crop Trust, said: "Hitting the million mark is really significant."

储存世界上最珍贵种子的特别种子库内的种子数量已累积超过一百万，其中涵盖了各种不同植物的种子。种子库近日获取了来自七万种不同农作物的种子。全球种子库深藏于挪威斯瓦尔巴特群岛北极圈地区的冰山之下。该种子库从十年前开始保卫世界食物供应的未来。气候变化导致世界范围内越来越多的干旱，威胁到了各种不同植物物种。种子库将种子样本的备份储存在世界其他种子库。农作物信托基金会高级科学家汉内斯.登佩沃尔夫表示：“达到目标意义非常重大。”

Workers at the vault were not sure they would reach the million mark so soon. The crisis in Syria meant there was a shortfall of 90,000 seeds at the vault. The latest delivery to the vault included cereal staples⁴. There were also more unusual crops like the onion potato from Estonia and the Bambara groundnut, which is being developed as a drought tolerant crop in Africa. Marie Haga, executive director of the Crop Trust, spoke⁵ about the importance of the vault. She said: "Safeguarding such a huge range of seeds means scientists will have the best chance of developing nutritious⁶ and climate-resilient crops that can ensure future generations don't just survive, but thrive."

种子库的工作人员此前还不确定他们会否马上达到百万目标。叙利亚危机意味着种子库内将损失九万粒种子。最新一批送至种子库的种子包括谷物类。其中还有些不常见的农作物，比如来自爱沙尼亚的洋葱土豆以及班巴拉花生，在非洲这些都是当做耐旱作物来种植。农作物信托基金会执行理事玛丽·哈贾谈到了种子库的重要性。她说道：“保护如此庞大的种子群意味着科学家们将最大可能地开发出有营养且有气候韧性的农作物，确保未来一代不仅仅能生存，更能兴旺。”

1 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

2 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 consignment   

n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物

参考例句：

• This last consignment of hosiery is quite up to standard.这批新到的针织品完全符合规格。
• We have to ask you to dispatch the consignment immediately.我们得要求你立即发送该批货物。

4 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。