VOA慢速英语2024 世界上最完美的牛

（单词翻译）

 

Brazilian Ranchers: World’s Costliest² Cow Is ‘The Best’

世界上最完美的牛

The Brazilian ranchers who own the world’s most costly³ cow call her Viatina-19.

拥有世界上最昂贵奶牛的巴西牧场主称她为Viatina-19。

The large, white cow is valued at over $4 million.

这头巨大的白色奶牛价值超过400万美元。

At 1,100 kilograms, she is about two times the weight of most cows of her kind.

她重1100公斤，大约是同类大多数奶牛的两倍重。

Viatina-19 is protected by security cameras and a guard with a gun on the ranch¹ in Uberaba, a town in the central Minas Gerais state.

Viatina-19在米纳斯吉拉斯州中部小镇乌贝拉巴的牧场上，由安全摄像头和一名持枪警卫的保护。

Her owners will not sell her for meat, but they hope Viatina-19 can be the start of a long line of “supercows.” 她的主人不会把她当肉卖，但他们希望Viatina-19能成为一群“超级奶牛”的开始。

Those cows will go on to have calves⁴, or baby cattle.

这些母牛将继续生下小牛犊或小牛。

As time goes by, many of Viatina-19’s relatives will be raised for meat.

随着时间的推移，Viatina-19的亲戚中很多都会被当成肉牛。

Any rancher who wants to buy one of Viatina-19’s eggs must pay $250,000.

任何想要购买Viatina-19卵子的牧场主都必须支付250,000美元。

They combine the egg with the reproductive cells, or sperm⁵, of a top bull hoping the resulting animal will be the start of a ranch filled with valuable cattle.

他们将卵子与顶级公牛的生殖细胞（或精子）结合，希望由此生出来的小牛能成为一个牧场良好的开端，以便牧场里到处都是珍贵的牛。

Viatina-19 and the other cows and bulls are considered “elite⁶,” or among the very best in the world.

Viatina-19和其他母牛和公牛被认为是“精英”，或者说是世界上最好的牛之一。

“We’re not slaughtering⁷ elite cattle.

“我们不是在屠宰精英牛。

We’re breeding them.

我们是在繁育它们。

And at the end of the line, going to feed the whole world,” one of her owners, Ney Pereira, said.

它的主人内伊·佩雷拉谈到：“最终，它将养活全世界。“”。

Viatina-19 is elite because she quickly puts on muscle and size.

Viatina-19是精英，因为她增肌很快，体型也长得很快。

Lorrany Martins is an animal doctor and Pereira’s daughter.

洛兰尼·马丁斯是一名动物医生，也是佩雷拉的女儿。

She said many of the cows that have come from her genetic⁸ line have done the same.

她表示，携带Viatina-19基因的许多奶牛都是如此。

“She is the closest to perfection that has been attained⁹ so far,” she said.

“她是目前为止最接近完美的奶牛，”她讲到。

Since the early 2000s, cattle ranching¹⁰ has grown into one of Brazil’s top industries.

自21世纪初以来，养牛业已发展成为巴西的顶级产业之一。

There is even a cow channel on the Globo television network.

Globo电视网上甚至还有一个COW频道。

The nation carries out high-level research into the genetics of cattle and it does more in-vitro, or laboratory, fertilizations than any other country.

该国对牛的遗传学进行了高水平的研究，体外受精或实验室受精的数量也超过了其他任何国家。

Viatina-19 is an example of Brazil’s success in the beef industry.

Viatina-19是巴西在牛肉行业取得成功的一个例子。

She has three owners now.

她现在有三个主人。

The most recent owner joined the other two at a cost of $1.3 million.

最近的所有者以130万美元的价格加入了另外两家公司。

Guinness World Records said that partial sale was the most ever for a cow.

吉尼斯世界纪录称，这头奶牛的部分销售额是有史以来最高的。

About 80 percent of the cattle in Brazil are from the Zebus subspecies, a sort of cow that first came from India.

巴西大约80%的牛来自斑马亚种，这是一种最早来自印度的奶牛。

Viatina-19 is part of the Nelore breed within the Zebus group.

Viatina-19是斑马亚种中Nelore品种的一部分。

Most of the cows in Brazil are Nelore.

巴西的大多数奶牛都是Nelore牛。

The cows from India came to Brazil in the late part of the 1800s.

这些牛是在19世纪后期从印度来到巴西的。

The cows did better in the hot climate than those who came from Europe.

这些牛在炎热的气候中比那些来自欧洲的牛表现得更好。

Brazil exported more than 2 million tons of beef in both 2022 and 2023.

巴西在2022年和2023年都出口了200多万吨牛肉。

Much of the beef goes to nations like China, whose economies have grown in recent years.

大部分牛肉流向了中国这样的国家，这些国家的经济近年来有所增长。

Agriculture and cattle ranching are important in Brazil.

农业和养牛业在巴西很重要。

The country has 230 million cattle.

这个国家有2.3亿头牛。

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wants new markets for his country’s products.

总统路易斯·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦希望为其国家的产品开辟新的市场。

Last month, he met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

上个月，他会见了日本首相岸田文雄。

Japan produces the famous Wagyu beef.

日本出产著名的和牛。

But Lula invited the Japanese leader to taste Brazilian beef on his next visit.

但卢拉邀请这位日本领导人在下次访问时品尝巴西牛肉。

In April, Lula’s tour of Brazilian beef continued.

4月，卢拉的巴西牛肉之旅仍在继续。

He visited one of the 38 meat processing centers in his country that are authorized¹¹ by China.

他参观了中国授权的38个肉类加工中心之一。

He said Brazil will bring in billions of dollars by selling beef to China.

他说，巴西将通过向中国出售牛肉以带来数十亿美元的收入。

Lula also said Brazil’s beef industry is free of foot-and-mouth disease, which affects cattle.

卢拉还表示，巴西的牛肉业没有感染牛口蹄疫。

The World Organization for Animal Health might recognize Brazil’s status in August.

世界动物卫生组织可能会在8月份承认巴西的地位。

Every year, Uberaba has an event called ExpoZebu.

每年，乌贝拉巴都会举办一场名为ExpoZebu的活动。

It is the world’s largest festival for Zebu cattle.

这是世界上最大的泽布牛节日。

People wear clothes associated with rural America – baseball caps, boots and blue jeans.

人们穿着与美国农村有关的衣服--棒球帽、靴子和蓝色牛仔裤。

They listen to country music that started in the United States.

他们听发源于美国的乡村音乐。

Ranchers come from all around the world, including Indonesia and Zimbabwe, for the cattle show.

牧场主来自世界各地，包括印度尼西亚和津巴布韦，观看牛展。

The biggest auction¹² is Elo de Raca.

最大的拍卖会是Elo de Raca。

This year, it took place on April 28.

今年，是在4月28日。

One rancher in attendance was Arthur Lira, a well-known congressman¹³ in Brazil.

出席会议的牧场主之一是巴西著名国会议员阿瑟·利拉。

He planned to sell a 3-month-old calf¹⁴.

他打算卖掉一头3个月大的小牛。

He said the auctions¹⁵ “present the best of what each person has.” 他说，拍卖“展现了每个人所拥有的最好的东西”。

When the cows are sold, their genetics move around the country and around the world.

当这些奶牛被出售时，它们的基因就会在全国和世界各地传播。

Some of the cows shown at the event are clones – that means they are genetic copies of other cows.

活动中展示的一些奶牛是克隆牛--这意味着它们是其他奶牛的基因副本。

One such cow is Donna.

唐娜就是这样一头牛。

She was at the show with three clones.

她和三只克隆牛一起被展示。

The four cows were purchased for $3 million because they produce so many eggs.

这四头奶牛最终以300万美元的价格买下，因为它们可以产很多卵子。

The announcer called them “a factory.

播音员称它们为“工厂”。

Cows like Donna and Viatina-19 are cloned in a building not far from the auction area.

唐娜和 Viatina-19 等奶牛是在离拍卖区不远的一栋楼里克隆的。

Scientists take the cows’ DNA¹⁶ from their tail hair and use it to create genetic copies.

科学家从奶牛的尾毛中提取DNA，并用它来创建基因副本。

The DNA is used to create embryos¹⁷ and they are put in the uteruses of surrogate mothers.

DNA被用来创造胚胎，然后放入代孕母亲的子宫中。

Paulo Cerantola is a director with a genetic company called Geneal Animal Genetics and Biotechnology.

保罗·塞兰托拉是一家名为Geneal Animal Genetics and Biotech的基因公司的董事。

He said the surrogates are “rental bellies¹⁸.” 他说，这些代孕妈妈都是“租来的肚子”。

There are about 500 of them in a field.

一块田地里大约有500只。

Not all of the calves will survive, he said.

他表示，并不是所有的幼崽都能活下来。

Some will have to be killed because of genetic problems.

由于基因问题，一些将不得不被杀死。

Cerantola said clones of Viatina-19 are to be born soon.

塞兰托拉说，维亚蒂纳-19的克隆体即将诞生。

Grant Vassberg is a rancher from Texas who has visited Brazilian auctions.

格兰特·瓦斯伯格是一名来自德克萨斯州的牧场主，他参观过巴西的拍卖会。

He said even if the famous cows produce lots of children and lots of clones, there are problems.

他说，即使这些著名的奶牛生下很多小牛犊和很多克隆牛，也存在问题。

He said Viatina-19 is “poison for the industry.” 他称Viatina-19是“该行业的毒药”。

“We still need cows to be efficient on grass,” he said.

他谈到：“我们仍然需要奶牛高效地吃草。”

“That’s how you feed the world.”

“这就是你养活世界的方式。

Pereira, however, said that Viatina-19 only gets special treatment to increase the production of egg cells.

不过，佩雷拉表示，Viatina-19 只接受特殊处理，以增加卵细胞的产量。

He said she would do well if she just lived like other cows.

他表示，如果她像其他奶牛一样生活，她就会过得很好。

Pereira and his daughter are still working to spread Viatina-19’s DNA around the world.

佩雷拉和他的女儿仍在努力在世界各地传播Viatina-19的DNA。

Her egg cells have been sold to ranchers in Bolivia and he wants to sell them in the Middle East and the U.S. “If she is the best in the world…we need to share her around the world,” he said.

她的卵细胞已经卖给了玻利维亚的牧场主，他想把它们卖到中东和美国。“如果她是世界上最好的，我们就应该与世界共同分享。