VOA慢速英语 2007 0410a

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

What has happened to America's honeybees?

Last fall, beekeepers from states with warm climates began to report a sudden loss of honey bees. Losses were reported in twenty-four states and into Canada. Today, some beekeepers say thirty percent to ninety percent of their honey bees are gone. Food prices could go up as a result.

And some beekeeping businesses have failed. 

Many kinds of plants, trees and grasses need bees to pollinate them. Bees gather nectar from flowers during this process. The liquid gives them food and material to make honey. As the bees land on flowers, their bodies pick up and drop off fine particles of pollen¹. Most flowering plants need pollination² to reproduce.

Honey bees can die during the winter. But few dead bees have been found. Instead, the bees seem to have disappeared.  Experts call the condition "colony collapse³ disorder⁴."

Agriculture Department official Caird Rexroad said the collapse threatens about fifteen billion dollars worth of the country's farm economy. Mister Rexroad commented at a hearing of a House of Representatives agriculture subcommittee.

Mister Rexroad said the cause of the sudden loss of bees is not clear. The number of honey bees already had fallen before the colony collapse disorder began.

Experts say the varroa mite⁵ is at least partly responsible for the earlier decrease in honeybees. The mite is a tiny creature that feeds on honeybees. It may play a part in colony collapse disorder by carrying bee viruses. Or the problem may be caused by other diseases and weather conditions.

A group of scientists is examining bees from more than one hundred colonies across the country. 

The researchers also are studying the pollen, honey, and wax that the bees produce. They are working with the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service. 

Diana Cox-Foster of Pennsylvania State University is part of the scientific group. Miz Cox-Foster says the nation needs honeybees that can defend themselves better against disease and insects. The recent mapping of most of the honeybee's genes⁶ offers hope of a stronger honeybee some day.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts⁷ and audio files of our reports are on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember. 

1 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• 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。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

2 pollination   

n.授粉

参考例句：

• The flowers get pollination by insects.这些花通过昆虫授粉。
• Without sufficient pollination,the growth of the corn is stunted.没有得到充足的授粉，谷物的长势就会受阻。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 mite   

n.极小的东西；小铜币

参考例句：

• The poor mite was so ill.可怜的孩子病得这么重。
• He is a mite taller than I.他比我高一点点。

6 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

7 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句