VOA慢速英语2010年-Agriculture Report - A Cotton Plant Ki

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

In two thousand eight, scientists reported on a study of cotton grown in six provinces in northern China. The study involved bollworms, a major threat to cotton farmers. It also involved Bt cotton, a plant genetically² engineered to resist that threat.

Bt cotton plants naturally kill bollworms. As a result, the study in China found that the cotton plants could also help protect nearby crops against damage by the insects.

Now, several researchers involved in that study have published another report in the same journal, Science. They studied the same farmlands again and confirmed the findings about bollworms.

But they also found something else. They say another kind of bug³ is now attacking the cotton and other crops.

The study reported on mirid populations between nineteen ninety-seven and two thousand eight. The researchers also documented the use of insecticide chemicals by the Chinese farmers from nineteen ninety-two to two thousand eight.

A worker carries raw cotton in the city of Korla in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous⁴ Region

Kongming Wu of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing took part in both studies. He says mirids are destroying crops including cotton, apples, pears, peaches and vegetables. He says this is happening where mirids never before were a problem.

The report says the bugs⁵ invaded after farmers decreased their use of insecticides by planting Bt cotton. The scientists say their research shows that the Bt cotton has become a source of mirids. They say the population increases are related to drops in insecticide use on the cotton crop.

The genetically engineered cotton is designed to help farmers save money by decreasing the need for poisons. But the scientists say the Chinese farmers have now had to use more insecticides to fight the mirids.

Bt is a bacterium⁶ that was discovered in the early twentieth century. Farmers started using it as a natural way to kill insects. Then scientists learned how to put a Bt gene¹ into cotton plants.

Much of the cotton grown in northern China is a Bt variety made by Monsanto. Different companies produce Bt cotton. Around the world, farmers grow an estimated sixteen million hectares of Bt cotton.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Tell us about a time when you have tried to solve one problem but unexpectedly produced another. Share your comments at voaspecialenglish.com or on our Facebook page at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.

 

1 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。

2 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

3 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

4 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

5 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。