(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
Farmers in the United States are concerned about a possible decrease in the use of ethanol. Ethanol is a liquid fuel made from plants, such as corn.
Last November, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed lowering the required amount of ethanol mixture in the nation's gasoline supply. The required use of ethanol in fuel began in 2007. The requirement was part of a law called the Energy Independence and Security Act.
The law established a Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS. The RFS ordered fuel refineries to mix ethanol into their gasoline to cut the use of non-renewable fuels. The required amount was to increase over time. That requirement was good news for corn growers like Brian Duncan of Polo, Illinois.
He thinks the proposed changes will hurt corn sales. He says that after a poor harvest in 2012, farmers enjoyed some of their best corn harvests in 2013.
"As we look at the increased bushels, our inventories are gonna be worth $3 a bushel less than what they were valued at a year ago," said Duncan.
The price of corn continues to drop, from a high of more than $7 a bushel. A bushel is equal to about 35.2 litre of dry goods. Corn prices rose in 2012, that year the corn crop suffered because of a lack of rain. Yet the demand for corn in ethanol production continued.
"Four-dollar corn in this environment is tough enough, let alone $2.50 or $2.75 corn, which is what we could be looking at with another big crop, which is why we needed higher blend rates of ethanol," said Duncan.
Craig Turner works for the website GrainAnalyst.com. He says the United States is using around 9% less gasoline than we used in 2008.
"We can only use 10 percent of ethanol in a gallon of gasoline [before it harms some engines], and we basically hit that wall. So we can't produce any more ethanol; we have to stay the same, and if fuel efficiency even gets better, then the ethanol mandate could come down even further," said Turner.
Craig Turner says less ethanol is needed as sales of energy-saving automobiles increase. These vehicles, such as hybrid or electric cars, use less fuel.
"Every year we take older cars off the road and replace them with more fuel-efficient cars, we're going to be using less gasoline, so now that we've reached this peak in corn ethanol it's actually hurting farmers," said Turner.
But farmers like Brian Duncan depended on selling their corn to ethanol producers.
"We're happy for the market, but we have ever increasing yields, and ever increasing production capabilities, for ethanol, and we were kind of planning on the EPA following through with their increase and inclusion of green fuels," he said.
Years ago, the weather was the biggest concern for farmers. But these days, they have more to be concerned about. These issues include changing ethanol requirements, falling corn prices, and the lack of action in the U.S. Congress on a new farm bill.
And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Special English. For more stories about agriculture, go to our website learningenglish.voanews.com. I'm Christopher Cruise.
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.ethanol n. [有化] 乙醇，[有化] 酒精
In Brazil nearly all new cars are able to run on ethanol.
在巴西几乎所有的新车都能够使用乙醇燃料。
2.refinery n. 精炼厂；提炼厂；冶炼厂
The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.
炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。
3.mandate n. 授权；命令，指令；委托管理；受命进行的工作
The president and his supporters are almost certain to read this vote as a mandate for continued economic reform.
总统和他的支持者们几乎肯定地认为这次投票是对继续进行经济改革的授权。
4.inclusion n. 包含；内含物
His inclusion in the team is in doubt.
他是否能被选入这个队还未定案。
内容解析
1.The required amount was to increase over time.
over time 随着时间的过去；超时
I think I only began to grasp its significance over time, gradually.
我想我只是随着时间的推移才逐步理解这意义的。
Over time, the technology is diffused and adopted by other countries.
久而久之，这项技术传播到了其他国家并得到利用。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
美国农民们担心乙醇使用可能会减少，乙醇是一种用玉米等作物制造的液体燃料。
去年11月，环境保护署提出降低全国汽油供应中乙醇混合物的必需含有量，燃料中要求添加乙醇始于2007年，这一要求是能源独立与安全法案的一部分。
该法确定了可再生燃料标准(RFS)，RFS要求炼油厂将乙醇混合到汽油中，来减少非可再生燃料的使用。乙醇所需含量每年都在增加，这一要求对伊利诺斯州布莱恩·邓肯等玉米种植户来说是个好消息。
他认为环保署提出的这一改变会影响玉米销售，他说2012年收成不好后，农民们2013年迎来了玉米最好的收成。
“看看增加的收成，我们的库存将会每蒲式耳3美元，比一年前便宜。”
玉米价格从最高的7美元一路下降，一蒲式耳相当于35.2升干货。2012年玉米价格上涨了，那年玉米由于干旱损失惨重，然而乙醇生产中对玉米的需求却在增加。
“这种环境下玉米卖4美元就很难了，更不用说2.5或2.75美元，这就是我们从大丰收中期待的，因此我们需要提高乙醇的比例。”
克雷格·特纳就职于GrainAnalyst.com网站，他说美国现在使用的汽油量比2008年少9%。
“一加仑使用10%的乙醇才不至于损害引擎，我们基本上达到这个极限值。所以不能生产更多乙醇了，我们要保持这个水平，如果燃料效率提高了，那么乙醇的需求会进一步下降。”
克雷格·特纳说随着节能汽车的增加，对乙醇的需求会减少。比如混合动力车或电动车用的燃料就少些。
“每年我们都会报废旧车，取代以燃料效率更高的汽车，我们准备使用更少的汽油，所以现在我们对玉米乙醇的使用已经达到顶峰，这其实是在伤害农民。”
但像邓肯这样的农民依靠把玉米出售给乙醇生产商。
“我们对市场感到高兴，但我们的产量在不断增加，乙醇的生产能力也在不断增加，我们一直大致上根据环保署对绿色燃料的增长来做出计划。”
几年前，天气是最让农民们担心的事。但如今他们有更多担心的事，包括改变乙醇要求、玉米价格下跌和美国国会对新农场法案缺少行动等。
这就是美国之音慢速英语农业报道，登录learningenglish.voanews.com获得更多农业报道，我是克里斯多夫·克鲁斯。
