(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
Have you ever wondered what the average American farmer looks like? A new report says he is a 58-year-old white man. That information comes from the United States Census Bureau, a government agency that collects and studies information about the nation's population and economy.
The report also says farmers 65 and older are the fastest growing population group. As these farmers retire, American agriculture will experience big changes. The report suggests what some of those changes might look like and why they might not be so bad.
Adrienne Gibson works a small piece of land in the rolling north of Knoxville, Tennessee. She is something of a new face in American agriculture. First of all, she is a woman. And secondly, she is a minority, and she is succeeding in an industry controlled mostly by white men.
But the Census Bureau report suggests that may be changing. The number of minority farmers working American soil is
growing, and fast. The report also suggests that U.S. farms are getting smaller.
Adrienne Gibson earns money by using a Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, model of farming. As a CSA farmer, she raises food for a handful of buyers who agree to pay her before her crops are ready.
"We have 23 CSA customers. They subscribe to supporting the farm, and in return they get a weekly basket of vegetables from May through October," said Gibson.
Nate Phillips teaches farming at Middle Tennessee State University. He says smaller farms are partly a reaction to changes in the way Americans think about their food.
"There's growing interest in where our food is coming from, what is the food quality, things like that. I think we'll continue to see that increase," said Phillips.
This movement is often called farm to table, it means that more Americans are starting to buy food that is grown locally. And they want to know exactly where their food is coming from. Nate Phillips adds that more younger people are entering farming because of this trend.
"I'm seeing a lot more students from Nashville, or the cities, that are coming in that didn't grow up around agriculture, weren't from an agricultural background, but had that interest," Phillips said.
Nate Phillips thinks it is good that the people who grow food are beginning to look more like the people who eat it.
"It reflects our general society. It reflects what our communities are like around us, and I think that's a great thing for agriculture," Phillips said.
And that's the Agriculture Report, I'm Anna Matteo.
文本来自51voa，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.rolling n. 旋转；动摇；轰响 adj. 旋转的；起伏的；波动的
the rolling countryside of southwestern France.
法国西南部绵延起伏的乡村。
2.reaction n. 反应，感应；反动，复古；反作用
The sport requires very fast reactions.
这项运动要求很快的反应能力。
3.census vt. 实施统计调查 n. 人口普查，人口调查
The detailed assessment of the latest census will be ready in three months.
有关最新人口普查的详细评估工作将在3个月内就绪。
内容解析
1.They subscribe to supporting the farm, and in return they get a weekly basket of vegetables from May through October,
subscribe to 订阅；同意；捐款
This is the school to which your farther subscribed generously in the past.
这就是你父亲生前为之慷慨捐助的学校。
I have subscribed to some newspapers.
我订了几份报纸。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
你是否想过普通美国农民的模样吗？一则新报告称这是一位58岁的白人男子，这一消息来自美国人口普查局，这是一家专门收集和研究国家人口和经济信息的政府机构。
这份报告还说，65岁以上年龄的农民是增长最快的人群，当这些农民退休后，美国农业将经历大的变动。报告指出了其中一些变化是什么样的，以及为何这些变化并不是很糟糕。
艾德丽安·吉布森在田纳西州诺克斯维尔市起伏的北部种了一小块田，她是美国农业中的新面孔。首先她是女性，其次她是少数族裔，但她在这个主要由白人男子控制的行业取得了成功。
但是人口普查局的报告称这一切可能会改变，在美国土壤上工作的少数族裔农民数量在增加，而且增速很快。报告还说美国农场在变小。
艾德丽安·吉布森采用社区支持农业(CSA)这种农业模式赚钱，作为CSA农民，她为一小批愿意在庄稼收获前给她付款的购买者种植粮食。
“我们有23个CSA客户，他们愿意支持农场，作为回报他们从5月到10月每周都会收到一篮子蔬菜。”
内特·菲利普斯在中田纳西州大学教农业，他说小农户是部分应美国人对食物看法改变而出现的农业方式。
“人们对食物来自何处、其品质如何等事情越发感兴趣，我想我们这种兴趣还会增长。”
这种运动通常叫做“从农场到餐桌”，意思是越来越多美国人开始购买当地出产的食物。他们希望了解食物到底从哪里来的，内特·菲利普斯说因为这种趋势，越来越多的年轻人开始从事农业生产。
“我看到很多来自纳什维尔市或一些城市的学生，他们不是在农业环境中长大，但对此很感兴趣。”
内特·菲利普斯认为粮食种植者和食用者的趋同化是件好事。
“这反映了我们的大众社会，反映我们身边的社区，我认为这对农业来说是件好事。”
这就是美国之音慢速英语农业报道，我是安娜·马泰奥。
