(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
Family farming has been called the main form of agriculture around the world. The United Nations has declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says, the year-long campaign is designed to increase public understanding of farms under operating by families.
Family farming is the backbone of agriculture.
It says farm families are important producers of food for growing populations, but many family farms do not provide the same work benefits as large company farms. Many family farms can not provide retirement plans, health care or child care.
So the FAO wants to get family farming included in national policies that support agriculture. The goal is to create a balanced and equal environment so family farmers can succeed.
FAO officials say they will try to learn more about the difficulties family farmers face and ways to support them. Weather problems, price drops and weak world economies can hurt family farmers. For many, a single crop can mean failure or survival.
Family farms operate in different ways around the world. Men run the majority of them. Generally Men own or pay to use the land, decide which crops to grow and supervise the sales. Women are more often the planters and harvesters of the crops. Very long work days are usual on family farms. It is difficult for many family farmers around the world to gain the land, water and other resources needed to farm.
The U.N. has helped establish more than fifty national committees to deal with these issues. The committees are made up of representatives of family farm committees. Together they decided on 5 goals to reach by 2014.
One is to establish policies to make equal the rights of men and women farmers. They also want to guarantee that nations have the right to develop their own food production. The committees hope to require governments to accept and follow certain environmental guidelines. And they warn governments of mainly agricultural populations to provide financial support to farmers. Finally, the committees agreed to work to support young people in agriculture.
Family farms have been around for hundreds of years. They could continue to exist for hundreds more. But experts say family farms will need support to compete in the face of technological improvements and increasing international trade.
And that's the VOA Learning English Agriculture Report, written by Kim Varzi. For more stories about agriculture, go to our website learningenglish.voanews.com. I'm Milagros Ardin.
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.backbone n. 支柱；主干网；决心，毅力；脊椎
Agriculture forms the backbone of the rural economy.
农业是农村经济的基础。
2.harvester n. 收割机；收获者
He was the man who invented the combine harvester.
他就是发明联合收割机的人。
3.child care 儿童保育
Both women had hired illegal aliens for child care.
两个女人都曾雇过非法入境者照看孩子。
内容解析
1.The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says, the year-long campaign is designed to increase public understanding of farms under operating by families.
designed to 旨在；目的在于
The houses were designed to blend with the foliage.
那些房屋设计得与绿叶很协调。
Chip and PIN is designed to combat credit card fraud. 更多牛津
智能卡系统是专为防止信用卡诈骗设计的。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
家庭农业被称作全世界农业的主要形式，联合国宣布2014年为国际家庭农业年。
联合国粮农组织称，这为期一年的活动意在增加公众对家庭农场的理解。
该组织称农场家庭是不断增长的人口重要的粮食制造者，但很多家庭农场不能提供像大农场公司那样的福利。很多家庭农场不能提供退休计划、医疗和儿童保育。
因此，世界粮农组织希望将家庭农业纳入到支持农业的全国政策中来，其目的是创造平衡和公平的环境，帮助家庭农场主取得成功。
粮农组织官员称他们将进一步了解家庭农场主面临的困难，寻找帮助他们的途径。天气、价格下跌和世界经济疲弱都会损害家庭农场主的利益。对很多农场主来说，单一某种作物就可能意味着成败。
全世界家庭农场主的经营方式各异，大多数都是男人来经营的。一般来说男子拥有土地，或为土地使用支付费用，决定种植哪种作物，并监督销售工作。妇女们通常负责播种和收获作物，家庭农场的工作时间一般都很长。对全世界很多家庭农场主来说，获得土地、水和其他农作资源很困难。
联合国帮助成立了50多个全国委员会来解决这些问题，委员会由家庭农场委员会的代表组成，他们在一起决定2014年之前的五项目标。
其中一个目标是制定男女农场主权利平等的政策，他们还想确保国家有权利发展本国的食品生产。委员会想要求政府接受或遵守一定的环境规则，他们警告主要由农业人口构成国家的政府要给农场主提供资金支持，最后，委员会还决定帮助青年人从事农业。
家庭农场已经存在数百年了，还能继续存下去数百年。但专家称，在科技进步和国际贸易增加的今天，家庭农场将需要支持来进行竞争。
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道，作者Kim Varzi，登陆learningenglish.voanews.com获得更多农业报道，我是Milagros Ardin。
