(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
A period of severe dry weather called a drought is damaging crops in the U.S. State of California. This could cause a rise in food prices for Americans and people around the world.
In the Central Valley of California, farmers are reducing crop size because they do not have enough water. Last year, California had the least amount of rain since officials began keeping records. And it may be just as bad this year.
Reservoirs are areas where water is stored. In California, some reservoirs are empty. The amount of snow in the Sierra mountain is 75% below normal. This mountain snow melts in the spring and fills rivers.
The water is used by farmers. But now, farmers are warning of the possibility of another "Dust Bowl" like the one of the 1930s - severe droughts and dust storms covered American farmlands and few crops grew.
Farmers in California produce almost half of US fruits and vegetables, much of it comes from the Central Valley.
Dan Errotabere is a third generation California farmer. He grows tomatoes, walnuts, garlic and other crops in Fresno County. He says the federal agency that controls the amount of water released from dams and rivers has stopped giving him water. He and other farmers say, officials are not correctly administering the water system.
"The last couple of years, dry years, coupled with severe environmental restrictions, has now presented us with a zero allocation year," said Errotabere.
Farmers may not be able to plant crops on more than 200,000 hectares of farmland in the Central Valley this spring. Mr Errotabere will plant crops on just 80 percent of his farmland, he has enough work for only 15 of his 25 workers.
"Right now, we're completely depending on wells to finish these crops off, but I'm going to be fallowing 1,200 acres of our operation. There won't be anything growing on there," he said.
Federal and state officials sometimes reduce the amount of water to farmers even in years with normal rainfall levels. The officials must supply water to the Sacramento River Delta, which is home to several endangered species.
Long-term solutions include conservation, recycling waste water and building desalination centers. The centers remove salt from seawater, so it can be used on farms. Farmers say better administration of the state's water system could also help solve the crisis.
And that's the VOA Learning English Agriculture Report. You can read stories about agriculture at our website learningenglish.voanews.com. I'm Caty Weaver.
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.garlic n. 大蒜；蒜头
She revolts from eating garlic.
她讨厌吃蒜。
2.reservoir n. 水库；蓄水池
Various kinds of fish are being bred in the reservoir.
水库里放养了许多种鱼。
3.fallow adj. 休耕的；不活跃的 n. 休耕地；休耕 vt. 使（土地）休闲；潜伏
The fields lay fallow.
这些地休耕了。
4.desalination n. 脱盐作用；减少盐分
Crops can be grown on this land after desalination.
这片土地经过脱盐就可以种植庄稼了。
内容解析
1.The officials must supply water to the Sacramento River Delta, which is home to several endangered species.
be home to 为…的所在地
The park is home to bears, wolves, and other wild animals.
这座公园是熊、狼及其他野生动物的大本营。
Scarcely 30 Km 2, Macau is home to half a million people.
澳门的居住人口约是五十万人人的家园，面积接近三十平方公里。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
一段时间的严重干旱天气叫旱灾，目前这种天气正在破坏美国加州的作物，这将对美国人和世界其他地方粮价上涨。
在加州的中央谷地，因为缺水，农民们在减少作物规模。去年，加州的降雨量是自有官方记录以来最低的，今年可能也会很糟。
水库是储水的地方，在加州，有的水库已经干涸。塞拉山的降雪量比正常要少75%，山上的积雪在春天融化并流满河流。
这些水为农民们所用，但现在，农民们担心会发生类似20世纪30年代的那种沙尘暴，当时严重干旱和沙尘暴肆虐了美国农田，只有很少的作物能生长。
加州农民们为美国提供将近一半的水果和蔬菜，其中很大部分来自中央谷地。
丹·艾罗塔贝尔是加州第三代农民，他在弗雷斯诺县种植土豆、核桃、大蒜和其他作物。他说控制大坝和河流流量的联邦机构不再给他提供水，他和其他农民说官方管理水系统不当。
“过去几年干旱，同时还有严格的环境限制，我们每年分配的水是零。”
今年春天中央谷地的农民们可能无法在这20多万公顷的土地上种植更多作物了，艾罗塔贝尔只准备种植80%的土地，他只能给25名工人中的15人提供工作。
“现在我们完全依靠水井来浇灌作物了，但我准备休耕1200公顷土地，这些土地上什么都不会种了。”
联邦和州官方有时会减少对农民们水的供应，甚至是在降雨量正常的年份。官方必须给萨克拉门托河三角洲供水，这里有几种濒危物种。
长期解决方案包括保护环境、废水重新利用和建造海水淡化中心。海水淡化中心将盐从海水黄总提取出来，这样水就能用于农业。农民们说对州水系统的更好管理能帮助解决这一危机。
这就是美国之音慢速英语农业报道，登陆learningenglish.voanews.com获得更多农业报道，我是凯蒂·韦弗。
