(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Large governmental organizations controlled the production of seeds in Africa for many years. Owners of small farms had to buy their seeds from these agencies. But now there is an effort to make seeds from other suppliers available to African farmers. The new, improved seeds might someday help Africa feed itself.
Edward Mabaya grew up in Zimbabwe. There were ten children in his family. His father was a construction worker. His mother farmed their land. He says the small farm was very successful because his mother used different kinds of seeds.
He says it was a time when many new kinds of seeds were coming into Zimbabwe. He said some farmers began to use them and increased their crop production. Mr. Mabaya said his parents used the money earned from those crops to send all their children to school.
Mr. Mabaya is now a researcher at Cornell University in New York. He is working on a project that he hopes will give other small farmers the same chance his parents had.
He leads The African Seed Access Index (TASAI), which researches Africa's seed industry. The organization was launched in March. It is a joint effort of Cornell University, a non-profit group called Market Matters, Inc. and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
TASAI hopes to provide improved seeds to owners of small farms. Mr. Mabaya says Africa's seed industry is complex and can be inefficient. He says TASAI will try to identify areas of the industry that can be improved.
Some private seed developers are operating in Africa but not many. And they have not worked to develop new seeds. Most farmers in Africa use the same seeds they have been planting for many years, unlike farmers in the Western world. The seeds have not been improved to resist disease or tolerate drought.
George Bigirwa works at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa or AGRA. He says there are not enough improved seeds in Africa to supply the millions of farmers who need them.
"I remember when before AGRA came in, in some countries like Burkina Faso, like Mali, even Ghana, there were no seed companies. At least today you have an average of about six to eight seed companies in place. However, looking at the amount of seed each company produces, that is still very little."
He says improved seeds can help small farmers increase their production by six times.
Mr. Mabaya says this difference can be enough to help farmers who are now growing just enough food to feed their families. He says instead they could grow crops to sell, as well. He says that could help them escape poverty.
Mr. Mabaya says there is still much work to be done to fully develop Africa's seed industry. But he says if seed companies and farmers in Africa continue to use the same agricultural technology the rest of the world uses, Africa will someday be able to feed itself.
I'm Marsha James.
词汇解释
1.identify vt. 确定；鉴定；识别，辨认出；使参与；把…看成一样 vi. 确定；认同；一致
He identified his baggage among hundreds of others.
他在几百件行李中认出了自己的行李。
2.tolerate vt. 忍受；默许；宽恕
We don't tolerate smoking in the library.
我们不容许在图书馆里抽烟。
3.developer n. 开发者；[摄] 显影剂
John Bardeen was also co-developer of the theory of superconductivity.
约翰·巴丁也是超导理论的共同发展人。
内容解析
1.The new, improved seeds might someday help Africa feed itself.
feed oneself 养活自己
The baby can't feed himself yet.
这个婴儿还不会自己吃呢。
In my opinion, we must depend on intensive cultivation to feed ourselves.
我看我们就是要靠精耕细作吃饭。
2.He says instead they could grow crops to sell, as well. He says that could help them escape poverty.
escape poverty 脱贫
Hearing impairment also makes it more difficult for them to escape poverty by hindering progress in school or in the workplace and by isolating them socially.
听力障碍还会妨碍患者的学业或职场发展，使他们在社会生活中受到孤立，更加难逃贫穷的厄运。
Many Chinese migrate through investment immigration schemes. Until recent years, the major reason for Chinese nationals to leave the country, legally or illegally, was to escape poverty.
多数中国人移民是通过投资移民计划。直到最近几年，中国人合法或非法离开这个国家的主要原因是为了逃离贫困。
参考译文
在非洲，多年来大型政府组织一直控制着种子的生产，小农户只能从这些机构购买种子。但现在有措施鼓励非洲农民从其他供应商那里购买种子，这些新改良的种子可能终有一天能帮助非洲实现自给自足。
爱德华·马巴亚在津巴布韦长大，他家有10个孩子，他父亲是名建筑工人，母亲在家种地。他说因为母亲使用不同种类的种子，所以小农场经营的不错。
他说当时有很多新种子进入津巴布韦，他说一些农民开始使用这些种子并增加了产生。马巴亚说他的父母用种庄稼赚来的钱将孩子们都送入学校。
马巴亚现在是纽约康奈尔大学的一名研究员，他目前在从事一个项目，希望该项目能帮助其他小农户拥有他父母那样的机会。
他是非洲种子获取索引(TASAI)的负责人，该组织研究非洲的种子行业。该组织是3月份开始启动的，是康奈尔大学、一家名为Market Matters, Inc的非盈利机构，以及美国农业部联合发起的组织。
TASAI希望给小农户提供改良种子，马巴亚说非洲的种子行业很复杂，而且效率不高。他说TASAI将努力寻找该行业可以改进的领域。
一些私人种子开发商也在非洲运营，但数量不多，而且他们还没有开始开发新种子。非洲的大多数农民都使用多年来一直使用的同样种子，这和西方国家的农民不同。这种种子没有得到改良，无法抵抗疾病和耐旱灾。
George Bigirwa就职于非洲绿色革命联盟(AGRA)，他说非洲没有足够的改良种子来提供给需要种子的数百万农民。
“我记得在AGRA进来之前，在布基纳法索、马里甚至加纳这样的国家，根本没有种子公司。至少现在平均有大约6到8家种子公司，不过，每家公司所产出的种子是很少的。”
他说改良种子能帮助小农户将产量提高6倍。
马巴亚说这样的改善足以帮助只种植粮食的农民养活全家，他说这些农民还可以将作物拿出来卖，他说这能帮助他们摆脱贫困。
马巴亚说要完全开发非洲的种子行业还需做更多努力，但他说如果非洲的种子公司和农民们继续使用和世界其他地区同样的农业技术，非洲终有一天能实现自给自足。
我是玛莎·詹姆斯。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
