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VOA慢速英语2012 SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - California Voters Reject Food Labeling Requirement

时间:2012-11-27 08:32:12

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - California Voters Reject Food Labeling Requirement

From VOA Learning English, this is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in Special English. I’m Bob Doughty1.

And I’m Faith Lapidus. Today, we tell about an effort to require food producers to identify genetically3 engineered foods. We also tell about a study of wild tigers in Nepal. And we tell about a newly identified animal species.

Food activists4 say everyone has a right to know what they are eating. A few weeks ago we reported on an effort by food activists in the American state of California. They wanted California voters to approve a requirement that food manufacturers identify food made from genetically engineered crops.

In September, studies of likely voters had shown most people agreed with the proposed law. But on election-day, fifty-three percent of voters rejected it. Only forty-seven percent supported the call for labels to identify foods containing genetically modified organisms or GMOs. The measure would have identified such foods, but not banned them. 

Food activists say money heavily influenced the election results. They say some food manufacturers gave false information to voters. They also say local newspapers were influenced by manufacturers that buy large amounts of advertising5.

Both sides fought to win support from the public. Here is part of a television ad paid for by opponents of the proposal.

“They’re at it again. Special interests pushing a proposition that would create more government red tape, more government law suits and higher costs. This time it’s ‘Prop 37’ – a food labeling scheme written by trial lawyers to benefit trial lawyers. Thirty-seven would ban thousands of common food products in California unless they are specially6 relabeled to meet complex, new requirements and restrictions7 that would only exist in our state.”

Supporters of the measure included cooks from television food shows and even movie actors.

“What makes you think you have the right to know? I don’t think you have the right to know. Who do you think you are? Do you want the truth? You can’t handle the truth. Your puny8 little head would explode. They are just some things you shouldn’t know about, like what’s in your food. Why would you want to know what’s in your food? You shouldn’t know whether your food is genetically modified. It’s kind of none of your business.”

GMOs have been part of the food supply in the United States since nineteen eighty-seven, when genetically engineered tomatoes were first sold. Genetic2 engineering is the technology of changing the genes9 of living things. Scientists use special technologies to place genetic material from one species into another.

Some food crops now contain genes from other plants or even genes from fish or animals. Now almost all cooking oils include GMOs. One expert estimates that about seventy percent of food sold in the United States contains one or more GMOs.

The United States is not among the more than sixty countries that require labels to identify whether a food has been genetically modified. Japan requires such labeling if more than five percent of a food or food product contains GMOs. In India, lawmakers are working on a plan that would require labeling for even smaller amounts of GMOs.

Opponents of the California plan argued that food would cost more if manufacturers were required to label foods that have genetically modified organisms. Food activists say existing label laws have not increased the price of food. They say the labels give buyers important information. Some manufacturers already label their products so buyers will know the food does not contain a GMO.

Scientists have high hopes for the healthful effects of genetically engineered food. However, food activists continue to call for more testing. Until the long term safety of eating GMOs is confirmed, they want people to make informed choices about what they buy and eat.

An example of this kind of dispute was in the news recently. Working together, American and Chinese scientists genetically engineered rice to include beta carotene, a substance that helps humans make vitamin A. The researchers found that Chinese children who ate the modified rice increased their levels of vitamin A. Children whose food does not provide enough Vitamin A can go blind and even die. 

Scientists are excited about the positive effects of the genetically modified rice. However, the environmental group Greenpeace has criticized the experiment. It says the safety of genetically-modified foods over time has never been confirmed.

Greenpeace and natural food activists say they want the government, and not food manufacturers, to test the safety of GMOs. They point to the history of tobacco companies in the United States. After a series of cases, courts found that tobacco companies had lied about the cancer risk of cigarettes for many years.

The dispute over GMOs has divided organic farmers and food markets. Farms and food producers must earn the right to claim their food is organic or free of chemicals. The largest organic food businesses object to labeling GMOs. They say a food can be natural and organic even if it has been genetically engineered.

Activists say testing is necessary because a food cannot be considered safe until all the risks are understood. Manufacturers base their safety claims on a ninety-day testing period. Activists say the tests are not long enough to show all the possible effects.

For years, wildlife experts have said that tigers avoid living close to people. But a new study disputes the belief that these animals need lots of people-free space. 

The study appeared in the Proceedings10 of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings are considered important because there are only about three thousand two hundred wild tigers in the world. That is a ninety-seven percent decrease since the start of the twentieth century. The drop has been blamed on the ever-rising human population, agriculture and the development of areas where the big cats live. 

The study took place in and around the Chitwan National Park in Nepal. The park lies near the Himalayan Mountains. The area is home to about one hundred twenty tigers.

Neil Carter is a graduate student at Michigan State University. His goal was to study how the tigers reacted to people who visited the Chitwan National Park and local villagers. He placed camera traps in eighty different places. He says the images they captured showed intense activity inside and outside the park.

“Tigers were everywhere, people were everywhere. And obviously they could not have been in the exact same places at the same time because there will be reports of all kinds of conflicts, left and right.”

Normally, tigers move around at any time of day or night. But the researcher says the images show that most of the big cats were more active at night. He says they even walked outside the park on the same dirt roads and narrow paths used by people.

Neil Carter says he was surprised to find that the tigers changed the timing11 of their activities, but not place. And he notes a good reason. The animals that tigers hunt for food were in that space. 

“There was no relationship between the number of vehicles or people or even different types of people. Tigers were there. They were everywhere. They were widespread and ubiquitous and also the prey12, their prey, was really abundant. And so that, I think is really sort of the critical link.”

Tigers, he says, are not going to leave an area that has their food.

Neil Carter says the study results could change wildlife management. He notes that people now live in about eighty percent of tiger habitat. He says the study shows promise that humans and wildlife can occupy the same environment. But he adds that more work is needed to understand the complex connection between the two worlds.

Finally, an Amazonian glass frog called Centrolene sabini gained worldwide attention earlier this year. It became the seven thousandth amphibian13 to be added to the AmphibiaWeb catalog of new amphibian species.

The brightly colored green frog was found at Manu National Park in the Peruvian Amazon. It is one of more than three thousand amphibians14 to be added to the new species list in the past twenty-five years.

The AmphibiaWeb project was the idea of scientists at the University of California, in Berkeley, California. They launched the AmphibiaWeb project twelve years ago in an effort to bring attention to shrinking amphibian populations. The scientists found that amphibians are doing well in many parts of the world. They also learned that many amphibians have yet to be discovered.

David Wake is professor emeritus15 of integrative biology at UCB. He started the AmphibiaWeb project. When the project first began, there were only about five thousand recognized amphibian species. That number had increased to more than seven thousand twenty by August of this year.

Professor Wake says new amphibian species are being added to the scientific literature nearly every two and a half days. More than one hundred new amphibian species have been added to the database this year alone.

There are three categories of amphibians. Frogs and toads16 represent the largest group, with more than six thousand documented. Newts and salamanders are the next largest group, with more than six hundred known species. These creatures are often confused with lizards17 because they look a lot alike.

Caecilians represent the smallest group of amphibians. These legless, tailless amphibians look a lot like snakes or earthworms. AmphibiaWeb hopes to document every species of amphibian in the world.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doughty Jk5zg     
adj.勇猛的,坚强的
参考例句:
  • Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质:脾气倔强,性格刚强。
  • The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。
2 genetic PgIxp     
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
参考例句:
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
3 genetically Lgixo     
adv.遗传上
参考例句:
  • All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
  • Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物
4 activists 90fd83cc3f53a40df93866d9c91bcca4     
n.(政治活动的)积极分子,活动家( activist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
  • Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 advertising 1zjzi3     
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的
参考例句:
  • Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
  • The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。
6 specially Hviwq     
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地
参考例句:
  • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
  • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
7 restrictions 81e12dac658cfd4c590486dd6f7523cf     
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则)
参考例句:
  • I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
  • a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制
8 puny Bt5y6     
adj.微不足道的,弱小的
参考例句:
  • The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。
  • Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙,身体还不壮,还不能干活。
9 genes 01914f8eac35d7e14afa065217edd8c0     
n.基因( gene的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因,所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪
10 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
11 timing rgUzGC     
n.时间安排,时间选择
参考例句:
  • The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
  • The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
12 prey g1czH     
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨
参考例句:
  • Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
  • The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
13 amphibian mwHzx     
n.两栖动物;水陆两用飞机和车辆
参考例句:
  • The frog is an amphibian,which means it can live on land and in water.青蛙属于两栖动物,也就是说它既能生活在陆地上也能生活在水里。
  • Amphibian is an important specie in ecosystem and has profound meaning in the ecotoxicology evaluation.两栖类是生态系统中的重要物种,并且对环境毒理评价有着深远意义。
14 amphibians c4a317a734a700eb6f767bdc511c1588     
两栖动物( amphibian的名词复数 ); 水陆两用车; 水旱两生植物; 水陆两用飞行器
参考例句:
  • The skin of amphibians is permeable to water. 两栖动物的皮肤是透水的。
  • Two amphibians ferry them out over the sands. 两辆水陆两用车把他们渡过沙滩。
15 emeritus ypixp     
adj.名誉退休的
参考例句:
  • "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
  • He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。
16 toads 848d4ebf1875eac88fe0765c59ce57d1     
n.蟾蜍,癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • All toads blink when they swallow. 所有的癞蛤蟆吞食东西时都会眨眼皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Toads have shorter legs and are generally more clumsy than frogs. 蟾蜍比青蛙脚短,一般说来没有青蛙灵活。 来自辞典例句
17 lizards 9e3fa64f20794483b9c33d06297dcbfb     
n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外,没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
  • Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗? 来自辞典例句

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