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VOA慢速英语2019 屋顶花园:造福人类与环境

时间:2019-02-26 23:51:30

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(单词翻译)

Green Roofs Benefit People, Environment

Water is a necessity1 of life. Rain, especially, helps plants grow and stay green. But too much rain -- especially in cities -- can lead to flooding. That can cause waste water systems, like sewers2, to overflow3 and send pollutants4 into rivers and other waterways. To fight the problem, several cities in the United States are starting programs like rooftop gardens.

水是生命的必需品。尤其是雨水,能够帮助植物生长和保持郁郁葱葱。但是过量的雨水——尤其是在城市——会引发洪水。这会导致污水系统,如下水道溢水并将污染物带入河流和其他水道中。为了解决这个问题,美国的几座城市开设了屋顶花园等项目。

A labor5 of love

爱心努力

A team at the University of the District of Columbia in the nation’s capital has created a garden on the top of one school building. The garden holds many kinds of plants to help absorb rainwater… and grow food at the same time.

美国华盛顿哥伦比亚特区大学的一个研究小组在某学校的楼顶建造了一座花园。这个花园种了很多植物来吸收雨水。同时还种植着粮食。

Architect David Bell has designed five “green roofs" for the university. He says he is excited about the project because “it meant doing something more than just dealing6 with storm water management.”

建筑师大卫·贝尔(David Bell)为校园设计了五个“绿色屋顶”。他说,他对这个项目感到兴奋,因为“这意味着要做的不仅仅是处理有关雨水的问题。”

“It took advantage of a resource above the city that you see all over where you have these flat roofs that aren’t doing anything and it really made it something that was about urban agriculture.”

“它利用了城市上空的资源,你会发现到处都是这种没有任何用途的平屋顶,它真正成为了城市农业的一部分。”

Rainwater is collected in large containers and sent through a system that waters the rooftop garden.

雨水被收集在一个庞大的容器内,并通过一个灌溉屋顶花园的系统输送出去。

The roof is filled with green life that appeals to insects.

屋顶花园生机盎然,吸引着各色昆虫。

Urban agriculture

城市农业

In cities, “you don't have that many spaces to choose from and so rooftops are just (unused) space,” says Caitlin Arlotta. She is a student in the school's Urban Agriculture program.

在城市,“你没有那么多的空间可以选择,所以屋顶只是(未开发的)空间,”凯特琳·阿洛塔(Caitlin Arlotta)说道。她是该校城市农业项目的一名学生。

The project is part of a research program to see which plants do well on rooftops. The researchers are looking at plants including strawberries, tomatoes and sweet potatoes.

绿色屋顶项目是一项研究计划的一部分,目的是研究什么样的植物最适合屋顶环境。研究人员正在研究包括草莓、西红柿和红薯在内的植物。

“We have the same experiment running with tomatoes as we do with strawberries, so we’re doing variety trials and we're trying just to see which variety grows the best in a green roof setting7.”

我们用西红柿和草莓做了同样的实验,所以我们在做品种试验,我们想看看哪个品种在绿色屋顶的环境下生长得最好。”

Community involvement

社区参与

The university also has other green spaces.

这所大学还建有其他绿地。

“We also have our own farm experiments,” Arlotta said. “Within each of those growing systems, we want to be able to tell people which sorts of these crops grow the best.”

阿洛塔说:“我们也有自己的农田实验”。“在这些生长环境中,我们希望能够告诉人们哪种作物生长得最好。”

One goal of the program is food justice; or in Arlotta’s words, “bringing fresh food into cities where you wouldn't necessarily8 have that access.”

这个项目的主要目标是实现“食品公平”;阿洛塔说:“城市中原本很难接触到新鲜食物,而绿色屋顶恰好能为城市带来新鲜农产品。”

And that includes produce that might be more recognizable to immigrant9 members of the community.

这也包括为社区中的移民们提供新鲜农产品。

“In the U.S., it may not seem very common to use hibiscus leaves and sweet potato leaves as food, but in many places around the world it is.”

阿洛塔说:“在美国,用芙蓉叶和红薯叶做食材似乎很少见,但在世界其他很多地方却习以为常。”

Surprisingly productive10

成效显著

Sandy Farber Bandier helps run UDC’s Master Gardener program. It seeks to improve cities and make them beautiful by training people to become Master Gardeners.

桑迪·法伯·班迪尔(Sandy Farber Bandier)帮助运行哥伦比亚特区大学的园艺大师项目。该项目旨在通过培训人们成为园艺大师来改善环境,美化城市。

She says she’s been surprised by the garden’s output11.

她说,她对屋顶花园的产量感到吃惊。

“My biggest surprise was that we produced 4,250 pounds of produce the first year and was able to disseminate12 that to people in need."

“我最惊讶的是,第一年我们生产了4250磅的农产品,并且能够将其分发给需要帮助的人。”

Spreading the wealth

分享收获

She likes being able to show people who live in D.C. and others beyond the nation's capital what -- and how -- food can be grown on a rooftop.

她喜欢向生活在华盛顿特区以及美国首都以外地区的人们展示,屋顶可以种植什么植物以及如何种植粮食。

“This is the future for food. What we have established here at this college is food hub concept13 of you grow it here, you prepare it in a commercial kitchen, you distribute through farmers markets, food trucks, and then you recycle.”

“这是食品的未来。我们在学院里建立了食品中心的概念,你在这里种植农产品,然后可以回家处理准备用于烹饪,当然你也可以把它们送入商业厨房,还可以通过农贸市场或是食品卡车分发这些食材,甚至也能回收利用。”

Words in This Story

rooftop – n. the top of a building

absorb – v. to soak14 up liquid

management - n. the skill of organizing people and events

advantage - n. something (such as a good position or condition) that helps to make someone or something better or more likely to succeed than others

urban – adj. in a city area

access - v. a way of being able to use or get something

disseminate - v. to cause (something, such as information) to go to many people

distribute - v. to give away to people


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 necessity wGLxm     
n.必要性,需要;必需品
参考例句:
  • I look upon this as an absolute necessity.我认为这是绝对必要的。
  • You must understand the necessity of education.你必须懂得教育的必要性。
2 sewers f2c11b7b1b6091034471dfa6331095f6     
n.阴沟,污水管,下水道( sewer的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
3 overflow fJOxZ     
v.(使)外溢,(使)溢出;溢出,流出,漫出
参考例句:
  • The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
  • After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后,河水可能溢出岸来。
4 pollutants 694861490fe64672170a0da250a277c7     
污染物质(尤指工业废物)( pollutant的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
  • The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条(g)的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
5 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
6 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法,待人态度
参考例句:
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
7 setting 7i5zmt     
n.背景
参考例句:
  • The play has its setting in Vienna.该剧以维也纳为背景。
  • Where and when a story takes place is called the setting.故事发生的地点和时间称为故事背景。
8 necessarily iGQxo     
adv.必要地,必需地;必定地,必然地
参考例句:
  • More work does not necessarily call for more men.增加工作量不一定就要增添人员。
  • A voter must necessarily be no younger than eighteen.选民必须在18岁以上。
9 immigrant Taoxf     
adj.(从国外)移来的,移民的;n.移民,侨民
参考例句:
  • Life in the USA was very hard for almost every new immigrant.美国的生活几乎对每一个新移民都很艰难。
  • I'd like to obtain some information about applying for an immigrant visa.我想取一些申请移民签证的资料。
10 productive nQxxT     
adj.能生产的,有生产价值的,多产的
参考例句:
  • We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议,解决了一些问题。
  • Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。
11 output NJbxI     
n.产量,输出,输出功率,输出端;vt.输出(信息等)
参考例句:
  • Grain output reached a new high in the three years.谷物产量达到三年中最高水平。
  • The chart showed us the global output of a factory.这张图表展示了一个工厂的总产量。
12 disseminate VtKxS     
v.散布;传播
参考例句:
  • We should disseminate science and promote the scientific spirit.普及科学知识,弘扬科学精神。
  • We sincerely welcome all countries to disseminate their languages in China.我们真诚地欢迎世界各国来华推广本国语言。
13 concept mXLyW     
n.概念,观念,思想
参考例句:
  • A small baby has no concept of right and wrong.婴儿没有是非概念。
  • He was asked to define his concept of cool.他被要求说明自己关于“酷”的定义。
14 soak Rwiwy     
n.浸,湿透,喝醉;vt.使…湿透,浸泡在液体中,浸洗,吸入,使某人喝醉,向某人敲竹杠;vi.浸入液体,渗透,感化(某人),无节制地喝酒
参考例句:
  • Let the clothes soak for a few hours in soapy water.让衣服在肥皂水中泡几小时。
  • The oil will soak into the wood.油会渗进木头里。

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