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1.VOA常速
【Euro 2012 Prompts Ukrainians to Learn English】
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TEXT:Euro 2012 has changed Ukrainians’ daily routine, especially those who live in the host-cities. The championship has attracted many tourists to the country, who remind Ukrainians that while the national parliament struggles to decide which language they should speak - Russian or Ukrainian - more and more people around the world are turning to English, especially in international business.
With that in mind, some Ukrainians, on their own, have begun speaking and running their businesses using several languages.
“We organize many tours with English-speaking guides, but most of them are still ordered by some self-organized travel groups that are coming here to Kyiv," said Arseniy Finberg, project coordinator for Interesting Kyiv.
The Ukrainian capital is also switching to English. The names of subway stations are now announced in Ukrainian and English, and all the signs are in both languages. And restaurant owners have added a few extra menus in English to those they already have.
“Last year when I was here, everything was in Ukrainian. Now everywhere, in the subway for example, all the signs are in English, and also the speaker voice is in Ukrainian and in English," said Swedish tourist Katerina. "And you can really tell that the town has prepared to welcome the tourists because now all the signs are in two languages and so on.”
Ukrainians are sometimes surprised by how well soccer fans from abroad speak English - even though it is not their national language. Those who have had a chance to take part in Euro 2012, have seen that market forces are in effect, with those knowing at least three languages in demand among employers.
“English language is a must these days," said Euro 2012 volunteer Tetiana. "It doesn’t matter in which field you work, you can find it connected with English."
“The quantity of people speaking English is increasing with a speed of a sound. I know people who don’t speak English they start attending language schools. Almost everyone now speaks English," said Kateryna, another Euro 2012 volunteer.
With the flow of tourists to Kyiv, local residents are seeing the important role the English language plays - even in the course of watching soccer games in their home country. As a result, Ukrainians are finding they are going back to their school years, trying to come up with a few English phrases - if only to explain to foreign fans why the Ukrainian team they are cheering for will win.
2.VOA慢速
【W(wǎng)hy 'Precision Agriculture' Is a Good Investment】
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TEXT:This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
這里是美國之音慢速英語農(nóng)業(yè)報(bào)道。
Precision agriculture is a way of thinking about how to improve production and get more from existing resources. It often involves the use of technology. An example found mostly in wealthier countries is a computer-guided tractor. The computer does most of the driving. It uses signals from satellites in the Global Positioning System. GPS technology helps the tractor cut rows in straight lines and put the right amount of fertilizer in the right place.
精準(zhǔn)農(nóng)業(yè)是一種想辦法增產(chǎn)、從現(xiàn)有資源中獲取更多的方法。通常要利用科技，富有國家最常見的例子就是使用電腦操作的拖拉機(jī)。電腦負(fù)責(zé)大部分的駕駛工作，借助全球定位系統(tǒng)(GPS)的衛(wèi)生信號(hào)，GPS科技幫助拖拉機(jī)沿直線劃出壟溝，在正確的位置放入適量的肥料。
(SOUND)
Jimmy Messick is a farmer in northern Virginia, not far from Washington. He says the GPS guidance system makes it easy to come back later and plant the seed in his fields of maize, or corn.
Jimmy Messick是距華盛頓不遠(yuǎn)處北維吉尼亞州的一位農(nóng)民，他說GPS使得種玉米變得更容易。
JIMMY MESSICK: "Because the tractor that's pulling the planter also has the same auto-guidance system in it as the tractor that applied the fertilizer and did this tillage, it will come back and put the seed right on top of these marks."
JIMMY MESSICK: “牽引播種機(jī)的拖拉機(jī)有同步自動(dòng)導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)，當(dāng)拖拉機(jī)耕作并施肥后，它能再次返回將種子剛好播撒到特定標(biāo)記處。”
Because of the GPS guidance, Mr. Messick now pays half what he once did for fertilizer.
由于有了GPS系統(tǒng)，Messick現(xiàn)在只需耗費(fèi)原來肥料的一半。
Bruce Erickson is an agronomist at Purdue University in Indiana. He says saving even a little bit of seed, pesticide or fertilizer "computes directly to cost savings and less environmental damage."
Bruce Erickson是印第安納州普渡大學(xué)的農(nóng)學(xué)家，他說即使只是節(jié)省了一點(diǎn)種子、殺蟲劑或化肥，“也能直接計(jì)算出節(jié)省的成本，減少對(duì)環(huán)境的危害。”
Raj Khosla is an agronomist at Colorado State University. He says farmers in the developing world can use precision agriculture even without high-tech tractors.
Raj Khosla是科羅拉多州立大學(xué)的農(nóng)學(xué)家，他說，發(fā)展中國家的農(nóng)民甚至無需高科技拖拉機(jī)就可以進(jìn)行精準(zhǔn)農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)。
RAJ KHOSLA: "We do not necessarily have to have complex, large machinery to practice what could be done as [simply] as using bottle caps."
Raj Khosla：“我們不一定非要有復(fù)雜、大型的機(jī)器，其實(shí)瓶蓋就可以了。”
The idea is to use a bottle cap to pour a measured amount of fertilizer right next to each plant. It takes more work than simply throwing handfuls of fertilizer across a field.
這個(gè)辦法是用瓶蓋把定量化肥播撒在每棵植株旁，這比只是將化肥灑在整塊田間要耗費(fèi)更多勞動(dòng)。
But Mr. Khosla says researchers taught this bottle cap method to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. They discovered that it was worth the extra effort if they could only afford a small amount of fertilizer.
但Raj Khosla說，研究者把這一方法教給了撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲的農(nóng)民，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這種額外的付出是值得的，因?yàn)檫@樣就只需用少量化肥即可。
RAJ KHOSLA: "There was a huge difference: more than double, in terms of productivity."
RAJ KHOSLA: “這個(gè)差異很大，生產(chǎn)率提高了兩倍。”
Of course, new technology is not always so cheap. But Mr. Khosla says farmers could form a cooperative or combine their resources to pay for new equipment. He and other researchers worked with a farmer in India to precision-level his irrigated wheat fields. That kept the fields from developing wet and dry areas that reduced productivity. The farmer also added better fertilizers and insect control.
當(dāng)然，新科技并不都是這么廉價(jià)。但Khosla說，農(nóng)民可以組建合作社，或?qū)①Y源合在一起來購買新設(shè)備。他和其他研究者同一位印度農(nóng)民合作提高灌溉麥田的精準(zhǔn)度。這樣可放置農(nóng)田過濕或過干而降低生產(chǎn)率。農(nóng)業(yè)還用了較好的肥料，并做了蟲害控制。
As a result, he was able to grow almost three times as much wheat on the same amount of land. Mr. Khosla says with the extra money the farmer made, and a small loan, he bought his own precision leveler. And now, for a fee, he offers that as a service to his neighbors and other farmers.
結(jié)果，他在同樣面積的田地里收獲了近三倍的麥子。Khosla說，這位農(nóng)民用額外掙來的錢，加上一點(diǎn)貸款，就買了一臺(tái)自己的精準(zhǔn)整平機(jī)。現(xiàn)在，他向鄰居和其他農(nóng)民收費(fèi)提供整平機(jī)服務(wù)。
