VOA慢速英语2009-Agriculture Report - World Food Prize Goes t

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Sorghum¹ is an important grain for Africa. Millions of Africans have more to eat because of Gebisa Ejeta. The Ethiopian scientist developed sorghum seeds that can resist long dry periods. The seeds can also resist the Striga weed, a big cause of crop failures in Africa.
　
Gebisa Ejeta

Now his work has earned him this year's World Food Prize from the World Food Prize Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the announcement last week in Washington. She pointed² out that Professor Ejeta did not just develop the seeds. He also worked to get them to farmers.

He will receive the two hundred fifty thousand dollar award at a ceremony in October. He is only the second African to win the prize since it was established in nineteen eighty-six. Monty Jones, a rice expert from Sierra Leone, was the winner in two thousand four.

Gebisa Ejeta is a professor at Purdue University in Indiana. Over the years, he has worked with farmers and seed companies and developed more than eighty seed types for Africa.

In the early nineteen eighties, Professor Ejeta developed the first sorghum hybrid³ seeds. These resisted drought and led to a major increase in production.

Drought is not the only enemy. Striga is a parasitic⁴ weed that Africans commonly call witchweed. The plant attacks sorghum and other crops and steals water and nutrients⁵ from the roots.

In the nineteen nineties, Gebisa Ejeta and another Purdue researcher, Larry Butler, identified the complex relationships between Striga and sorghum plants. That finding led to the development of seeds resistant⁶ to both Striga and drought.

Gebisa Ejeta was raised in a one-room hut in a rural village in west-central Ethiopia. His mother wanted him to get an education. He walked twenty kilometers to school in a neighboring town. He left home on Sunday nights and returned on Friday.

For secondary school, he attended an agricultural and technical school. It was established by Oklahoma State University under an American government program. From there he received an invitation to study at Purdue, where he earned a doctoral degree.

But Professor Ejeta has never forgotten his African roots. Today he encourages other scientists to turn their attention to Africa's needs.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts⁷ and MP3s of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Doug Johnson.

1 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

4 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

5 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

7 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句