VOA慢速英语2015 纽约帮助小型酿酒厂

AS IT IS 2015-07-13 New York Helping¹ Small Distilleries 纽约帮助小型酿酒厂

The United States has a long history of making whiskey -- a kind of alcohol. Many people across the country made the drink before the age of Prohibition². Prohibition was a 13-year period in the early 20th century when the government banned people from producing and selling alcoholic³ drinks.

The government ended Prohibition in the early 1930s. Now, over 80 years later, the state of New York has eased its rules and even taken steps to support people who want to make whiskey. Businesses called distilleries manufacture and sell alcoholic products. Some distillers have set up operations in New York City. And they are using crops from New York area farms.

Any cocktail⁴ -- an alcoholic mixed drink -- starts with a great spirit, like the gin and rye whiskey from the New York Distilling⁵ Company. That is the opinion of Allen Katz, who set up the company.

“Finally, after 80 years post-Prohibition, we are reclaiming⁶ our taste buds in many ways.”

The New York state government has made it legal for small distillers not only to operate, but also to sell their products and have tasting rooms. Mr. Katz’s New York Distilling Company is one of more than 30 manufacturers in the state.

“It’s absolutely, resoundingly a win for us and for the New York Distilling Company because it allows us to enter the marketplace at a more reasonable cost to set up a business like this from scratch.”

Nationwide, the number of small or craft distillers has grown from 250 in 2009 to over 700 today. A trade group, the Distilled⁷ Spirit Council of the United States, says small distillers earned more than $400 million from sales and services last year.

Bill Potter is the head distiller for the New York Distilling Company. He says New York rye has been used in local alcohol for centuries.

“…the oldest distillery in North America was actually on Staten Island. It was a Dutch distillery there in 1640.”

Another business, Breuckelen Distilling, works with local farmers to create a regional flavor – a taste found only in the New York area. It and other companies operate under a specialty⁸ Farmer’s Distillery License⁹. The license requires at least 71 percent of local grains in the products they make.

Brad Estabrook set up Breuckelen Distilling.

“…we’ve been working with the same farmer since we started, and we did the first distillation¹⁰ in 2010.”

He says small-batch spirits are successful because people care where their drink comes from and who makes it. The public’s interest in local products is part of what he considers the hostile reaction to large international manufacturers.

Words in This Story

spirit – n. an alcoholic drink

absolutely – adv. with no restrictions¹¹ or limits

resoundingly – adv. completely or totally

from scratch – phrase from the very beginning

regional flavor – n. local taste

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

3 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

4 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

5 distilling   

n.蒸馏（作用）v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )( distilled的过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• Water can be made pure by distilling it. 水经蒸馏可变得纯净。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• More ammonium sulphate solution is being recovered in the process of distilling oil shale. 在提炼油页岩的过程中回收的硫酸铵液比过去多了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 reclaiming   

v.开拓( reclaim的现在分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• People here are reclaiming land from the sea. 这儿的人们正在填海拓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• How could such a man need reclaiming? 这么一个了不起的人怎么还需要别人拯救呢？ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 distilled   

adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• The televised interview was distilled from 16 hours of film. 那次电视采访是从16个小时的影片中选出的精华。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gasoline is distilled from crude oil. 汽油是从原油中提炼出来的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

9 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

10 distillation   

n.蒸馏，蒸馏法

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century.通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• The oil is distilled from the berries of this small tree.油是从这种小树的浆果中提炼出来的。

11 restrictions   

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