VOA慢速英语2016 在家无土栽培蔬菜

Growing Vegetables Without Soil Inside the Home 在家无土栽培蔬菜

Have you ever wanted to grow your own food inside your home?

你是否想过自己在家里种食物？

Scientists in Finland have developed a device¹ that may do just that.

芬兰科学家研发的一种设备能够实现这一愿望。

It lacks soil and does not look like a normal vegetable garden. But, the small device, called the Cell Pod, grows edible² plant cells in the home.

该设备没有土壤，看起来并不像普通的菜园子。然而，这个被称为“Cell Pod”的小型设备可以让你在家培育可食用植物的细胞。

Lauri Reuter is a biologist with the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. He says that instead of using the complete plant as food, scientists take only a small part of it – cells – and grow them in a bio-reactor. These plants have much of the same nutritional³ value that a real plant has.

罗力·罗伊特（Lauri Reuter）是芬兰国家技术研究中心的生物学家。他说，科学家只采集一小部分食物植物细胞，将其放置于生物反应器中培育。这些植物的营养价值与真实植物无异。

The edible plant cells, once fully⁴ grown, do not look very good. The Finnish researchers say they also need to improve the taste.

发育完成的可食用植物细胞，其外形并不美观。芬兰研究人员称，可食用植物的口感仍需进一步改善。

However, the Cell Pod can provide important vitamins and antioxidants, which are substances that help your body to be healthy.

然而，Cell Pod可以提供重要的维生素和抗氧化剂，这些是维持身体健康的重要物质。

Lauri Reuter adds that the new technology will not replace fields for growing fruits and vegetables. However, the Cell Pod can help people eat foods that are hard to find or that cannot be made in a sustainable way. In other words, the device could help save natural resources.

罗力·罗伊特还表示，这项新技术不会取代水果和蔬菜。然而，Cell Pod可以让人们食用一些稀有或者无法用可持续方式种植的食物。也就是说，该设备能够节约自然资源。

All you would need to do is add the seed culture to the device, sit back and then wait.

你只需要把种子放置在设备中，然后静静地等待就可以了。

Reuter says the seed culture looks a lot like a very small container filled with coffee. You put it into the device and give it water. The machine does the rest of the work.

罗伊特称，种子看起来就像一个装满咖啡的小容器。你把它放置到设备里，浇点水。该设备会自动完成剩下的工作。

The researchers hope to have a version⁵ of the Cell Pod on the market in the next 10 years.

研究人员希望10年内能在市场上推出Cell Pod。

Words in This Story

edible – adj. suitable or safe to eat

nutritional – adj. eating the right kind of food so you can grow properly and be healthy

antioxidant – n. a substance that is added to food and other products to prevent harmful chemical reactions in which oxygen is combined with other substances

sustainable – adj. able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed

culture – n. the process of growing living material is a prepared mixture

1 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

2 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

3 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？