枯木发新枝--克隆树工程研究

47 枯木发新枝--克隆树工程研究

DATE=7-18-01
TITLE=EXPLORATIONS #1961 - Cloning Trees
BYLINE=Paul Thompson

VOICE ONE:
This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program "EXPLORATIONS."  Today, we tell about an unusual project to save and (1)reproduce¹ some of the biggest and oldest trees in the United States.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
Our story begins more than two-thousand meters high in the White Mountains in the western state of (2)California.  The White Mountains are near California's (3)border with (4)Nevada. 
This is an area of weather (5)extremes.  In the winter the temperature is extremely cold.  Snow can be very deep.  In the summer, this same area can be extremely hot and (6)suffer from a lack of water.  The wind blows hard here almost all the time.
Something very special is here, too.  California's White Mountains have something no mountains in the rest of the world can (7)claim.  They are home to the oldest living thing on Earth.
VOICE TWO:
The oldest living thing is a kind of tree called a (8)Bristlecone Pine.  The oldest of them is a Bristlecone Pine that local people call (9)Methuselah.  Methuselah is a person in the (10)Christian holy book, the Bible³, who is (11)supposed to have lived nine-hundred-sixty-nine years. 
Methuselah the Bristlecone Pine is much older than the Methuselah written about in the Bible.  It fact, experts say Methuselah the tree is almost five-thousand years old. 
This very old tree also looks very dead.  It seems to be a collection of bent⁴ and twisted wood.  It looks as if it has been shaped by the (12)fierce wind that blows in the White Mountains.  Methuselah looks more like a wood statue than a tree.  But if you look closely⁵ you can see a few small green leaves.  Methuselah is still very much alive. 
Methuselah is a very successful example of a Bristlecone pine tree.  Experts say it is a true champion among trees.  Methuselah would be an excellent choice if you wanted to make an exact copy of a Bristlecone Pine.  And an (13)environmental group has already made plans to do so.
VOICE ONE:
Our story now moves from the California mountains to a farm in the small town of Buckley in the middle western state of (14)Michigan.  George Svec is a farmer.  He plants corn.  A huge American (15)Elm tree is in one of Mister⁶ Svec's cornfields.  It is more than thirty-four meters tall.  Experts say it could be almost four-hundred years old. 
This huge American Elm tree is very unusual.  It (16)survived a tree disease⁷ that killed millions of American Elms beginning in the Nineteen-Fifties.
American Elm trees are now in danger of disappearing from the Earth.  Experts believe Mister Svec's tree is (17)resistant to the disease.  They believe it was (18)exposed to the disease but did not become (19)infected.  Mister Svec's American Elm is another true champion among trees because of its size and the fact that it may have successfully (20)protected itself against the disease.
Mister Svec's American Elm and Methuselah the Bristlecone Pine are both part of the Champion Tree Project.  The people who created the project work to protect and copy as many of America's champion trees as possible.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE TWO:
The first (21)settlers to arrive on the East Coast of North America found a land filled with many different kinds of huge trees.  Some forests were so thick it was difficult for travelers to find a path through them.  The huge forests provided⁸ (22)lumber to build homes.  They also provided wood for cooking fires. 
Settlers (23)removed many trees to clear the land and plant farm crops.  In time, the trees slowly began to disappear.  The Champion Tree Project hopes to help replace some of the trees that have been lost over the years. 
The project will use a (24)method called (25)cloning.  Experts take a small living part from a champion tree and place it inside a cut made in a more common tree.  The cut is then (26)wrapped very tightly¹⁰ to prevent water or insects from entering it. 
As the cloned tree begins to grow, it will have all the genes¹² of the parent champion tree.  This kind of cloning is called (27)grafting¹⁴.  It is a very old method used to successfully reproduce plants and trees.
One tree that will be cloned is Mister Svec's American Elm.  It is a (28)candidate for the Champion Tree Project because it is the largest tree of its kind.  And cloning that tree would help make sure that the American Elm will survive.
VOICE ONE:
The Champion Tree Project is five years old now.  It was the idea of David Milarch and his son Jared. They own a small tree and plant business in the town of Copemish, Michigan. 
At the age of sixteen, Jared Milarch asked his father why so many trees were dying¹⁵.  He asked why they could not copy or graft¹³ some of the champion trees he had seen.  That is how the project began.  The Milarchs' first plans called for grafting one-hundred trees in the state of Michigan. 
The project (29)expanded very quickly.  The two were asked to graft and plant trees all around the country.  They have (30)financial help from the National Tree Trust, a (31)non-profit organization in Washington, D.C.
In the years to come, the Milarchs hope to clone and reproduce the largest examples of more than eight-hundred different kinds of American trees.  All of them are champion trees.  These huge trees have been (32)identified since Nineteen-Forty by the American Forests organization.
((MUSIC BRIDGE)) 
VOICE TWO:
Mount² Vernon is the home of the first president of the United States, George Washington.  It is in the southern state of Virginia, near Washington D-C.  More than one-million people visit Mount Vernon each year.
The (33)private organization that is (34)responsible for Mount Vernon works¹⁶ very hard at keeping the president's home as he left it.  They say President Washington would recognize the house as it is today.  However he would not be happy with the trees at Mount Vernon.
Only thirteen trees (35)remain that are believed to have been planted by George Washington more than two-hundred years ago.  They are huge, beautiful trees.  Other, younger trees are much smaller and are not the same kind as the older ones.  George Washington was very careful about where he planted the trees on his huge farm.  He wanted them to add beauty to his farm and to block the sun from the house. 
Dean¹⁷ Norton is responsible for trees and plants at Mount Vernon.  The Milarch family (36)offered to help him clone the thirteen (37)original trees.  (38)Cuttings will soon be taken from the trees.  The Milarchs hope to provide as many as thirty trees of each kind. 
VOICE ONE:
David and Jared Milarch will also provide Mount Vernon with fourteen different kinds of champion trees from other parts of the United States.  These will be clones from the oldest, strongest and largest of their kind.
David Milarch says there is no real way to tell if the new trees will be as big and as strong as the parent trees.  However, he says they have the genes that can make a huge, healthy tree possible.
Mister Milarch hopes to provide Mister Norton with one-hundred new cloned trees each year for the next ten years.  Mister Norton says he will use fences to protect the new trees from deer that like to eat young trees.
VOICE TWO:
John Alleyne works with the (39)Florida Botanical Garden in North Largo¹⁸, in the southern state of Florida.  He is a gene¹¹ research scientist.  He says the Champion Tree Project is very important.  He says the project is working to keep the genes of very old successful trees alive. 
Mister Alleyne says it is very important to keep these (40)ancient tree genes alive so gene scientists can learn their secrets.  There is something in their genes that permits them to reach an (41)extreme old age.  Mister Alleyne says science needs to learn about these secrets.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
High up in California's White Mountains, the Bristlecone Pine known as Methuselah is waiting to be cloned.  If the cloning is successful, the new Bristlecone pine tree will not be planted at Mount Vernon or anywhere else.  It will be planted near its parent tree in the White Mountains of California.  Bristlecone pine trees will not grow anywhere else. 
There are not many Bristlecone pine trees left in the world.  Cloning Methuselah will help make sure these ancient trees will survive into the future.  It will provide a new tree that carries genes that have already successfully survived for the last five-thousand years.  (42)Supporters of the Champion Tree Project hope it is possible a tree with those genes could survive another five-thousand years. 
((THEME))
VOICE TWO:
This program was written and produced by Paul Thompson.  Our studio engineer was Keith Holmes. This is Shirley Griffith.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Steve Ember.  Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS, a program in Special English on the Voice of America.

(1)reproduce [ 7ri:prE5dju:s ] v.繁殖
(2)California [ kAli5fC:njE ] n.加利福尼亚, 加州
(3)border [ 5bC:dE ] n.边界
(4)Nevada [ ne5vB:dE ] n.内华达州(美国西部内陆州)
(5)extreme [ iks5tri:m ] adj.极端的, 极度的
(6)suffer [ 5sQfE ] vt.遭受, 经历
(7)claim [ kleim ] vt.需要
(8)Bristlecone [`brIslkEJn]Pine [植]狐尾松(生长于美国西部山区,地球上最古老的树木之一)
(9)Methuselah [mI5Wju:zElE]n.玛士撒拉, 非常高寿的人
(10)Christian holy book 圣经
(11)suppose [ sE5pEuz ] vt.推想, 假设, 猜想
(12)fierce [ fiEs ] adj. 猛烈的
(13)environmental [ in7vaiErEn5mentl ] adj.周围的, 环境的
(14)Michigan [5mIFI^En]n.密歇根州(美国州名)
(15)elm [ elm ] n.[植]榆树
(16)survive [ sE5vaiv ] v. 幸存
(17)resistant [ ri5zistEnt ] adj.抵抗的, 有抵抗力的
(18)exposed [ iks5pEuzd ] adj.暴露的
(19)infect [ in5fekt ] vt.[医] 传染
(20)protect [ prE5tekt ] vt.保护
(21)settler [ 5setlE ] n.移民者, 殖民者
(22)lumber [ 5lQmbE ] n.<美>木材
(23)remove [ ri5mu:v ] vt.移除
(24)method [5meWEd] n.方法
(25)cloning [ 5klCniN ] n.克隆
(26)wrap [ rAp⁹ ] vi.包起来
(27)grafting [ 5^rB:ftiN ] 嫁接法
(28)candidate [ 5kAndidit ] n.候选人
(29)expand [ iks5pAnd ] vi.发展
(30)financial [ fai5nAnFEl, 7fi- ] adj.财政的, 金融的
(31)non-profit adj.非营利的
(32)identify [ ai5dentifai ] vt.鉴定
(33)private [ 5praivit ] adj.私人的
(34)responsible [ ris5pCnsEbl ] adj.负责的
(35)remain [ ri5mein ] vi.残存
(36)offer [ 5CfE ] vt.提供
(37)original [ E5ridVEnEl ] adj.原始的
(38)cutting [ 5kQtiN ] n.切片
(39)Florida [ 5flCridE ] Botanical [bE5tAnIk(E)l] Garden佛罗里达植物园
(40)ancient [ 5einFEnt ] adj.远古的, 旧的
(41)extreme [ iks5tri:m ] adj.极度的
(42)supporter [ sE5pC:tE ] n.支持者,拥护者

1 reproduce   

v.生育，繁殖，复制，重做

参考例句：

• The machine can reproduce a key in two minutes.这机器能在两分钟内复制一把钥匙。
• The picture will reproduce well.这照片会印得很清楚。

2 mount   

n.山峰，乘用马，框，衬纸；vi.增长，骑上（马）；vt.提升，爬上，装备

参考例句：

• Their debts continued to mount up.他们的债务不断增加。
• She is the first woman who steps on the top of Mount Jolmo Lungma.她是第一个登上珠穆朗玛峰的女人。

3 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

6 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

7 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

8 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

9 rap   

n.轻敲，拍击，责骂，厉声说出，说唱音乐，谈话，最少量；vi.轻敲，敲门，表演说唱音乐，畅谈；vt.抓，抢，拍击

参考例句：

• I heard a rap on the door.我听到有轻轻的敲门声。
• Today we are going to rap about relationships.今天我们要聊聊关系的问题。

10 tightly   

adv.紧紧地，坚固地，牢固地

参考例句：

• My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时，孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
• The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起，我们几乎喘不过气来。

11 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

12 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

13 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

14 grafting   

嫁接法，移植法

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。
• Burns can often be cured by grafting on skin from another part of the same body. 烧伤常常可以用移植身体其它部位的皮肤来治愈。

15 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

16 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

17 Dean   

n.(大学)院长，系主任，教务长

参考例句：

• The students much like the new dean.学生们很喜欢这位新系主任。
• Who is the dean of the Foreign Languages Department?外语系主任是谁？

18 largo   

n.广板乐章；adj.缓慢的，宽广的；adv.缓慢地，宽广地

参考例句：

• The tempo marking in most cases is andante,adagio,or largo.大多数第一乐章的速度标记是行板、柔板或广板。
• The second movement is a largo.第二乐章是广板乐章。