VOA慢速英语20060905a

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Dry Conditions Lead to Government Aid in the West and SouthBy Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, September 05, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Last week, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced help for American farmers hurt by lack of rain. Mister Johanns said the total amount of aid is about seven hundred eighty million dollars. The aid will include loans, indirect payments and other assistance for farmers in the central western and southern United States.

Important farming areas have experienced dry weather for several months. The drought has hurt both crop producers and those raising cattle, or ranchers. The weather has harmed some areas, but left others with enough rain for near record crops. The Northeast, for example, had heavy rainfall during the same period.

The U.S. Drought Monitor studies drought conditions across the country. The service operates as part of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska.

The Monitor recently reported that exceptional¹ drought conditions exist in Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. It also said that parts of Alabama, Arizona, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska and Wyoming have an extremely severe drought.

Secretary Johanns spoke² with reporters during a visit last Thursday to South Dakota. He said sixty-four percent of beef cows in America are in drought areas. The dry conditions have left little or no grass in many areas where cattle are raised. Ranchers who feed their cattle grass for part of the year have had to buy food or sell some or all of their animals.

The Department of Agriculture will provide fifty million dollars in aid for ranchers. That money will go to affected³ states in the form of awards, or grants. It will then be given to ranchers. The grants do not have to be repaid⁴.

The drought has also affected cotton, sorghum⁵ and peanut growers. Farmers in dry states have been offered payments totaling seven hundred million dollars. This aid is part of the Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment Program. It pays farmers an amount based on a set price for their crop and the number of hectares they have. The Program is designed to lift farm income when prices drop. This year, Secretary Johanns has moved up payments so that farmers can receive them now instead of later in the year.

Yet the Middle West -- an area known as the Corn Belt -- has received enough rain. Farmers there are expecting excellent harvests of soybeans and corn. And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Shep O'Neal.

1 exceptional   

adj.优越的，杰出的，例外的，独特的，异常的

参考例句：

• He is a man of exceptional talent.他是位具有非凡才能的人。
• He showed exceptional musical ability.他显示出特殊的音乐才能。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 repaid   

v. 偿还, 报答 vbl. 偿还, 报答

参考例句：

• The business quickly repaid the initial outlay on advertising. 这家公司很快偿付了初期的广告费。
• She doesn't intend to be repaid to her kindness. 她不图回报她的好心。

5 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。