VOA慢速英语 2007 0309a

This is the VOA Special English Economics¹ Report.

 
A US fuel pump for 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline
What happens when a food crop becomes a fuel crop? This is a question many people are trying to answer as demand for ethanol increases. The issue is important not just to farmers and the energy industry.

President Bush began a Latin American trip in Brazil Thursday for talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on subjects including biofuels. One goal is to increase production of ethanol from sugar cane² in Central American and Caribbean nations.

Together, the United States and Brazil produce more than seventy percent of the world's ethanol. In the United States, ethanol is produced mostly from corn, or maize³, and is also imported -- with a tariff⁴ that critics call protectionist. Brazilian ethanol production is mainly from sugar cane.

In Brazil, about forty percent of all motor fuel is ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol. Many Brazilians drive flex-fuel vehicles. These can use either gasoline or ethanol. They are so successful, General Motors has stopped making cars for the Brazilian market that only use gasoline.

In the United States, vehicles that run on pure ethanol are rare. But most cars can run on a mixture of gasoline and ten percent ethanol. Some states require an ethanol-gas mixture to cut pollution.

Yet the use of an important food crop for fuel has led to concerns. Ethanol now makes up about twelve percent of all corn use in the United States. At current growth rates, that could nearly double by two thousand fifteen.

The American Midwest is known as the corn belt -- that is where most of the nation's corn is grown.

Some people worry that strong demand may push up food prices and reduce supplies of corn for food aid or farm animals.

Fuel researchers are exploring additional ways to make ethanol. One possibility is to use the remains⁵ of corn plants left in the field after harvest. This material is known as stover. But stover protects against soil loss to wind and water.

Researchers are also developing "cellulosic biomass" -- things like grass and tree bark, which are normally considered waste.

The Department of Energy says the United States could produce more than one billion tons of biomass a year. But the technologies to make ethanol from biomass do not exist yet. The government says developing these new technologies could take five to ten years.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. Archives of transcripts⁶ and audio files are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Mario Ritter.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

3 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

4 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 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