VOA慢速英语 2007 0313a

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

For Chinese, this is the Year of the Pig. So this is probably as good a time as any to talk about the different kinds of production systems for raising pigs.

Technician1 Adam Lewis, left, and support scientist Jeff Dailey connect video equipment to record sow and piglet behavior in a traditional indoor farrowing environment" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070816/0902040.jpg" width="154" vspace="2" border="0" />

Technician Adam Lewis, left, and support scientist Jeff Dailey connect video equipment to record sow and piglet behavior in a traditional indoor farrowing environment

One kind of operation is called a farrow-to-wean farm. The animals are born, or farrowed, in a farrowing barn². Pigs usually give birth two times a year. Each time they have about eight to twelve piglets.

The piglets drink milk from the mother sow for three to four weeks, or until they weigh between four and a half and seven kilograms. After they are weaned from their mothers, they are sold.

At another kind of operation, producers raise pigs for about six weeks. When the animals weigh eighteen to twenty-seven kilograms, they are sold to a finish farm.

A third kind of farm is the farrow-to-finish operation. Pigs are born there and stay there. The hogs³ are brought to market when they reach between ninety and one hundred fourteen kilograms.

These three basic production systems used in the United States are described at pork4kids.com, an industry Web site.

Young hogs raised for meat are called feeders. They feed on corn, wheat, soybeans and other grains.

Pigs need protection from heat, cold, rain and snow. Did you know that pigs can get sunburned? They also need enough space to move around easily. Some farmers and activists⁴ for animals say pigs do better outdoors in a pasture⁵ or yard than in crowded pens.

Ann Hutton and her prize pig Lauren

People who raise pigs say the animals are "escape artists," so a good strong fence is important. The smell from their waste can also be a problem. Some farmers spread the waste on cropland and plow⁶ it under immediately to help control the smell.

But producers have to be careful with untreated waste. It can pollute groundwater and cause other environmental and health problems.

To meet demand in the United States, producers keep about sixty million hogs at any one time. Most of these are in operations with more than five thousand pigs.

The world's largest producer of pork is China, followed by Mexico. The United States is third. Pigs provide about twenty-five percent of the American meat supply. About five percent of that is imported. But the United States is also a leading exporter of pork and pork products.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts⁷ and audio⁸ files of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 technician   

n.技术员，技师

参考例句：

• The technician is busy repairing the machine.技师正忙于修理那台机器。
• A skilled technician takes years to train.一个熟练的技师需要数年时间才能培训出来。

2 barn   

n.谷仓，饲料仓，牲口棚

参考例句：

• That big building is a barn for keeping the grain.那幢大房子是存放粮食的谷仓。
• The cows were driven into the barn.牛被赶进了牲口棚。

3 hogs   

n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人

参考例句：

• 'sounds like -- like hogs grunting. “像——像是猪发出的声音。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• I hate the way he hogs down his food. 我讨厌他那副狼吞虎咽的吃相。 来自辞典例句

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 pasture   

n.牧场，牲畜饲养

参考例句：

• This is the place where they used to pasture.这就是他们过去经常放牧的地方。
• The boy got up very early every morning to pasture cattle.这男孩每天起得很早去放牛。

6 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

7 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

8 audio   

n./adj.音频(响)(的)；声音(的)，听觉(的)

参考例句：

• Often,the meeting is recorded on audio or video media for later reference.通常这种会议会以视频或者音频形式记录下来，供以后查阅。
• You don't even have to pay for audio programs.你大可不必为自己听这些节目付费。