2007年VOA慢速英语special200708070041

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Beans are a popular choice for home gardens.




The University of Illinois Extension service says bush bean plants need the least amount of work. They stand without support.

Green bush beans used to be called string beans because of fiber¹ material along the pods containing the seeds. Now green beans are called snap beans because plant breeding reduced the fibers².

Unlike bush bean plants, pole beans need supports to climb. But they need less space than bush beans because they twist around poles or sticks. Because the plants are tall, a person can stand while harvesting the beans.

The University of Illinois Extension says beans should not be planted until all danger of a freeze has passed in the spring. Cold weather could damage them. Planting beans every two to four weeks until early August will provide a continuous harvest.

Small weeds and grasses around beans plants need to be controlled, but be careful not to harm the plants. The root systems are not very strong or deep.

Seeds should be planted at a depth of two and one-half centimeters. Make sure the soil is not too wet or the seeds could develop poorly.

Bush beans should be planted five to ten centimeters apart. And there should be at least forty-five to sixty centimeters between the rows.

Pole beans should be planted ten to fifteen centimeters apart in rows that are about seventy-six to ninety centimeters apart. Or you could plant them in hills with four to six seeds per hill.

The hills should be seventy-six centimeters apart and with seventy-six centimeters between rows.

The University of Illinois specialists say to harvest beans when the pods are firm and have reached their full length. Do not wait until the seeds inside are fully³ developed. Bean plants produce more beans if pods are continually removed before the seeds are mature.

But wait until the plants are completely dry before picking beans. Picking beans from wet plants can spread bean bacterial⁴ blight⁵, a disease that damages the plants.

The specialists at the University of Illinois Extension say beans should be moved to different areas of the garden each year. This is because diseases that affect beans can stay in the soil and infect the next bean crop.

Not only are beans a healthy food, they are also good for the soil. Other plants take nitrogen out of the soil, but beans and other legumes replace it.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. To learn more about agriculture, go to www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

2 fibers   

光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质

参考例句：

• Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上，以硫酸钠为凝固剂，对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝，制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
• Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。

3 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。

4 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

5 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。