VOA慢速英语 2008 0304a

Agriculture Report - Home of Closed Landfill Now Aims for Smell of Fine Wine

Business leaders on Staten Island, in New York City, plan for an educational vineyard. Transcript¹ of radio broadcast:

03 March 2008

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

For years, most of the household waste collected in America's largest city went to a landfill on Staten Island. Staten Island is one of the five boroughs³ that form the city of New York. The others are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

The landfill closed in two thousand one. Now, local leaders hope Staten Island will become known for something else: fine wines. Officials expect to break ground before summer for the Tuscan Garden Vineyard Project. Wine grapes will be planted on most of one hectare in the Staten Island Botanical Garden.

Borough² President James Molinaro has set aside one and one-half millions dollars for the vineyard. Officials say the project will be educational and nonprofit. It will demonstrate the process of growing grapes and making wine.

It could bring visitors who now ride the Staten Island ferry from Manhattan just to see the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

Organizers say the climate is similar to other winemaking areas of New York State, like the Finger Lakes area and Long Island. For years, people have suggested that Staten Island should have a vineyard.

Several years ago, four business leaders decided⁴ to do something about it. They formed the Founders’ Group. One of them, Henry Salmon⁵, recalls growing grapes on a friend’s farm while growing up on Staten Island.

Last November, to get ideas, the group went to Italy. They visited a winemaking town in Tuscany. Crespina, with about four thousand people, became a sister city to Staten Island. And Tuscan winemaker Piergiorgio Castellani became a technical adviser⁶ to the project.

Advice has also come from others, including experts at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and the University of Pisa in Italy. The grapes chosen for the Staten Island climate and soil include cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sangiovese.

Plans call for two thousand vines on land that Henry Salmon says was once used for a retirement⁷ home for sailors.

The vineyard will be organic. No chemical pesticides⁸ will be used. Compost made from leaves and other organic material collected from city parks will serve as fertilizer.

If all goes well, the Tuscan Garden Vineyard Project on Staten Island should have its first wines ready in a few years. The wine will not be sold. Plans call for using it at tastings and special events.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Bob Doughty⁹.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

3 boroughs   

（尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇

参考例句：

• London is made up of 32 boroughs. 伦敦由三十二个行政区组成。
• Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City. 布鲁克林区是纽约市的五个行政区之一。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

8 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。