VOA慢速英语2010年-Agriculture Report - In the Garden: Gr

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Some people like to start their dinner with a salad of lettuce¹ or other leafy greens. Ancient Egyptians and Romans also liked to have lettuce with their evening meal. But they served it at the end.

There are hundreds of kinds of head and leaf lettuces². The most popular ones include head lettuces such as iceberg³, Boston, bibb and romaine.

Experts say lettuce is one of the easiest vegetables to grow in your garden. The best time to plant the seeds is during cool weather. Advisers⁴ at the University of Illinois Extension say the best planting temperature is fifteen degrees Celsius⁵.

Lettuce seeds are small, so do not place them too deep in the ground. If you plant some seeds every week or two, you will have harvests ready to eat one after another.

You can use a seed tray to start the seeds indoors. The container should be deep enough to hold at least three centimeters of soil.

There should be about one centimeter of space between the soil and the top of the container. The container should have holes in the bottom so extra water can flow out.

Ben Sippel picks romaine lettuce for his business in Mount Gilead, Ohio in this file photo from 2007

Drop the seeds over the surface and cover them lightly with soil. If the soil is not already a little wet, give it some water. But not too much -- you do not want to drown the seeds.

Next, cover the seed tray with paper. Remove the paper when the seedlings⁶ have grown up far enough to touch it. You can transplant the seedlings into the garden when they are about two to three centimeters tall. Do this when the weather is not too hot and not too cold.

Take out as much of the soil as you can with the seedlings. Plant them in the ground in a hole that is bigger than the lettuce roots. Keep the plants watered, but not too heavily.

Harvest leaf lettuces when the leaves are big enough to eat. Pull the leaves from the outside of the planting so the inside leaves will keep growing. Or, you can cut off the whole plant. Leave about two or three centimeters above the ground so the plant will re-grow. Cut off head lettuces at ground level.

Lettuce is best when served fresh. Store the remainder in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. It will last a few days and sometimes longer.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts⁷ and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. And captioned⁸ videos are on YouTube at VOA Learning English. I'm Faith Lapidus
 

1 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

2 lettuces   

n.莴苣，生菜（ lettuce的名词复数 ）；生菜叶

参考例句：

• My lettuces have gone to seed. 我种的莴苣已结子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Are these lettuces home-grown or did you buy them in the market? 这些生菜是自家种的呢，还是你在市场上买的？ 来自辞典例句

3 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

4 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

5 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

6 seedlings   

n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ninety-five per cent of the new seedlings have survived. 新栽的树苗95%都已成活。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In such wet weather we must prevent the seedlings from rotting. 这样的阴雨天要防止烂秧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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 captioned   

a.标题项下的； 标题所说的

参考例句：

• This paper reviews the production, development and nationalization of the captioned materials. 本文就铜系合金引线框架材料的生产、发展和国产化进程作一论述。
• Please advise other considerable hotels for this captioned group. 请推荐其它一些高级的旅馆给这一群打标语的人。