VOA慢速英语2015 科学家寻找新方法以养活世界不断增长的人口

AS IT IS 2015-03-14 Scientists Search for Ways to Feed an Ever-Growing World 科学家寻找新方法以养活世界不断增长的人口

As the population grows and temperatures rise it will become more difficult to grow enough food for everyone. So, scientists are exploring the planet for plants that do not need as much water as today’s crops. The Mojave Desert in the U.S. state of California is home to some of these plants.

Scientist Heather Rose Kates of the University of Florida is in that desert. She is searching along roads for a plant called the coyote melon.

"We've spotted¹ it here right along the ground. Nice yellow fruits."

Coyote melons are in the same plant family as butternut squash², zucchini and pumpkins³. Those vegetables are popular around the world.

Ms. Kates is not collecting the coyote melon for its flavor, which she describes as terrible. She says it contains cucurbitacin which is bitter.

Coyote melon may not taste good, but it can be grown in places that have had little rainfall. The desert where it grows gets just 15 to 20 centimeters of rain per year, or less. Other kinds of squash need at least two and a half centimeters per week to grow.

Scientists are considering combining wild coyote melon with regular squash to see if they can make a tasty vegetable that doesn’t need as much water to grow. That could be useful on a planet growing warmer and more crowded every day.

Andy Jarvis works at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.

"The world is facing a real challenge in terms of food security over the next few decades.”

Mr. Jarvis says farmers will need to produce 50 to 70 percent more food by 2050 to feed the world. So, he says, researchers are studying the wild versions of farm-grown crops.

But he says there is a problem. He says many wild versions of farmed plants are disappearing. He says they are threatened and scientists have not collected their seeds for future use.

Scientist Kates is part of an international effort to gather these plants and save their seeds while it is still possible.

Workers are collecting wild oats in Cyprus, wild potatoes in Argentina and wild peppers in Paraguay.

The plants and seeds will be sent for storage to the Global Seed Vault⁴ in Norway and at Kew Gardens in Britain.

Ms. Kates spends most of her time in a laboratory. She says gathering⁵ plants has helped her understand more about them.

“And it’s really only once you’re out here looking at the wild plants -- which are where our crops came from -- that you get to see what they can do.”

Words in This Story

spot – v. to see or notice (someone or something that is difficult to see or find)

flavor – n. the quality of something that you can taste

bitter – adj. having a strong and often unpleasant flavor that is the opposite of sweet

decade – n. a period of ten years

1 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

2 squash   

n.壁球，摺皱不堪，拥挤嘈杂的人群，浓缩果汁，美国南瓜；vt.压扁，压制；vi.变扁，压榨

参考例句：

• He is drinking lemon squash.他正在喝柠檬露。
• She sprained her ankle playing squash.她在打软式墙网球时扭伤了脚踝。

3 pumpkins   

n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊

参考例句：

• I like white gourds, but not pumpkins. 我喜欢吃冬瓜，但不喜欢吃南瓜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put lights inside. 然后在南瓜上刻出一张脸，并把瓜挖空。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

4 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。