VOA标准英语2011--Mississippi Flooding Harms Agriculture i

Mississippi Flooding Harms Agriculture in Several US States

Flooding along the Mississippi River has ruined crops, damaged farmland and delayed barge¹ traffic in parts of the southern United States. Officials say diversion of some of the water through spillways in Louisiana, though, eventually will ease the flow and help speed the return to normalcy. Closings of some sections of the river are considered only temporary.
The U.S. Coast Guard has shut some small stretches of the Mississippi River to barge traffic in recent days and has allowed only one barge at a time to pass through the stretch of river near Vidalia, Louisiana, where levees are close to being topped. The passage of the barges² produces a wake that can cause water to splash over the levees, making local residents anxious about their property.
The temporary measures, however, have not had a significant effect on barge traffic or on ship operations farther downriver. At the Port of Louisiana, north of New Orleans, ships loaded with grain have come downstream from farm areas in the Midwest and nearby southern states for international delivery. Much of America's grain harvest will come down the river in the coming months after the flood waters subside³.
The Port of New Orleans has had few disruptions to its operations, according to spokesman Chris Bonura.
"We are continuing to handle international commerce on the lower Mississippi River," said Bonura. "The ships are coming in from all foreign ports. We are handling that cargo⁴. Our ability to distribute that cargo inland has been somewhat diminished by the lack of barge traffic through the Vidalia area. But we expect in that area, and possibly in other areas along the Mississippi River, we could see these intermittent⁵ closures."
Bonura says that unless there is a closure of a week or more, he does not expect any significant impact on the ports or river barge traffic, which not only brings grain down the Mississippi, but also carries fertilizer, chemicals and other products upstream.
Randy Ouzts with Horizon Ag, a seed technology company in Memphis, Tennessee, said high water in his area has prevented the loading or unloading of barges.
"The issue we are having at the moment is wheat delivery, and also fertilizer and fuel deliveries," said Ouzts. "And the problem is loading. The facilities were not built to accommodate this much water."
Ouzts said he has never seen flooding as bad as this year's, and that even farmers with fields in relatively⁶ high areas are suffering crop losses as a result.
"We lose acres to flooding every year, but it is always a situation where the water will go down in time for us to plant. And people sometimes have to use alternative means to get the crop in, like aerial seeding. But this is unprecedented⁷ because of the amount of water that is backed up and out over areas that normally do not flood," he said.
Ouzts said farmers are seeking government assistance to help them get through this year's disaster and come back even stronger next year. "There are meetings going on right now with growers who were unable to plant or who have lost crops. If there is federal funding, it is never enough, but it is better than nothing."
The flooding has been especially frustrating⁸ for farmers because prices for grain are relatively high this year, and many of them had good crops almost ready for harvest when the flood waters ruined them. Although flooding along the southern Mississippi River is a natural event, caused by snow melt and heavy rains in the north, farmers in the Achafalaya basin of Louisiana are losing many of their crops to a deliberate flood. It's a result of the U.S. Army Corps⁹ of Engineers opening floodgates at the Morganza spillway in recent days to alleviate¹⁰ water flow on the lower Mississippi that could devastate¹¹ the cities of Baton¹² Rouge¹³ and New Orleans, and damage important infrastructure¹⁴ for oil, gas and shipping¹⁵.
Marty Frey and his three brothers farm some 2,400 hectares in southern Louisiana. They now have about 260 hectares underwater, not far from where the floodgates were opened. But because they had insurance and were able to harvest some of their crops before the spillway was opened, Frey is optimistic they will avoid catastrophe¹⁶. In a telephone interview, though, Frey said he is concerned about the rising water inundating¹⁷ his home.
"I am actually sitting on top of the levee now, looking at the water flowing by. And as hard as it is to see it, it is much easier to deal with than to have it inside my house. All four of us live right in the area, the levee is not [even] 100 yards [i.e., about 92 meters] in front of my house and the Mississippi levee is about two miles [i.e., 3.2 kilometers] east of my home. So the failure of one of those could be devastating¹⁸, absolutely devastating."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which built the spillway and levee systems decades ago to help control floods along the Mississippi River, often is criticized when it deliberately¹⁹ floods areas like the Achafalaya basin.
But Frey says people who farm here knew the risks when they bought land and that they are thankful for the flood-control system that includes the Morganza spillway.
"It is phenomenal. This structure was built in the 1950s with the foresight²⁰ of saying we are going to have to be able to relieve this water. And levees were built in the '50s," he said. "I mean, yes, everybody can question day-to-day decisions that they make, but we would not be able to farm and be as successful as we are without what the Corps has done."
The Freys grow rice and harvest crawfish from ponds on their properties. Crawfish is a freshwater crustacean²¹ that is an essential part of Louisiana cuisine²². The spillway is a good place for rice and crawfish, and Marty Frey said that if it floods only once every 30 years or so, he believes it is well worth continuing to work there. The last time the spillway was opened was in 1973.

1 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

2 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。

3 subside   

vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降

参考例句：

• The emotional reaction which results from a serious accident takes time to subside.严重事故所引起的情绪化的反应需要时间来平息。
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon.围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。

4 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

5 intermittent   

adj.间歇的，断断续续的

参考例句：

• Did you hear the intermittent sound outside?你听见外面时断时续的声音了吗？
• In the daytime intermittent rains freshened all the earth.白天里，时断时续地下着雨，使整个大地都生气勃勃了。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

8 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

10 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

11 devastate   

v.使荒芜，破坏，压倒

参考例句：

• A few days before,a fire had devastated large parts of Windsor Castle.几天前，温莎城堡的大部分被一场大火烧毁。
• Earthquakes can also cause tsunamis,which devastate coastal regions.地震还引发海啸，它直接破坏海岸地区。

12 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

13 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

15 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

16 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

17 inundating   

v.淹没( inundate的现在分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• Floodwaters are inundating states up and down the Eastern Seaboard. 洪水淹没了东部沿海各州。 来自互联网
• Their invasion of the city effecttidal wave inundating first the immigrant colonies. 他们的涌入城市，象潮头一样首先淹没了移民地带。 来自互联网

18 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

19 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

20 foresight   

n.先见之明，深谋远虑

参考例句：

• The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
• It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。

21 crustacean   

n.甲壳动物；adj.甲壳纲的

参考例句：

• Seafood is a valuable lobster crustacean section.名贵海珍品龙虾属甲壳科。
• The illustrious Cuvier did not perceive that a barnacle was a crustacean.大名鼎鼎的居维叶也未看出藤壶是一种甲壳动物。

22 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。