2007年VOA标准英语-Houston Livestock, Rodeo Show Draw Big Internat

By Greg Flakus
Houston, TX
29 March 2007
 
Watch Houston LIvestock¹ Show

Rodeos and livestock shows are a common part of life in many parts of the United States, but if there is one special event of this kind, it is the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which just ended its 75th annual run.  As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, there is a lot of fun to be had at the show, but it is also a place for some serious business.

For three weeks every year, Houston's Reliant stadium and event center is taken over by animals of all kinds, even some that are not real.

 
Cattle
But the main stars are the various breeds of cattle.

Breeders come from around the world to find stock that can enhance their herds².

Cattle breeder Shep Batson brought some of his prize stock of Brahman cattle over from his farm in Wiggins, Mississippi so that he could show them off to potential foreign buyers. "That is why we are here in Houston, because we have a lot of international guests that come here and they see what you have and if they like it then it goes from there."

Sales of live animals to foreign visitors have been reduced somewhat by bans on U.S. cattle imports imposed by some nations after the most recent mad cow disease scare. 

 
Shep Batson
Shep Batson says there are other ways for breeders to deal. "The borders are not open yet for live animals, but you can ship semen and embryos³ across the borders. So that is where most of our foreign sales is, or all of our foreign sales right now is in semen and embryos," he explains.

People came from more than 50 nations for this year's Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The 2,000-some international visitors spent more than $5 million on livestock alone.

Here, they can also meet people from rural America and see some of their prize stock up close.

 
Paul Maulsby
Paul Maulsby is director of cattle operations at Texas A & M University. He is one of the expert judges who determine which animals go away with prizes. He looks for proper bone structure, musculature and other attributes.

He says the reputation of the Houston show is growing worldwide. "In terms of foreign representation of people, there is probably more here than at any other stock show in the United States of America," he asserts. "You will see people from South America, Australia, different parts of Asia, Scotland, England, all over."

Maulsby says Houston is also a good place for breeders to find cattle with the genetic⁴ makeup⁵ they need to keep their herds hardy⁶ and profitable. "If you look at it from a perspective of open cattle or cattle that are owned by breeders, it is an opportunity to come to a location, where there are large groups of people that are looking at genetics to put into their own program," he explains.

Animals that win prizes here can command prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, making the trip to Houston well worthwhile for many farm and ranch⁷ families.

1 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

2 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

3 embryos   

n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段，而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
• Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

5 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

6 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

7 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。