voa标准英语2008年-UN Says Potato Can Provide Food Security, Eradi

As the International Year of the Potato 2008 winds down, the United Nations is appealing for continued global attention on the role the potato can play in providing food security and eradicating¹ poverty in helping² to achieve the Millennium³ Development Goals. It said the potato is a staple⁴, nutritious⁵ food that can provide poor people with an inexpensive food that can stop hunger and keep people healthy. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.
　

Sweet potatoes, 23 Oct. 2008

To many people, the potato is an object of fun. Couch potato comes immediately to mind. But, the United Nations thinks the spud is a stud as far as it's ability to feed and preserve the planet. It goes so far as to say that the potato can help save the lives of many of the world's poor and hungry.

Paolo Garonna is Officer in Charge of the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe. He noted⁶ the U.N. General Assembly resolution that launched 2008 as the International Year of the Potato stressed the link between the potato and the Millennium Development Goals.

These, he said, include food security, poverty eradication⁷, health and safety.

"It is really a hidden treasure," said Garonna. "It is a hidden treasure from the point of view of the long-term objectives of the U.N. It is the most widely grown tuber crop. It is the fourth largest food crop after rice, wheat and corn. It is a global food staple…Potatoes are easy to grow, even in harsh environments. They have a high-energy content. They can be produced from a very small area of land. So, I think small peasants and poor families can grow potatoes. They are rich in vitamin C," he said.

Before the food crisis began, 800 million people suffered from chronic⁸ hunger and under-nutrition. The United Nations reported that figure has now risen to 923 million. While the price of most food commodities has skyrocketed, the U.N. noted the cost of potatoes has remained relatively⁹ low.

The U.N. said it is important to boost agricultural production and productivity in a sustainable manner. It said the cultivation¹⁰ of potatoes is very much part of comprehensive efforts for greater food security through productivity gains.

The U.N. European Commission for Europe has just wound up a meeting, which adopted a number of quality standards to help growers produce healthy potatoes that will give high yields and to help prevent soil contamination.

"One specific and quite important element that had been approved by the Working Party this year was the attachment¹¹ to the standard which is the list of diseases and pests," said Serguei Malanitchev, Chief of the Economic Commission for Europe's Agricultural Quality Standards Section. "This list, it has been under development for a number of years already, enumerates¹² the most important diseases and pests that attack potatoes."

UNECE officials said anyone who thinks creating standards to protect health and safety is unimportant should review the history of the Great Irish Potato Famine in the mid-19th century. They note one quarter of a million people in Ireland died of starvation because the potato was stricken with a disease known as late blight¹³.

1 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

4 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

5 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

8 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

9 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。

10 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

11 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

12 enumerates   

v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Enumerates the transaction options when sending or receiving a message. 发送或接收消息时，枚举事务处理选项。 来自互联网
• Ming as Researcher enumerates research projects conducted and those in progress. [潘氏研究]举曾经进行﹐及现在进行的研究计划。 来自互联网

13 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。