VOA标准英语2009年-Green Revolution Hero Norman Borlaug dies

American agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug died at his home in Dallas, Texas Saturday at the age of 95. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work to stop world hunger. Known around the world as the father of the Green Revolution, his effort to increase crop yields has been credited with saving millions of people from starvation.
　
Norman Borlaug

To his friends, family and colleagues, Norman Borlaug was a marvel¹, continuing to work on agricultural projects and academic pursuits as he reached the age of 95. He resided in Dallas, but taught classes during the fall semester at Texas A and M University in College Station, where an institute was established in his name.

At his 95th birthday party in Dallas last March, Borlaug spoke² to VOA about the need to continue expanding food production to meet the needs of a growing world population. "We are adding 84-million people to the population every year. We have a big job on our hands," he said.

Borlaug expressed concern about a new variety of wheat stem rust³ attacking wheat plants in Africa and advocated greater coordination⁴ of researchers around the world to stop its spread.

His advocacy of intensive, high-yield agriculture came under criticism from environmentalists in recent years, but Borlaug and those who followed his lead argued that older methods of sustainable farming could not produce enough food to prevent hunger in poorer regions of the world.

Borlaug was born in the midwestern state of Iowa in 1914 and attended the University of Minnesota agricultural school.

In 1944, when many experts warned of mass starvation in developing nations where populations were expanding faster than crop production, Borlaug began work at a Rockefeller Foundation-funded project in Mexico to increase wheat production by developing higher-yielding varieties of the crop. By 1957, the average yield per hectare of Mexican wheat had almost doubled.

Borlaug remained involved with the International Maize⁵ and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico, even after his research took him to other parts of the globe, where he replicated⁶ the success he had had in Mexico, building his reputation as father of the "green revolution" in the 1960's.

In addition to the Nobel Prize, Borlaug was honored with the highest civilian⁷ honors in the United States; in 1977 the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2007 the Congressional Gold Medal.

In a statement Saturday through Texas A and M University, Borlaug's children said "It is the hope of the Borlaug family that his life be an example to all. We would like his life be a model for making a difference in the lives of others and to bring about efforts to end human misery⁸ for all mankind".

1 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

4 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

5 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

6 replicated   

复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Later outplant the seedlings in a replicated permanent test plantation. 以后苗木出圃栽植成重复的永久性试验林。
• The phage has replicated and the donor cells have lysed. 噬菌体已复制和给体细胞已发生裂解。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。