The risks agriculture faces in developing countries
site: The risks agriculture faces in developing countries
At the same time, cultural values are highly entrenched in food and agricultural systems worldwide.
entrenched /ɪnˈtrentʃt/ adjective. 确立的
- to be entrenched in sth. 牢固确立于某物中
Farmers everywhere face major risks; including extreme weather, long-term climate change, and price volatility in input and product markets.
volatility /ˌvɑː.ləˈtɪl.ə.t̬i/ noun. 挥发性; 变化无常; 不稳定
However, smallholder farmers in developing countries must in addition deal with adverse environments, both natural, in terms of soil quality, rainfall, etc. and human, in terms of infrastructure, financial systems, markets, knowledge and technology.
adverse /ædˈvɝːs/ adjective. 不利的
Counter-intuitively, hunger is prevalent among many smallholder farmers in the developing world.
counter-intuitively /ˌkaʊntər ɪnˈtuːɪtɪvli/ adverb. 反直觉地
prevalent /ˈprev.əl.ənt/ adjective. 流行的
On the question of mitigating the risks farmers face, most essayists called for greater state intervention.
mitigating /ˈmɪt̬.ə.ɡeɪ.t̬ɪŋ/ adjective. 起缓和作用的
intervention /ˌɪn.t̬ɚˈven.ʃən/ noun. 介入
Sophia Murphy, senior advisor to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, suggested that the procurement and holding of stocks by governments can also help mitigate wild swings in food prices by alleviating uncertainties about market supply.
procurement /prəˈkjʊr.mənt/ noun. 购买
alleviate /əˈliː.vi.eɪt/ verb. 缓解
Some participating authors and commentators argued in favour of community- based and autonomous risk management strategies through collective action groups, co-operatives or producers’ groups.
autonomous /ɑːˈtɑː.nə.məs/ adjective. 自治的
Some participants explained that market price volatility is often worsened by the presence of intermediary purchasers who, taking advantage of farmers’ vulnerability, dictate prices.
dictate /ˈdɪk.teɪt/ verb. 支配; 命令
The Lost City
site: The Lost City
the exploration of the remote hinterland to the west of Cusco, the old capital of the Inca empire in the Andes mountains of Peru.
hinterland /ˈhɪn.t̬ɚ.lænd/ noun. 偏僻地区
Cusco lies on a high plateau at an elevation of more than 3,000 metres, and Bingham’s plan was to descend from this plateau along the valley of the Urubamba river, which takes a circuitous route down to the Amazon and passes through an area of dramatic canyons and mountain ranges.
plateau /plætˈoʊ/ noun. 高原; 稳定期
- to reach a plateau 稳定下来
circuitous /sɝːˈkjuː.ə.t̬əs/ adjective. 迂回的
canyon /ˈkæn.jən/ noun. 峡谷
When Bingham and his team set off down the Urubamba in late July, they had an advantage over travellers who had preceded them: a track had recently been blasted down the valley canyon to enable rubber to be brought up by mules from the jungle.
preceded /priːˈsiːd/ verb. 在前面; 先于
rubber /ˈrʌb.ɚ/ noun. 天然橡胶
mule /mjuːl/ noun. 骡
The day began slowly, with Bingham trying to arrange sufficient mules for the next stage of the trek.
trek /trek/ verb. 长途跋涉
The morning was dull and damp, and Bingham also seems to have been less than keen on the prospect of climbing the hill.
dull /dʌl/ adjective. 暗淡的
keen /kiːn/ adjective. 渴望的 +1
Then there’s a sense of mounting discovery as he comes across great sweeps of terraces, then a mausoleum, followed by monumental staircases and, finally, the grand ceremonial buildings of Machu Picchu.
sweep /swiːp/ noun. 绵延弯曲的地带
terrace /ˈter.əs/ noun. 梯田; 庭院
mausoleum /ˌmɑː.zəˈliː.əm/ noun. 陵墓
staircase /ˈster.keɪs/ noun. 楼梯
ceremonial /ˌser.ɪˈmoʊ.ni.əl/ adjective. 礼仪的
It seemed like an unbelievable dream the sight held me spellbound.
spellbound /ˈspel.baʊnd/ adjective. 入迷的
We should remember, however, that Lost City of the Incas is a work of hindsight, not written until 1948, many years after his journey.
hindsight /ˈhaɪnd.saɪt/ noun. 事后聪明
He wondered whether it could have been the birthplace of the very first Inca, Manco the Great, and whether it could also have been what chroniclers described as ‘the last city of the Incas’.
chronicler /ˈkrɑː.nɪ.klɚ/ noun. 编年史家
This term refers to Vilcabamba the settlement where the Incas had fled from Spanish invaders in the 1530s.
invader /ɪnˈveɪ.dɚ/ noun. 侵略者
One question that has perplexed visitors, historians and archaeologists alike ever since Bingham, is why the site seems to have been abandoned before the Spanish Conquest.
perplex /pɚˈpleks/ verb. 使困惑 +1
The Benefits of Being Bilingual
site: The Benefits of Being Bilingual
Some of the most compelling evidence for this phenomenon, called ‘language co-activation’, comes from studying eye movements.
compelling /kəmˈpel.ɪŋ/ adjective. 引人入胜的
As a result, the constant juggling of two languages creates a need to control how much a person accesses a language at any given time.
juggling /ˈdʒʌɡ.lɪŋ/ noun. 同时应对
When monolingual and bilingual adolescents listen to simple speech sounds without any intervening background noise, they show highly similar brain stem responses.
adolescent /ˌæd.əˈles.ənt/ noun. 青少年
Research also indicates that bilingual experience may help to keep the cognitive mechanisms sharp by recruiting alternate brain networks to compensate for those that become damaged during aging.
alternate /ˈɑːl.tɚ.neɪt/ verb. 交替的
In a study of over 200 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative brain disease, bilingual patients reported showing initial symptoms of the disease an average of five years later than monolingual patients.
degenerative /dɪˈdʒen.ə.rə.t̬ɪv/ adjective. 变性的
symptom /ˈsɪmp.təm/ noun. 症状
This suggests that for very young children, as well as for older people, navigating a multilingual environment imparts advantages that transfer far beyond language.
impart /ɪmˈpɑːrt/ verb. 传授