from global warming
全球气候变暖,如何“拯救”咖啡?
Coffee is a multibillion dollar industry that supports the economies of several tropical countries. Unfortunately for them, coffee bushes grow best in a rather narrow range of temperatures, so their cultivation is threatened by a changing climate.
如今,咖啡产业具有数十亿美元的市场规模,并对一些热带国家的经济起到支撑作用。然而对这些国家来说,不幸的是,咖啡树最适宜生长的温度范围相当狭窄,所以气候的变化正对咖啡的种植构成威胁。
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The existing coffee market is dominated by Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. Arabica prefers temperatures of 18-22°C. Recent work suggests that Coffea canephora does not flourish above 24°C.
目前,咖啡市场的主导品种是小果咖啡和中果咖啡。小果咖啡更适宜生长在 18~22°C 的环境里。而最近的研究表明,环境温度一旦超过 24°C,中果咖啡就无法健康生长了。
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But a chance discovery by Aaron Davis of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in Britain, may offer a way out. Dr Davis and his colleagues report that they have tracked down a type of wild coffee which is both pleasant to taste and tolerant of higher temperatures.
不过,英国皇家植物园(邱园)的亚伦·戴维斯获得的一个偶然发现也许能提供解决思路。戴维斯博士和他的同事们表示,他们已经搜寻到了一种味道又好、又更耐高温的野生咖啡。
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Dr Davis came across a paper written in 1834 by George Don, a Scottish botanist, which described a species from Sierra Leone. Don dubbed it Coffea stenophylla, and wrote that it had a flavour superior to arabica's.
戴维斯博士偶然读到了苏格兰植物学家乔治·顿写于 1834 年的一篇论文;这篇论文介绍了来自塞拉利昂的一个(咖啡)品种。顿把该品种称为狭叶咖啡;他还写道,这种咖啡的味道比小果咖啡好。
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This piqued Dr Davis's interest, for stenophylla still grows in parts of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast that have temperature ranges between 24 and 26°C. He and his colleagues also learned that stenophylla was farmed up until the 1920s, after which canephora, which had higher yields, took over.
这激起了戴维斯博士的兴趣,因为狭叶咖啡至今仍然生长在几内亚、塞拉利昂以及象牙海岸(即西非国家科特迪瓦)的部分地区,这些地区的气温在 24°C 至 26°C 之间。戴维斯博士和同事们还得知,一直到 20 世纪 20 年代,人们还在种植狭叶咖啡,但之后这种咖啡就被产量更高的中果咖啡取而代之。
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That opens two possible courses of action. One is to cultivate stenophylla directly, though this might run into the yield problem which led to its abandonment in the first place. The other is to crossbreed it with existing cultivars, to endow those high-yielding varieties with its heat tolerance.
这导向了两种潜在的行动方案。其一是直接种植狭叶咖啡,但是这种方案可能会陷入产量不足的困境,当初人们放弃这个品种也是因为产量问题。其二是将狭叶咖啡与现存的栽培品种杂交,从而赋予那些高产品种以耐高温的品质。
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Whichever path is pursued, though, the rediscovery of stenophylla's qualities offers hope not only to coffee growers, but also to the world's caffeine addicts.
不过不论走哪条路,狭叶咖啡(优良)品质的重新发掘都既给咖啡的种植者带来了希望,也让这个世界的咖啡迷们看到了曙光。
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主编:夏天
品控:Pita
审核:Felicity
重点词汇
multibillion
/ˈmʌltiˌbɪljən/
adj. 数十亿的
词根词缀:multi-(多个的)
派生词:multicolored(adj. 多色的);multicultural(adj. 多文化的)
cultivation
/ˌkʌl.təˈveɪ.ʃən/
n. 种植
相关词汇:cultivate(v. 种植)
搭配短语:to cultivate crops
近义词:grow(v. 种植)
dominate
/ˈdɑː.mə.neɪt/
v. 主导;支配,控制
英文释义:to be in control
搭配短语:to dominate a conversation
搭配短语:to dominate a market
flourish
/ˈflɝː.ɪʃ/
v.(人、植物等)茁壮成长
词源:动词 flourish 是个外来语,在拉丁文里的本意是“开花”(to flower),被借到英文之后,就引申出了“人、植物等茁壮成长”的意思。
chance
/tʃæns/
adj. 偶然的
搭配短语:a chance meeting
词性拓展:chance(n. 偶然,巧合)
搭配短语:by chance(偶然地,碰巧地)
搭配短语:to meet sb. by chance(与某人不期而遇)
track down…
追踪到……,搜寻到……
相关词汇:track(v. 追踪,跟踪)
词义辨析:track, track down
动词 track 单拿出来指“追踪,跟踪”的动作,后面搭配上 down,track down sb. / sth. 则强调追踪的结果,指“追踪到……,搜寻到……”,而且是经历了一番波折才找到的,比如,“经过长时间的搜捕,这个杀人犯终于落入法网。”是 The murderer was finally tracked down and arrested.。
tolerant
/ˈtɑː.lɚ.ənt/
adj.(植物)能耐……的;(人)宽容的
相关词汇:tolerate(v.(人)容忍;(植物)能耐……)
搭配短语:plants that tolerate drought
搭配短语:be tolerant of sth.(对……宽容的,有忍耐力的)
相关词汇:tolerance(n.(人)宽容的品质;(植物)对恶劣环境的忍耐力)
搭配短语:the tolerance of drought
come across
偶然发现,遇见
英文释义:to find / meet sth. by chance
species
/ˈspiː.ʃiːz/
n. 物种
搭配短语:endangered species
dub
/dʌb/
v. 把……称为,给……起绰号;封爵
搭配短语:to dub sb. / sth. a nickname
superior
/səˈpɪr.i.ɚ/
adj. 更优越的,更好的
词源:形容词 superior 来自拉丁文,在拉丁文里相当于 above(“在……的上方”),被借到英语里之后,superior 也就引申出了“更优越的,更好的”的意思。
搭配短语:be superior to…(比……更优越的、更好的)
例句:It is superior to every other car in the world.
pique sb.'s interest
激起某人的兴趣
同义词组:to make sb. interested
yield
/jiːld/
n. 产量;收益
词性拓展:yield(v. 产出农作物,利润等)
搭配短语:to yield crops, profits, etc.
搭配短语:high / low yield(高 / 低产量,高 / 低收益)
相关词汇:high / low-yielding(adj. 高 / 低产的,高 / 低收益的)
take over
取代,接管
搭配短语:to take over from sth.(将……取而代之)
例句:Cars gradually took over from carriages since modern times.
course
/kɔːrs/
n. 做法;课程;(飞机、船只的)航线,航道;进程,过程
搭配短语:the course followed by an aircraft or ship(n. 航线,航道)
搭配短语:the course of history(n. 进程,过程)
run into
陷入(困境);意外遇到;(车辆)意外撞上
搭配短语:run into sb.
同义表达:to meet sb. by chance;to come across sb.
例句:This car ran into the back of another car.
abandonment
/əˈbæn.dən.mənt/
n. 放弃(某事),终止(某活动);抛弃(某人)
相关词汇:abandon(v. 抛弃(某人);放弃(某事),终止(某活动))
搭配短语:to abandon sb.
英文释义:to give up sth. completely(放弃(某事))
crossbreed
/ˈkrɑːs.briːd/
v.(使)杂交
相关词汇:breed(n.(动物的)品种;v.(为了特定目的)育种)
词根词缀:cross-(交叉)
cultivar
/ˈkʌl.tə.vɑːr/
n.(植物的)栽培品种
同义词:variety
endow
/ɪnˈdaʊ/
v. 赋予……某种天赋、品质等
搭配短语:to endow A with B(把 B 赋予 A)
variety
/vəˈraɪ.ə.t̬i/
n.(植物的)栽培品种
同义词:cultivar
pursue
/pɚˈsuː/
v. 沿着(道路)前进;(不懈)追逐,追求
搭配短语:to pursue a career((不懈)追逐)
搭配短语:to pursue the girl of your dreams((不懈)追求)
addict
/ˈæd.ɪkt/
n. 对……痴迷的人
词性拓展:addicted(adj. 有瘾的,痴迷的)
搭配短语:be addicted to…(对……上瘾、痴迷)