VOA慢速英語: 農(nóng)場游客增加農(nóng)場收入

農(nóng)場游客增加農(nóng)場收益

As the weather cools across the United States, a growing number of Americans visit farms. They harvest apples, enjoy hay wagon rides and walk in the fields. These people are called “agri-tourists.” They improve the economy of rural areas and help farmers increase their profits.

在美國，隨著天氣逐漸變涼，參觀農(nóng)場的人數(shù)也在增長。他們摘蘋果、乘坐運(yùn)草車、在農(nóng)田散步。這些人被稱為“農(nóng)業(yè)觀光旅行者”。他們促進(jìn)了農(nóng)村的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長，增加了農(nóng)場主的收益。

"Here! This way!"

“這邊！往這邊走！”

"That way!"

“往那邊走”

School children are walking in a corn field maze. The corn is cut into tricky passageways that make it difficult to find a way out.

孩子們走在玉米迷宮里，玉米地里開辟出來的道路奇形怪狀，他們不容易找到出去的路。

"No!"

“不是！”

The children are from Yorktown Elementary School in Bowie, Maryland. They have traveled to Montpelier Farms in Prince George’s County, which is also in Maryland. The farm is about 40 kilometers from The White House.

孩子們來自馬里蘭州鮑威市的約克郡小學(xué)。他們參觀的是馬里蘭州喬治王子郡的蒙彼利埃農(nóng)場，農(nóng)場距離白宮大概有40千米。

Debbie Pierson is the student’s teacher.

黛比·皮爾森是這幫孩子的老師。

“We go on these kind of field trips so that the children will have a hands-on experience of what it’s like to be on a farm.”

“我們進(jìn)行這樣的田園旅行，可以讓孩子們親自了解到農(nóng)場上都有什么。”

“This is a good one.”

“這個(gè)很不錯(cuò)。”

“Yeah.”

“是的”

“Yeah.”

“是的”

Amy Etsy-Smith is visiting the farm with her children.

艾米·史密斯跟孩子一塊來參觀農(nóng)場。

“We come about once a year. Lots of fun, yes. The kids enjoy it. This was her favorite part, was choosing the pumpkin.”

“我們每年都會(huì)來一次，確實(shí)很有趣，孩子們非常喜歡，挑選南瓜是她最喜歡的一個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)。”

When Mike Dunn opened the family farm to agri-tourists in 2008 he had only a corn maze, a pumpkin field and hay wagon rides. But he says so many people visited that he soon increased the number of activities. He says he hopes he will someday make a larger profit from visitors than from farming.

在2008年，邁克·頓向農(nóng)業(yè)觀光者開放家庭農(nóng)場，那時(shí)候只有玉米迷宮、南瓜園和乘坐運(yùn)草車項(xiàng)目。不過他說因?yàn)橛泻芏嗳藖韰⒂^，很快他增加了活動(dòng)項(xiàng)目。他希望將來游客參觀的收益可以比農(nóng)業(yè)收入要高。

“Our agri-tourism revenue might be 30 percent of our entire farm income. We’d like to grow it to maybe one day be 60 percent.”

“農(nóng)業(yè)觀光旅游的收入占整個(gè)農(nóng)場收入的30%，我們希望將來有一天，這一比例能占到60%。”

Americans spent more than $700 million on agri-tourism activities in the United States in 2012. That is an increase of 24 percent from 2007.

2012年，美國人在農(nóng)業(yè)觀光旅游上的花費(fèi)有7億美元，比2007年增加了24%。

“Buddy” Hance is Maryland’s agriculture secretary.

漢斯是馬里蘭州農(nóng)業(yè)部長。

“Farm operators who have these operations generate (a) significant portion of their income from this opportunity. So it’s a great revenue stream for the county, states and the farmers.”

“農(nóng)場主利用農(nóng)業(yè)觀光旅游這個(gè)契機(jī)增加收入，對(duì)國家、各州和農(nóng)戶來說也是收入來源。”

In Loudon County, Virginia, there are farms where grapes are grown for use in making wine. Many of the farms let people visit, and drink the wine that is made there. Bill Hatch owns the Zephaniah Farm Vineyard. He holds wine tastings in his home.

在佛吉尼亞州的勞登郡，農(nóng)場主種植葡萄、釀酒。很多農(nóng)場主讓游客參觀葡萄園、飲葡萄酒。比爾·海池是Zephaniah Farm Vineyard葡萄園的所有者，他的品酒會(huì)在家里舉行。

“We’re doubling the number of visitors to our farm every year. We have an average of 250 people on a weekend.”

“每年來我們農(nóng)場的游客數(shù)量都在成倍增長，每周末平均會(huì)有250人來參觀、品酒。”

As more people visit farms, more farmers are adding activities in which visitors can take part. Malcolm Baldwin owns Weather Lea Farm and Vineyard in Loudoun County. Six years ago, he began letting people be married at his farm. They can also sleep at the farm overnight. Mr. Baldwin says the money he makes from these activities let him keep his small farm operating.

隨著越來越多的游客來訪，農(nóng)場主增設(shè)了一些活動(dòng)項(xiàng)目便于游客參與其中。馬克姆·白德文是勞登郡的Weather Lea 農(nóng)場和葡萄園的農(nóng)場主。六年前，他開始讓人在他的農(nóng)場舉行婚禮。他們可以在農(nóng)場過夜，白德文說從這些活動(dòng)中掙的錢可以讓他的小農(nóng)場繼續(xù)運(yùn)作。

“But without the animals, and without the vines, the wedding business wouldn’t be as profitable because people like to see the vines. They like to seethe animals, and without which I don’t think this would be as popular a place.”

“但是要是沒有這些動(dòng)物和葡萄酒，婚禮生意就沒有利潤了，因?yàn)槿藗兿矚g欣賞葡萄酒，他們喜歡看農(nóng)場的小動(dòng)物，倘若沒有這些活動(dòng)，我想這個(gè)農(nóng)場就不會(huì)那么受歡迎了。”

I’m Caty Weaver.

我是凱蒂·威弗爾。

___________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

tourist – n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

maze – n. a complicated and confusing system of connected passages

field trip – n. a visit to a place (such as a museum or zoo) that is made by students to learn about something

harvest – v. to gather (a crop)

wine – n. an alcoholic drink made from the juice of grapes

overnight – adv. for or during the entire night