2024年12月四级第2套仔细阅读 Passage 2 原文翻译及答案解析

Chocolates save us from many things, especially emotional distress. They comfort us in times of trouble, calming down a racing heart by channelling happy calories inside us. We all have faith in chocolates to delight us in an instant!

巧克力能拯救我们免于许多事情，尤其是情感困扰。它们在困难时期安慰我们，通过将快乐的卡路里注入我们体内来平息心跳加速。我们都相信巧克力能在瞬间带给我们快乐！

Recently, chocolate lovers were heartbroken as scientists claimed that they can become extinct by 2050! But hey, we have some happy news for you. Scientists can still help save chocolates from dying out! If you are not aware as to why scientists made the statement about the death of this wonderful thing, let us tell you the facts. Chocolate tree, whose seeds are used to make chocolate, grow in the tropical plant world and require very specific weather conditions to prosper.

最近，巧克力爱好者们心碎了，因为科学家声称巧克力可能在2050年前灭绝！但是，嘿，我们有一些好消息给你。科学家们仍然可以帮助拯救巧克力免于灭绝！如果你不知道为什么科学家们会发表关于这个美妙事物死亡的声明，让我们告诉你事实。可可树，其种子用于制作巧克力，生长在热带植物世界中，需要非常特定的天气条件才能茁壮成长。

Now, fifty percent of the world's cocoa (可可) beans come from two countries in West Africa: Cote Tvoire and Ghana. Scientists believe that both of these countries will experience a 3.8°F temperature increase by 2050 due to global warming, endangering the cacao(可可树)farms in the rainforests. These farms will then have to be shifted to cooler mountainous areas, which are the natural habitat of wildlife. This will lead to some tough decisions: whether to grow chocolate or save wildlife.

现在，世界上百分之五十的可可豆来自西非的两个国家：科特迪瓦和加纳。科学家们认为，由于全球变暖，这两个国家到2050年将经历3.8华氏度的温度升高，危及雨林中的可可树农场。这些农场将不得不转移到更凉爽的山区，那里是野生动物的自然栖息地。这将导致一些艰难的决定：是种植巧克力还是拯救野生动物。

Unfortunately, the crisis of global warming has already had a serious negative impact on cacao farms' yields, leading to the prices of chocolates skyrocketing.

不幸的是，全球变暖的危机已经对可可树农场的产量产生了严重的负面影响，导致巧克力价格飙升。

Scientists, however, are trying to find a long term and eco friendly solution to this plight! They are trying to modify the species with a gene-editing technology, which will transform the seedlings into a species that survives even in a drier and warmer climate.

然而，科学家们正在努力寻找一种长期且环保的解决方案来应对这一困境！他们正在尝试用基因编辑技术修改该物种，这将把幼苗转变为能在更干燥和更温暖气候中生存的物种。

According to a report by The Business Insider, in the University of California's new bio-sciences building, tiny green cacao seedlings are lined up in refrigerated rows for an experiment by using a technology called CRISPR. By manipulating the DNA of plants, this technology is already being used across the world to make plants tougher and cheaper. Similarly, in this unconventional experiment, scientists will make tiny, precise changes to the DNA of the seedlings to make the cocoa crops survive in warmer and drier climates.

据《商业内幕》报道，在加利福尼亚大学的新生物科学大楼里，微小的绿色可可幼苗排成冷藏的行列，用于一项使用名为CRISPR的技术进行的实验。通过操纵植物的DNA，这项技术已经在世界范围内被用来使植物更坚韧、更便宜。同样，在这个非传统的实验中，科学家们将对幼苗的DNA进行微小而精确的改变，以使可可作物在更温暖和更干燥的气候中生存。