2018年06月六级第1套仔细阅读 Passage 1 原文翻译及答案解析

The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War, is now the setting for a different contest, one that is pitting rice farmers against two enemies: the rice-eating giant apple snail, and rising sea levels. What happens here will have a bearing on the future of European rice production and the overall health of southern European wetlands.

西班牙的埃布罗三角洲，曾因西班牙内战期间的战场而闻名，如今成为另一场较量的舞台，这场较量让稻农与两个敌人对抗：以稻米为食的巨型苹果螺，以及不断上升的海平面。这里发生的事情将对欧洲稻米生产的未来和南欧湿地的整体健康产生影响。

Located on the Mediterranean just two hours south of Barcelona, the Ebro Delta produces 120 million kilograms of rice a year, making it one of the continent's most important rice-growing areas. As the sea creeps into these freshwater marshes, however, rising salinity (盐分) is hampering rice production. At the same time, this sea-water also kills off the greedy giant apple snail, an introduced pest that feeds on young rice plants. The most promising strategy has become to harness one foe against the other.

埃布罗三角洲位于地中海沿岸，巴塞罗那以南仅两小时车程，每年生产1.2亿公斤稻米，使其成为欧洲大陆最重要的稻米种植区之一。然而，随着海水渗入这些淡水沼泽，盐度上升正在阻碍稻米生产。与此同时，海水也杀死了贪婪的巨型苹果螺，这是一种外来害虫，以幼稻为食。最有前景的策略变成了利用一个敌人对抗另一个敌人。

The battle is currently being waged on land, in greenhouses at the University of Barcelona. Scientists working under the banner "Project Neurice" are seeking varieties of rice that can withstand the increasing salinity without losing the absorbency that makes European rice ideal for traditional Spanish and Italian dishes.

这场战斗目前在陆地上进行，在巴塞罗那大学的温室里。在“Neurice项目”旗帜下工作的科学家们正在寻找能够耐受日益增加的盐度，同时不失去使欧洲稻米适合传统西班牙和意大利菜肴的吸收性的稻米品种。

"The project has two sides," says Xavier Serrat, Neurice project manager and researcher at the University of Barcelona. "The short-term fight against the snail, and a mid- to long-term fight against climate change. But the snail has given the project greater urgency."

“这个项目有两面，”Neurice项目经理、巴塞罗那大学研究员Xavier Serrat说。“短期是对抗蜗牛，中长期是对抗气候变化。但蜗牛给了项目更大的紧迫性。”

Originally from South America, the snails were accidentally introduced into the Ebro Delta by Global Aquatic Technologies, a company that raised the snails for fresh-water aquariums (水族馆), but failed to prevent their escape. For now, the giant apple snail's foothold in Europe is limited to the Ebro Delta. But the snail continues its march to new territory, says Serrat. "The question is not if it will reach other rice-growing areas of Europe, but when."

这些蜗牛原产于南美洲，被全球水产技术公司意外引入埃布罗三角洲，该公司为淡水水族馆养殖蜗牛，但未能阻止其逃脱。目前，巨型苹果螺在欧洲的立足点仅限于埃布罗三角洲。但Serrat说，蜗牛继续向新领地进军。“问题不是它是否会到达欧洲其他稻米种植区，而是什么时候。”

Over the next year and a half investigators will test the various strains of saline-tolerant rice they've concocted. In 2018, farmers will plant the varieties with the most promise in the Ebro Delta and Europe's other two main rice-growing regions—along the Po in Italy, and France's Rhône. A season in the field will help determine which, if any, of the varieties are ready for commercialization.

在接下来的一年半里，研究人员将测试他们培育的各种耐盐稻米品种。2018年，农民将在埃布罗三角洲和欧洲其他两个主要稻米种植区——意大利的波河沿岸和法国的罗讷河——种植最有前景的品种。田间的一个季节将帮助确定哪些品种（如果有的话）准备好商业化。

As an EU-funded effort, the search for salt-tolerant varieties of rice is taking place in all three countries. Each team is crossbreeding a local European short-grain rice with a long-grain Asian variety that carries the salt-resistant gene. The scientists are breeding successive generations to arrive at varieties that incorporate salt tolerance but retain about 97 percent of the European rice genome (基因组).

作为欧盟资助的努力，对耐盐稻米品种的搜索正在所有三个国家进行。每个团队都在将本地欧洲短粒稻米与携带抗盐基因的亚洲长粒稻米进行杂交。科学家们正在培育连续几代，以获得既具有耐盐性又保留约97%欧洲稻米基因组的品种。