研究人员希望让美洲栗树重现生机
📖 逐句对照翻译
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
栗子在明火上烤，
Jack Frost nipping at your nose…”
杰克·弗罗斯特轻咬着你的鼻子……
This classic song written by Bob Wells and Mel Tormé in 1944 has long brought to mind the image of Christmas for generations of Americans.
这首由鲍勃·威尔斯和梅尔·托梅于1944年创作的经典歌曲，长久以来一直让一代又一代美国人联想到圣诞节的画面。
At one time, the American Chestnut was among the most common and largest trees in the eastern United States.
美国栗树曾是美国东部最常见、最高大的树木之一。
The wood was used to cover the walls of homes and schools.
木材被用来覆盖房屋和学校的墙壁。
The leaves helped add nutrients to the soil.
落叶有助于增加土壤中的养分。
And men on street corners sold chestnuts cooked on open fire.
街角的小贩们售卖着用明火烤熟的栗子。
However, in the late 19th century, some East Asian varieties of chestnut trees brought to the U.S. carried a fungus that killed almost all American chestnuts.
然而，在19世纪末，一些带到美国的东亚品种的栗树携带了一种真菌，导致几乎所有美洲栗树死亡。
Efforts to bring back the chestnut
努力恢复栗树
The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is a non-profit organization based in the eastern state of North Carolina.
美国栗树基金会（TACF）是一个总部位于北卡罗来纳州东部的非营利组织。
It has been working with researchers for over 30 years to bring the trees back to eastern U.S. forests.
它已经与研究人员合作了30多年，旨在将这种树重新引入美国东部的森林。
American chestnuts now exist mostly as huge root systems that grow into small trees.
美国栗树现在大多以庞大的根系形式存在，这些根系长成小树。
The fungus harms them when the small trees start to develop fully.
当小树开始完全发育时，这种真菌会对它们造成伤害。
East Asian varieties, like those that brought the fungus in the first place, are resistant to the fungus.
东亚品种，就像最初带来这种真菌的那些一样，对这种真菌具有抵抗力。
Researchers have tried to save American chestnuts by cross-breeding, or mixing, them with one kind of Chinese chestnut that can fight off the fungus.
研究人员试图通过将美国栗树与中国栗树中一种能够抵抗真菌的品种进行杂交，也就是混合培育，来拯救美国栗树。
Progress has been slow, however.
然而，进展缓慢。
The trees the researchers have grown could not resist the fungus well enough to become large and healthy trees.
研究人员培育的树木无法很好地抵抗真菌，因而不能长成高大健康的树木。
That is why scientists are now trying to combine two methods: cross-breeding and genetically modifying, or changing, the genes of American chestnut trees.
这就是为什么科学家们现在正试图将两种方法结合起来：杂交育种和基因改造，或者说改变美洲栗树的基因。
They hope this will improve the tree’s ability to resist attack from the fungus.
他们希望这将提高这种树抵抗真菌侵袭的能力。
But, progress was delayed by a recent mix-up involving two varieties of genetically modified American chestnuts.
但是，最近涉及两种转基因美洲栗树的混淆延误了进展。
Scientists at the State University of New York (SUNY) had hoped to get approval for the new seed this year.
纽约州立大学（SUNY）的科学家们原本希望今年能获得这种新种子的批准。
Possible effects of climate change
气候变化的可能影响
A changing climate and warmer temperatures may also make restoring the chestnut difficult in some areas.
气候变化和气温升高也可能使某些地区恢复栗树变得困难。
A team at Virginia Tech University published a study this summer about this issue.
弗吉尼亚理工大学的一个团队今年夏天发表了一项关于这个问题的研究。
They looked at projected future climates and then measured the shortest distance the trees would have to move to survive well in a new climate.
他们研究了预测的未来气候，然后测量了树木为了在新气候中良好生存而必须移动的最短距离。
For now, researchers know their work might not be successful in their lifetimes.
目前，研究人员知道他们的工作可能在他们有生之年无法取得成功。
The process has been slow.
这个过程一直很缓慢。
And two of the first chestnut restoration experts, Bill Powell and Chuck Maynard, both died in the past 13 months.
而首批栗树恢复专家中的两位，比尔·鲍威尔和查克·梅纳德，都在过去的13个月里相继离世。
Linda McGuigan helped support Powell’s and Maynard’s research for years at SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
琳达·麦吉根在纽约州立大学环境科学与林业学院多年来一直支持鲍威尔和梅纳德的研究。
“The project moves on, lives on. And we honor their memory,” McGuigan said.
“这个项目继续推进，生生不息。我们以此纪念他们，”麦吉根说道。
“I want to do something good for the future, for my children.”
我想为未来、为我的孩子们做些有益的事。
I’m Andrew Smith.
我是安德鲁·史密斯。
Marina Walling wrote this story for The Associated Press.
玛丽娜·沃林为美联社撰写了这篇报道。
Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.
安德鲁·史密斯为VOA英语学习频道改编了它。
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