高中英语 voa常速听力2012年09月合辑文本european-farmers-work-to-boost-global-grain-supplies素材.docVIP

VOA常速英语听力2012年09月合辑（文本）：European-Farmers-Work-to-Boost-Global-Grain-Supplies LONDON ?a Theres no need for panic over global food prices, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Jose Graziano da Silva, said last week. They were soothing words at a time when food prices are volatile and drought in many of the worlds top grain-producing regions has raised fears over food security. Britain has just been hit with its wettest summer in 100 years and thats been bad news for a lot of farmers, especially inland and in the north. But in the eastern pocket of Suffolk, wheat yields have been good. Farmer Robert Raven has already harvested his wheat and says the quality seems to be high. He says although agriculture here does suffer shocks, on the whole farmers in western Europe tend to get by. Europe has a less variable harvest over the years purely because our weather is more predictable. So although we do suffer from volatility ourselves its certainly not the extremes you get elsewhere, Raven said. When we talk about a bad year its nothing compared to what you get in other parts of the world where they get complete crop failures because of the weather. The European Union is one of the worlds top grain producers and a key supplier to neighboring regions in the Middle East and North Africa. So its good news that, although its harvest is expected to be slightly lower than normal this year, its a relatively small shortfall. Elsewhere its a different story. In the United States, the worlds leading corn producer, the worst drought in over half a century has depleted crops. The government estimates this years production to be the lowest in the past six years. In Russia, another top grain supplier, a heat wave has slashed the wheat harvest by around one-quarter. The poor harvests are causing grain prices to spike and raising concerns about a global food crisis. Peter Hazell, an expert on world food problems at Imperial College London, says relatively good yie