VOA慢速英語(yǔ): 加納大街上的竹子腳踏車（雙語(yǔ)）

加納大街上的竹子腳踏車

Bicycle frames are usually made out of materials like carbon fiber, steel or aluminum. But in rural Ghana, a businessman has developed another way to make bicycles from a natural product -- bamboo.

通常自行車的框架結(jié)構(gòu)是由碳纖維、鋼管或者鋁合金構(gòu)成。但是在加納的鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū)，一個(gè)商人發(fā)明了一種新方法，用自然原料——竹子來(lái)造自行車。

Bamboo does not get much respect in Ghana. Farmers think of bamboo as an unwanted plant that needs to be cleared from their land. Construction workers use it to support buildings while they are being built.

在加納，竹子并不太受人重視，農(nóng)民認(rèn)為竹子是他們最不想要的植物，想把它們從土地上清理掉。建筑工人用竹子來(lái)支撐建造的房子。

But Kwabena Danso thinks bamboo is much more valuable. He operates a business called Booomers International. His company makes bicycle frames out of bamboo. The wooden bike parts are sent from Mr. Danso’s village to other countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.

但是卡本納·丹斯奧認(rèn)為竹子確實(shí)很有價(jià)值，他經(jīng)營(yíng)著一家叫做布瑪國(guó)際（Booomers International），他的公司用竹子制造自行車車架。丹斯奧村莊生產(chǎn)的木制自行車銷往其它國(guó)家，包括：德國(guó)、荷蘭和澳大利亞。

Kwabena Danso says bamboo can help a country like Ghana in many ways. He says he wants to, in his words, “get the people to know that there’s a great advantage to bamboo.”

卡本納·丹斯奧說(shuō)竹子在很多方面都能夠幫助像加納這樣的國(guó)家。用他的話說(shuō)，他想讓人們知道竹子有很大的用處。

Young men from nearby villages come to work at Booomers International. They sand, glue and connect the bamboo frames. The company makes about50 of the bicycle frames each month. The bamboo is grown locally. The glue to hold the parts together is made of flour from the cassava plant.

丹斯奧村莊附近的年輕人在布瑪國(guó)際工作，他們把竹子打磨、粘合、連接成一個(gè)車架。公司每個(gè)月生產(chǎn)大概50個(gè)自行車車架。竹子是當(dāng)?shù)厣L(zhǎng)的，用來(lái)粘合各部分零件的膠水是木薯粉做成的。

Mr. Danso says Booomers International provides good jobs to young men like Abdul Razak. He serves as a foreman or supervisor for the company. Mr.Razak says that without this job, he would still be living at home with his parents. He adds that the job helps him a lot.

丹斯奧說(shuō)布瑪國(guó)際為年輕人提供了不錯(cuò)的工作機(jī)會(huì)，阿卜杜拉·拉扎克就是其中一員。他是公司的監(jiān)工，拉扎克說(shuō)要是沒(méi)有這份工作，他還跟父母住在一起呢，這份工作給了他很大幫助。

Kwabena Danso has sold only a few of his bamboo bicycle frames within Ghana. Walter Kudzodzi is one of his customers. He bought a bicycle earlier this year. Mr. Kudzodzi says his bike gets a lot of attention when he rides around his neighborhood.

在加納國(guó)內(nèi)，丹斯奧只銷售了一些自行車車架。瓦爾特·庫(kù)多茲是他的一個(gè)客戶，庫(kù)多茲今年早些時(shí)候購(gòu)買了一輛自行車，他說(shuō)騎車走在路上的時(shí)候，引來(lái)很多人注目。

“For example on Saturday, I rode about five kilometers around my neighborhood and everywhere I went, people were just looking at me. And once and a while you hear the exclamation, ‘Hey, it’s made out of bamboo, hey, that’s the bamboo bicycle,’ yeah know, and anytime I stopped to take a breather, people come close to me and say, ‘Wow, we heard about this, but this is the first time we’ve seen it. Is it functional?’ Does it work? I say yeah, try it.”

“在周六，在街區(qū)里騎行了5千米，走到哪兒，人們都會(huì)看著我，會(huì)聽(tīng)到他們說(shuō)：‘嘿，那個(gè)車子用竹子造的，嘿，那是個(gè)竹子腳踏車。’只要我停下來(lái)休息時(shí)，就會(huì)有人靠近，跟我說(shuō)：‘哇，我們聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)竹制自行車，但是這是第一次見(jiàn)，怎么樣？車子各個(gè)功能良好嗎？’我說(shuō)是的，你可以試試”

Mr. Danso’s business has received lots of orders for his bicycles. He says Booomers is ready for expansion. He hopes to have more of his bamboo frames not just in foreign countries, but also on the roads of Ghana.

丹斯奧的公司收到很多腳踏車訂單。他說(shuō)布瑪公司需要擴(kuò)大規(guī)模。他希望他的竹子車架的自行車不僅能銷往外國(guó)，還能出現(xiàn)在加納的路上。

I’m Jonathan Evans.

我是喬納森·伊凡斯。

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Words in This Story

bamboo – n. a tall plant with hard hollow stems that are used for building and to make furniture, tools, etc.

beneficial – adj. producing good or helpful results or effects: producing benefits

exclamation – n. a sharp or sudden cry: a word, phrase, or sound that expresses a strong emotion

expansion – n. the act of becoming bigger or of making something bigger