The Farming of Oil Palm 油棕櫚的種植

托福 TPO 071 考題符合托福 iBT 整合寫作的標準格式：在閱讀內容部分，作者提出三種理由用以提倡增加種植油棕櫚樹。而在講課內容部分，則對此三項理由一一加以反駁。

在閱讀內容方面出現一些專業術語，但是都不難理解，因為文章都有附上補充說明。而在講課內容中，均沿用閱讀段落的術語，並沒有出現新的專業詞彙，所以不會有聽力部分遭到突襲的憂慮。

整篇難度屬於中等程度。只要能夠掌握整合寫作的聽力技巧、寫作格式、並通曉評分原則，應該能夠拿到至少 25 分。

本份考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀與聽力的理解能力。

Reading 閱讀內容

1.  

   Palm oil, a liquid produced by palm trees and used for cooking and other purposes, has become very popular in recent years. As a result, the palm oil industry has had a dramatic impact on the economies and landscapes of countries in which it operates. When asked to make a recommendation about whether expanding palm oil production even more would be good or bad for the environment and the economy, many experts have stated that palm oil production has several positive effects and should be expanded.

   點此看中文翻譯

   棕櫚油是一種由棕櫚樹生產的液體，用於烹飪和其他用途，近年來已變得非常流行。因此，棕櫚油行業對其所在國家的經濟和景觀產生了巨大的影響。當被要求就進一步擴大棕櫚油生產對環境和經濟是好是壞提出建議時，許多專家表示，棕櫚油生產有幾個積極作用，應該擴大。

2.  

   First, the experts point out that palm tree farming helps preserve the world’s forests. Palm trees have a very high oil yield – far higher than that of other crops. For this reason, farming palm trees requires less land than farming other crops to produce the same economic value. Since palm tree farms require relatively little land (compared with many other crops), palm tree plantations require the clearing of smaller areas of forest than many other crops would. In other words, palm tree farms cause less deforestation and therefore have a lesser negative impact on the environment than other types of crops.

   點此看中文翻譯

   首先，專家們指出，棕櫚樹的種植有助於保護世界上的森林。棕櫚樹的產油量非常高，遠遠高於其他作物。由於這個原因，種植棕櫚樹比種植其他作物需要更少的土地來產生同樣的經濟價值。由於棕櫚樹農場需要的土地相對較少（與許多其他作物相比），棕櫚樹種植園需要清除的森林面積比許多其他作物要小。換句話說，棕櫚樹農場造成的森林砍伐較少，因此對環境的負面影響比其他類型的農作物要小。

3.  

   Second, palm oil is sometimes used to produce biodiesel, a fuel for motor vehicles. Using biodiesel in vehicle engines create fewer carbon emissions than using traditional fossil fuels does. Carbon emissions are known to contribute to climate change. Biodiesel from palm oil, when used as an alternative to fossil fuels, can help reduce this effect.

   點此看中文翻譯

   第二，棕櫚油有時被用來生產生質柴油，這是一種機動車輛燃料。在汽車發動機中使用生質柴油比使用傳統的化石燃料產生的碳排放更少。眾所周知，碳排放是導致氣候變化的原因。來自棕櫚油的生質柴油，當作為化石燃料的替代品使用時，可以幫助減少這種影響。

4.  

   Third, palm oil production helps reduce poverty among small-scale farmers. About 50 percent to 70 percent of land used for farming in palm-oil-producing countries is actually cleared by small-scale, low-income family farmers. Growing palm trees is usually more profitable for such farmers than growing other crops, and it has in many cases helped improve the farmers’ standard of living.

   點此看中文翻譯

   第三，棕櫚油生產有助於減少小規模農民的貧困。在棕櫚油生產國，大約 50% 到 70% 的耕地實際上是由小規模、低收入的家庭農民開墾的。對這些農民來說，種植棕櫚樹通常比種植其他作物更有利可圖，而且在許多情況下，它有助於提高農民的生活水平。

Lecture 講課內容

提供講課內容的中文翻譯有兩個目的。首先是幫助聽力有困難的同學能夠快速且精確地了解原文的意思。而更重要的原因是，提供給練習英語口語表達的讀者訓練的素材。

由於每個人的知識範疇各不相同，因此碰到超出自己專長的領域，常常會啞口無言，無話可說。這對練習英語表達是一項非常難以克服的障礙。所以參考托福整合寫作英語原稿，既可以讓自我練習英語聽力或會話時有貼切適當的素材，同時也能學些道地的表達方式，實是一舉數得。

使用上，可以在聽完一、兩次原始音檔之後，試著一邊看中文譯稿，一邊流利、正確地用英語說出文中的內容。多次練習之後，未來自然能夠在碰到同樣主題時與人侃侃而談。

1.  

   Now, listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.

   Producing palm oil may have some benefits, but it also have some very serious negative effects and should not be expanded.

   點此看中文翻譯

   生產棕櫚油可能有一些好處，但它也有一些非常嚴重的負面影響，不應擴大。

2.  

   First, it’s true that palm trees require relatively less land than some other crops. However, that doesn’t mean that palm oil farming is helping us preserve the world’s forests. You see, palm oil has become extremely desirable for use in food and cosmetics products, much more desirable than other vegetable oil. As a result, the worldwide demand for palm oil has grown very fast in recent years. To keep up with the growing demand, farmers have to clear more and more forested land. In just one country an area of forest equivalent to about seven thousand square meters is cleared very minute to make room for the palm trees. In short, the growing demand for palm oil has led to an increased rate of deforestation worldwide.

   點此看中文翻譯

   首先，棕櫚樹確實比其他一些作物需要相對較少的土地。然而，這並不意味著棕櫚油種植有助於我們保護世界的森林。要知道，棕櫚油在食品和化妝品中的應用已經變得非常受歡迎，比其他植物油更受歡迎。因此，近年來，全世界對棕櫚油的需求增長非常快。為了跟上不斷增長的需求，農民不得不清除越來越多的林地。僅在一個國家，為了給棕櫚樹騰出空間，每分鐘就有相當於七千平方米的森林面積就被清除了。簡而言之，對棕櫚油不斷增長的需求導致了全世界森林砍伐率的增加。

3.  

   Second, using palm oil to make biodiesel. It’s true that using biodiesel in vehicle engines produces fewer emissions than using other fuels. However, the processes involved in growing the palms generate a lot of additional carbon emissions. To prepare land for palm tree farming, farmers have to clear the land first. That means that they burn the vegetation that existed on the land before. This includes burning plant material called peat. Peat is a type of material that stores large amounts of carbon. Burning peat creates huge quantities of carbon emissions. If you include the emissions from burning peat, using biodiesel might actually involve more carbon emissions than using fossil fuels.

   點此看中文翻譯

   第二，用棕櫚油來製造生質柴油。在汽車發動機中使用生質柴油確實比使用其他燃料產生較少的排放。然而，種植棕櫚樹的過程會產生大量的額外碳排放。為了準備種植棕櫚樹的土地，農民必須首先清理土地。這意味著他們要燒掉之前存在於土地上的植被。這包括燃燒被稱為泥炭的植物材料。泥炭是一種能儲存大量碳的材料。燃燒泥炭會產生大量的碳排放。如果包括燃燒泥炭的排放，使用生質柴油實際上可能比使用化石燃料涉及更多的碳排放。

4.  

   Third, it’s true that small-scale family farmers clear a lot of land to start palm tree farms. But these small-scale farmers often don’t control the farms for very long. Large-scale farming companies often see a great commercial opportunity in palm growing. So they obtain the land and the farms for themselves and start controlling the profit. The small-scale farmers lose control and often get very little in return.

   點此看中文翻譯

   第三，小規模的家庭農場主確實開墾了大量的土地來開辦棕櫚樹農場。但是這些小規模的農民往往不能長久地控制農場。大規模的農業公司往往在棕櫚樹種植中看到了巨大的商業機會。因此，他們為自己取得土地和農場，並開始控制利潤。小規模的農民失去了控制權，而且往往只得到很少的回報。