评论
打印
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
这里是VOA慢速英语《健康和生活方式报道》节目。
If you want your children to become ready, willing, and able gardeners, take steps early.
如果你想让你的孩子成为准备好的、自愿的、有能力的园丁，那就快点行动吧。
It is not difficult, but you might need to change your thinking about children in the garden.
这并不难，但你可能需要改变你对在花园里工作的孩子的想法。
That is one of the many suggestions made by Jeff Lowenfels.
这是杰夫·洛文费尔斯提出的众多建议之一。
He writes about gardening for the Associated Press.
他为美联社撰写有关园艺的文章。
Lowenfels says that gardeners are made, not born.
洛文费尔斯说，园丁是后天培养的，而不是天生的。
He suggests several ways to help turn a child into a gardener.
他提出了几种帮助孩子成为园丁的方法。
The first step is to get your child interested in plants.
第一步是让你的孩子对植物产生兴趣。
This, he says, is getting more difficult because of competition from electronics.
他说，由于来自电子产品的竞争，这变得越来越困难。
Taking a child to a plant store is another good place to start.
带孩子去植物商店也是一个不错的开始。
There they can smell the flowers and touch other plants.
在那里，他们可以闻到花香，也可以触摸其他植物。
Next, let your child buy a plant.
接下来，让你的孩子买一株植物。
Lowenfels says he still remembers the first plant his father helped him choose when he was six years old.
洛文费尔斯说，他仍然记得他六岁时父亲帮他选择的第一株植物。
He says that plant, called a lantana, is where his love of plants and gardening began to grow.
他说，那株名为马缨丹的植物是他对植物和园艺的热爱开始增加的地方。
Children not old enough to care for a plant by themselves, need adults to teach them.
孩子们年龄不够大，还不能自己照料植物，需要成年人来教他们。
This may be the best way to get children interested in gardening.
这可能是使孩子们对园艺产生兴趣的最好方法。
Children copy adults.
孩子们模仿成人。
So, let them see how much you enjoy working with plants.
所以，让他们看看你有多喜欢打理植物。
Another great way to lead young people into gardening is to have them grow plants from seeds.
引导年轻人对园艺感兴趣的另一个好方法是让他们从种子开始种植植物。
This is very effective when the plants are things they like to eat.
当所种的植物是他们喜欢吃的东西时，这是非常有效的。
Carrots are favorites of many children.
胡萝卜是许多孩子的最爱。
Lowenfels suggests starting with larger seeds.
洛文费尔斯建议从比较大的种子开始。
Handling very small seeds may frustrate small children.
处理非常小的种子可能会让年幼的孩子感到沮丧。
He says there are plenty of seeds big enough for little fingers to pick up and plant.
他说，有许多孩子们用小手指可以捡起来和种植的足够大的种子。
He suggests marigolds, cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers, corn, peas, and beans.
他推荐万寿菊、波斯菊、百日菊、向日葵、玉米、豌豆和豆类。
They are all also easy to start in containers as well as directly into the garden's soil.
它们也都很容易在容器中开始种，也可以直接在花园的土壤中种。
Don't forget that children like responsibility.
别忘了，孩子们喜欢承担责任。
Find a gardening task that fits their age and is just for them.
找一个适合他们年龄的、刚好适合他们的园艺任务。
They can fill containers with soil.
他们可以在容器里装满土壤。
You can show them how to water and how to place labels.
你可以教他们如何浇水和如何贴标签。
You can also show them how to provide the right amount of light.
你也可以教他们如何提供适量的光照。
Small children can help in other ways.
年幼的孩子可以在其他方面提供帮助。
Lowenfels says his first garden job at age 5 was deadheading dandelion flowers into a container.
洛文费尔斯说，他5岁时的第一份园艺工作是摘掉蒲公英的枯花，丢进容器里。
To deadhead means to take dead flowers off a plant.
“deadhead”的意思是把枯萎的花从植物上取下来。
When his own children wanted to be in the garden, he gave them the job of hunting worms.
当他自己的孩子想在花园里帮忙时，他就让他们去找虫子。
Then they moved on to deadheading dandelions and pulling weeds.
然后，他们又去摘蒲公英的枯花和拔杂草。
Most important, however, is to have the proper attitude as head gardener and teacher.
然而，作为园丁和老师，最重要的是要有正确的态度。
Any adult teaching a child about gardening, he says, needs an easygoing, "go with the flow" attitude.
他说，任何教孩子园艺的成年人都需要一种随和、“顺其自然”的态度。
If not, they could put a child off gardening forever.
如果没有，他们可能会使孩子永远失去对园艺的兴趣。
Learning is about making mistakes.
学习就是犯错误的过程。
And with gardening that means stepping on plants and accidentally pulling things that are not weeds.
而在园艺方面，这意味着踩到植物，不小心拔了不是杂草的植物。
Lowenfels shares a story of his own daughter.
洛文费尔斯分享了他女儿的故事。
At the time, she was 4 years old and was helping him prepare their flower garden for a flower show the next day.
当时，她4岁，正在帮他打理他们的花园，准备第二天的花展。
Unbeknownst to Lowenfels, she was following behind him and "cleaning up," which to her meant removing all the flowers.
洛文费尔斯不知道，她当时正跟在他身后“打扫”，对她来说，这意味着要把所有的花都摘掉。
Instead of getting angry, he simply put the flowers into containers and set them near the bare plants.
他没有生气，只是把花放进容器里，放在光秃秃的植物旁边。
"Because of a little attitude adjustment on my part," he writes, "40 years later, my daughter still loves to garden. And she is pretty good at floral arranging, too."
“因为我稍微调整了我的态度，”他写道，“40年后，我的女儿仍然热爱园艺。她也很擅长插花。”
And that's the Health & Lifestyle report. I'm Anna Matteo.
以上是本期《健康和生活方式报道》节目的全部内容。我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
