为何英国全民开发出了收菜技能？

疫情以来，英国的人才市场出现了一个意想不到的缺口——蔬果农场的采摘工人。在政府的号召下，许多从未从事过农活的人也在田间摘起了草莓。原来，往年英国的采摘工作大都仰赖于东欧地区的季节工，而今年疫情打破了这个传统，带来了巨大的劳工短缺。这到底是怎么一回事？一起来看今天的课程讲解。

British Workers Try Their Hand at an Unfamiliar Job: Berry Picking

英国工人尝试新活计：采摘浆果

This is an excerpt of the original article. Read the full article at the bottom of the page.

By Claire Moses and Geneva Abdul

In this pandemic year, Britons can be found in fields across the country, doing something they probably would not have imagined a few months ago: working as farm laborers, picking berries.

今年这个疫情年，英国各地的田间都可以看到英国人的身影，他们在做着几个月前可能想不到的事：做农工，采浆果。

Fruit picking in Britain is traditionally done by seasonal workers from Eastern Europe. Overall, 70,000 to 90,000 seasonal workers are needed to pick all the fruit and vegetables that grow in the country.

英国的水果采摘工作一向由东欧的季节工完成。总的来说，采摘该国种植的所有蔬果，需要七到九万名季节工。

Because of travel restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, many of those workers haven’t been able to make the trip, have been delayed or have chosen not to come. By the time the pandemic hit Europe, most of the crops had been planted. As a result of the looming labor shortage, the government started a “Pick for Britain” campaign in April to attract British workers. Prince Charles released a video in which he said the country needed “pickers who are stickers.”

为遏制新冠病毒传播，旅行受到了限制。因此，这些工人中的许多人要么无法出行，要么行程推迟，再或者决定不来了。疫情冲击欧洲时，大部分农作物已经播种。由于劳动力短缺迫在眉睫，英国政府于4月份发起了“为英国采摘”活动，以此吸引英国工人。查尔斯王子发了一条视频，在视频里他说，英国需要“能坚持的采摘者”。

Farmers say they have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of interest in these jobs. They were afraid Britons would stay away from jobs usually performed by overseas workers.

农民表示，看到这么多人对采摘工作感兴趣，他们很惊喜。他们本来担心英国人不愿意干通常由海外工人从事的工作。

But the placement of workers has its challenges. Desk work this is not: There is reaching, twisting and bending, and the need for good eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills (to avoid tearing the plant when picking a delicate strawberry).

但是工人的岗位安排并不简单。这可不是案头工作，它考验身体伸展、转动和弯腰的能力，需要良好的手眼协调能力和精细运动能力（避免在采摘娇弱的草莓时扯到植株）。

1. try one’s hand at sth if you try your hand at sth, you try to do sth for the first time to see if you like it or if you are good at it

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at writing a novel.

我一直想尝试着写一本小说。

He decided to try his hand at painting and discovered he was quite good at it.

他决定试着画画，然后发现自己挺擅长。

2. start a campaign if you start a campaign, you organize a series of activities to try to achieve sth with one aim. It can advert on TV or posters in the street

The school has started a campaign to stop litter.

这所学校开展了一项停止随手丢垃圾的活动。

The government has started a campaign to make people do more exercise.

政府开展了一项让人们多锻炼的活动。

3. looming UK /ˈluːmɪŋ/ US /ˈluːmɪŋ/ adj. if sth is looming, if situation or an event is looming it will happen soon and people are worried about it, because it’s bad. So, we only use this for bad things, sth bad that happen soon

an economic crisis is looming

= the looming economic crisis

迫在眉睫的经济危机

Her exams are looming, and she is not prepared.

她的考试快到了，但她没有准备好。

4. stick UK /stɪk/ US /stɪk/ vi. if you stick at sth you continue trying hard to do sth difficult. If sb tells you to stick at it, they are telling you to keep trying, don’t give up

I know the task is difficult. But you must stick at it if you want to succeed.

我知道这项任务艰巨，但如果你想成功，就必须坚持。

When you learn a foreign language, you will find it hard at first. But stick at it, (and) it will become easier.

在学习一门外语时，刚开始你会觉得很难，但只要坚持，之后就会变轻松。

5. pleasantly surprised if you are pleasantly surprised about sth, you are happy about an unexpected event, sth surprising happened and it made you happy

I was pleasantly surprised when she arrived at the party. I didn’t think she would come.

我原本以为她不会来，但当她出现在聚会上的时候，我喜出望外。

I was pleasantly surprised to get a B in the history exam. I didn’t expect to pass it!

我历史考试得了B，我非常惊喜，因为我原本以为我过不了！

- How was the trip?

- You know, I thought it would be boring, but I was pleasantly surprised.

- 旅行如何？

- 不瞒你说，我以为会很无聊，但我惊喜地觉得还不错。

6. stay away from if you stay away from sth, you avoid that thing, you don’t do it because you think that it will have a bad effect on you. We often use it with food, if you avoid certain types of food

I’m on a diet so I’m staying away from chocolate and cakes.

我最近在控制饮食，因此我要远离巧克力和蛋糕。

The doctor told me to stay away from spicy food for a few days.

医生告诉我说这几天不能吃辛辣食物。

7. placement UK /ˈpleɪsmənt/ US /ˈpleɪsmənt/ n. in this sentence, placement means finding people and putting those people in the right job

work placement 工作实习（means a temporary job for students to get some work experience while they are still studying on a course）

In the third year, students will have a chance to do a four-week work placement in a big company.

在大三，学生们有机会在大公司实习四周。

He had a one-month work placement in a car company.

他之前在一家车厂实习了一个月。

8. desk work this is not this is a poetic style. It sounds like old English, we don’t use it very often in modern English. It is used to show contrast

A sunny day it was not.

一个不晴朗的日子。

A happy girl she was not.

一个不开心的女孩。

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