要读就读原著

一开始读的是中文版的，结果读了2节，惊讶的发现，翻译后的东西我完全不懂啊！于是，找出了英文原著，并申请了微信公众号“来E段”，坚持一周五天发布400字左右的翻译，并对CET4、CET6的重点单词和句子做了标注。感兴趣的可以关注一下。
现在刚刚完成第四章的阅读，总体来说，这本书真的是越读越兴奋，越读越感受到历史的有趣，越读越感受到现实的无奈。
关于美国的棉花种植统治了全球市场200多年的问题上，作者认为：这种比较优势不是来源于财政补贴或者廉价劳动力（比如：早期的奴隶制，内战后的佃农制，一战中的墨西哥移民），而是源自产、学、研、资本的良性循环。这种现象愈加明显，特别是美国的棉花生产已经进入全面机械化、转基因技术的时代，棉花种植不再是传统的劳动力密集型模式，而是一个全新的经济模式！具体来说：农民要购买的转基因种子，需要经过孟山都公司的授权，收获的种子需要经过孟山都公司的注册，不允许私自买卖，而且孟山都公司要求与棉农分红；农民需要一定的文化基础，因为，转基因种子的播种、施肥等环节是需要孟山都公司技术人员的全程监督和指导；因为昆虫的抗药性，孟山都公司需要不断改进转基因种子等等。
说个反面的例子，其实中国早在1996年，就已经大面积种植转基因棉种了，开始效果非常好，农药使用量锐减70%，产量还高。但是到了2002年，转基因种子却被全面叫停。因为转基因科技能做的是不断消灭农业害虫中的弱者，这种不断升级打小怪兽的模式，导致原来次要的病虫害愈加显著，进而导致农民农药的开销比最开始的时候还要多支出40%！

下面摘录一段核心的内容，帮助大家更真切、具体感受一下原文的魅力。
导读：Tshirt#37中提到，孟山都依靠转基因种子开启了全新的生产经济模式。而各种挑战接踵而来：如何减缓基因选择的速度？如何应对新的害虫类型？但是，人们已经不能回头！
难度指数:★★★★干货量:★★★★★ 字数:427

But no one—not Monsanto, not the scientists at Tech, and certainly not the cotton growers—can relax. The weeds and the insects on the one hand, and the virtuous circle on the other—continue to try to outwit one another.
A tiny percentage of bollworms are resistant to the Bt cottonseed, and of course, while their friends wither from the poison, the resistant worms will reproduce. Left to themselves, these resistant worms could likely render Bt seed useless within a few years. Monsanto's solution to this challenge was to require the growers to plant a certain number of acres as "refuge." This acreage would be planted with conventional cottonseed, and would therefore allow some bollworms to live long enough to reproduce with their resistant neighbors. Since the resistance gene is recessive, the refuge system would keep the entire bollworm population from quickly developing resistance. The virtuous circle, in its ceaseless quest to control nature, was now trying to control the sexual partners of worms. At the same time, the cottonseed was being continually reengineered to respond to insect resistance, and Monsanto was strictly monitoring and enforcing the use of refuge. The technology agreements signed by the growers gave Monsanto's "seed police" power to inspect farms and punish those either replanting seed or failing to follow the company's refuge and other specifications.（为了解决蠕虫抗药性繁殖的问题，孟山都提出了“避难所”策略——留一部分地种植普通棉种，允许一些没有抗药性的蠕虫多生存一段时间。因为抗药基因是隐性的，此举可以减缓整个种群的抗药基因选择的速度。根据协议，棉农的生产行为都要受到孟山都公司的监管。）
Other challenges—real and potential—had to be met. The control of the bollworm meant that the insects that had previously been minor pests because they had been eaten by the bollworms, could now become major pests, so new treatments were needed control these "secondary pests." Other secondary pests could become major pests because they had previously been destroyed by the pesticides that had been targeting the bollworms. Furthermore, there were concerns that some "beneficial insects"—so-called because they fed on cotton's enemies but did not damage the cotton itself—might be harmed by an interruption in their food supply. In other words, the toxins directed at cotton's enemies might indirectly harm its friends.（此外，转基因种子只控制了蠕虫的危害，这可能导致原本次要的其他害虫成为新的主要威胁。）
The scientists at Monsanto and Tech, however, remain a couple of steps ahead, and continue to meet these challenges one insect and weed at a time. For Texas cotton growers, Monsanto's price premium and restrictions have been a small price to pay for the leap forward in their battle against weeds and pests. By 2007, nearly 90 percent of U.S. cotton acreage was planted with GM seed.U.S. cotton farmers' incomes have likely increased by at least $1 billion as the result of GM technology, primarily through lower costs and higher yields.（2007年，转基因种子占据了美国近90%的市场，而棉农的总收入增长了至少10亿美元。显然，孟山都公司的分红要求以及生产监管这点代价还是值得的。毕竟，我们正在与杂草和害虫的较量中节节胜利。）