VOA慢速英语:A Cool Way to Keep Food From Spoiling

A few degrees can make a big difference when it comes to food storage. Foods can go bad if they get too warm. But for many of the world's poor, finding a good way to keep food cool is difficult. Refrigerators are costly and they need electricity.
当涉及到食品储存，几度的温差也会产生很大的不同，如果太热食物就会变坏。但对世界上很多的穷人来说，很难找到一个冷藏食物的好办法。冰箱很贵，而且需要电。

Yet spoiled food not only creates health risks but also economic losses. Farmers lose money when they have to throw away products that they cannot sell quickly.
然而，食物变坏不仅会造成健康风险，也会导致经济损失。当农民不得不扔掉无法快速售出的产品时，就会造成他们的经济损失。

But in nineteen ninety-five a teacher in northern Nigeria named Mohammed Bah Abba found a solution. He developed the "Pot-in-Pot Preservation/Cooling System." It uses two round containers made of clay. A smaller pot is placed inside a larger one.
但是在1995年，尼日利亚北部一位名为Mohammed Bah Abba的教师找到了一个解决办法。他发明了“罐内罐保存/冷却系统。” 它使用粘土制成的两个圆形容器，把小罐子放到大罐子里面。

The space between the two pots is filled with wet sand. The inner pot can be filled with fruit, vegetables or drinks. A wet cloth covers the whole cooling system.
两个罐之间的空隙用湿润的沙子来填充。内罐可以装水果、蔬菜或饮料。最后用一块湿布覆盖整个冷却系统。

Food stored in the smaller pot is kept from spoiling through a simple evaporation process. Water in the sand between the two pots evaporates through the surface of the larger pot, where drier outside air is moving.
通过简单的蒸发过程，来保存小罐中的食物不会变坏。两个罐子中间沙子的水分通过大罐的表面蒸发，使大罐外部的干燥空气开始流动。

The evaporation process creates a drop in temperature of several degrees. This cools the inner pot and helps keep food safe from harmful bacteria. Some foods can be kept fresh this way for several weeks.
蒸发会使得温度下降几度，这将使得里面的那个罐子温度下降，有助于保持食品的安全，而不受有害细菌的侵入。有些食品通过这种方法能储存数周。

People throughout Nigeria began using the invention. And it became popular with farmers in other African countries. Mohammed Bah Abba personally financed the first five thousand pot-in-pot systems for his own community and five villages nearby.
全尼日利亚的人们都开始利用该发明，并且在非洲其它国家的农民中也渐渐流行起来。Mohammed Bah Abba在他的社区和附近5个村庄个人出资了提供了第一批5000个罐中罐系统。

In two thousand, the Rolex Watch Company of Switzerland honored him with the Rolex Award for Enterprise. This award recognizes people trying to develop projects aimed at improving human knowledge and well-being.
2000年，瑞士的劳力士公司授予他“劳力士雄才伟略大奖”。该奖项表彰那些为提高人类知识水平、改善人类生活而努力开发项目的人们。

A committee considers projects in science and medicine, technology, exploration and discovery, the environment and cultural history. Winners receive financial assistance to help develop and extend their projects.
该颁奖委员会认可有关科学医疗、科技、探险发现、环境以及文化传承方面的项目。获奖者会获得经济资助以帮助他们开发项目和扩大规模。

The awards are given every two years. The next awards will be presented in late two thousand twelve. Last year, Rolex launched the Young Laureates Program for the younger generation.
该奖项每两年颁发一次。接下来的颁奖将于2012年底举行。去年，劳力士推出了针对年轻一代的青年雄才计划。