新视野大学英语读写教程听力 第三册 te-unit07-a

[-1:-3.62]Imported roses are sold across the entire breadth of the industry,
[-1:-4.62]from big flower shops to street-corner stands.
[-1:-5.62]The trend has hurt domestic rose growers such as Johnson Flowers of California,
[-1:-6.62]considered to be this country's leading producer.
[-1:-7.62]"The rose industry in this country is going down," says Michael Johnson.
[-1:-8.62]"Our profit margin has dropped substantially."
[-1:-9.62]9  Johnson, 64, is one of four brothers who launched the company in 1948.
[-1:10.62]Second-generation family members and in-laws
[-1:11.62]now help run greenhouses in California and Colorado.
[-1:12.62]Johnson won't release exact numbers,
[-1:13.62]but he says the company sells "Several million roses" a year.
[-1:14.62]10  What's happening now is a familiar experience for Johnson.
[-1:15.62]Until the 1960s, the Johnsons grew nothing but carnations.
[-1:16.62]Then "overseas people" began unloading carnations, he says,
[-1:17.62]and virtually chased U.S. carnation growers out of business.
[-1:18.62]11  The volume of rose imports has already crushed some domestic growers.
[-1:19.62]Now, instead of fighting overseas rivals,
[-1:20.62]the Johnsons are trying to work with them.
[-1:21.62]"We have a few bulk distribution centers
[-1:22.62]where we sell some imported roses," Johnson says.
[-1:23.62]"We may also widen our business to include the service area
[-1:24.62]and be a representative for overseas flower producers."
[-1:25.62]As a replacement for lost rose sales,
[-1:26.62]the Johnsons and other growers also are starting to sell other types of flowers.
[-1:27.62]12  U.S. growers got a break this Valentine's Day;
[-1:28.62]a recent frost killed 25% of Colombia's rose crop.
[-1:29.62]But next year, the weather may not be on their side.
[-1:30.62]"It's hard to operate a business on someone else's disaster," Johnson says.
[-1:31.62]13  All the changes are making some
[-1:32.62]in the rose business long for the good old days,
[-1:33.62]when neighborhood flower shops arranged
[-1:34.62]and delivered every Valentine's Day bundle of flowers.
[-1:35.62]"It generates attention," says one rose seller.
[-1:36.62]"Somebody steps out of the elevator,
[-1:37.62]goes into the office, and puts roses on a typist's desk.
[-1:38.62]Then everybody cranes their necks to see,
[-1:39.62]and wonders who sent them to her."
[-1:40.62]14  And today, some will wonder whether they cost $10 or $100.