缔造柠檬水帝国

By Erin Degroff/郭玉章（译注）

□语篇导读

一周内被蜜蜂蛰两次，你或许会想要杀死所有的蜜蜂！11岁的米凯拉·厄尔默原本和你有差不多的想法，但经过一番研究之后，她发现蜜蜂对人类大有益处。于是她决定以德报怨，创造一种新的东西来保护蜜蜂。就这样，一个了不起的柠檬水公司诞生了！

11-year-old Mikaila Ulmer from Texas is building a lemonade empire,and hoping to save honey bees at the same time!

It all started when Mikaila was 4 years old and she was stung by bees twice in one week!This caused her to become very frightened whenever bees were near.So Mikaila’s parents asked her to do some research on bees.She learned that bees are unbelievably important for flowers as pollinators.

She also learned that they are dying at a rapid rate.In the past year,honey bee farmers have reported losing nearly 42%of their colony！ Many believe that this could be due to the overuse of pesticides,which can have many bad effects upon bees.

This is when she set her mind to create a product to help save bees.She decided she would sell lemonade specially made with honey and she started her company,BeeSweet Lemonade.And she takes every opportunity to tell her customers about the situations honey bees are faced with.

What began as a small operation is starting to grow.BeeSweet is planning to sell almost 140,000 bottles of lemonade this year!Mikaila and her company have also been reported in many news reports,magazines and even on Shark Tank,a TV show which focuses on hopeful companies.

Does Mikaila have any time to just be a kid?Sure!She doesn’t mind the hard work though.She says that she is happy watching people enjoy her lemonade,and that makes her want to grow her company more and more.The more people enjoy,the more they’re learning about the bees.

◆词语积淀

empire/΄empaiə/n.帝国；帝权

sting/stiŋ/v.叮；刺痛

pollinator/΄pɔlineItə/n.传粉者；传粉昆虫

at a rapid rate以很快的速率

colony/΄kɒləni/n.侨民；聚居人群

pesticide/΄pestisaid/n.杀虫剂；农药

have effect on/upon对……有影响

take every opportunity to do抓住一切机会去做

focus/΄fəukəs/v.聚焦；集中

◆典句赏析

1.Many believe that this could be due to the overuse of pesticides,which can have many bad effects upon bees.许多蜂农认为这很可能是由于过度使用杀虫剂造成的，而杀虫剂对蜜蜂有很多不良的影响。

which引导的是非限定性定语从句，先行词是前面的pesticides。due to是固定短语，意为“由于”；have effect upon也是一个固定短语，意为“对……有影响，有影响”，其中的upon可以用on替换。

【即时尝试】大家都相信成功来自于勤奋，而且勤奋可以弥补你的许多不足。

2.She says that she is happy watching people enjoy her lemonade,and that makes her want to grow her company more and more.她说她很高兴看到人们喜欢她制作的柠檬水，这会使她想要不断壮大她的公司。

动词says后面带了两个宾语从句，这两个从句都使用了“动词+宾语+宾补”的结构。第一个宾语从句中的watch sb.do sth.结构意为“看见某人做了某事”，第二个宾语从句中的make sb.do sth.结构意为“使某人做某事”。

【即时尝试】他说他会帮我制定学习计划，他还说他很高兴见我成功。

3.The more people enjoy,the more they’re learning about the bees.人们越喜欢喝她的柠檬水，他们就会对蜜蜂了解得越多。

“the+形容词（副词）比较级...，the+形容词（副词）比较级...”是固定句式，意为“越……就越……”。该句型是一个复合句，前面的句子是状语从句，后面的句子是主句。learn about是固定词组搭配，意为“了解，得知”。

【即时尝试】你练习说英语的时间越多,你的英语口语就会越好。

译文助读

来自得克萨斯州的11岁的米凯拉·厄尔默正在缔造一个柠檬水王国，同时她也希望能够挽救蜜蜂。

事情起源于米凯拉·厄尔默4岁时，一周之内她被蜜蜂蛰了两次！每次有蜜蜂靠近就会使得她变得非常恐惧。因此，米凯拉的父母就要求她对蜜蜂做一些研究。由此，她知道了蜜蜂作为传粉者对于鲜花极其重要。

她也了解到，蜜蜂正在以很快的速度死亡。蜂农报告说，最近一年他们损失了几乎42%的蜂群。许多蜂农认为这很可能是由于过度使用杀虫剂造成的，而杀虫剂对蜜蜂有很多不良的影响。

就在那时，她下定决心要创造一种产品来帮助拯救蜜蜂。她决定出售用蜂蜜特制的柠檬水，而且开办了自己的公司——甜蜜蜜柠檬水公司。她抓住一切机会向消费者宣传蜜蜂所面临的困境。

生意由起初的很小正在发展壮大。甜蜜蜜柠檬水公司今年计划销售差不多十四万瓶柠檬水！米凯拉和她的公司在很多新闻、杂志上被报道，甚至登上了《创智赢家》电视节目，这是一档聚焦于前程似锦的公司的节目。

米凯拉还有时间做小孩子吗？当然！然而她不介意辛苦的工作。她说她很高兴看到人们喜欢她制作的柠檬水，这会使她想要不断壮大她的公司。人们越喜欢喝她的柠檬水，他们就会对蜜蜂了解得越多。