3月12日

For years, most of the household waste collected in America's largest city went to a landfill on Staten Island. Staten Island is one of the five boroughs that form the city of New York. The others are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

The landfill closed in two thousand one. Now, local leaders hope Staten Island will become known for something else: fine wines. Officials expect to break ground before summer for the Tuscan Garden Vineyard Project. Wine grapes will be planted on most of one hectare in the Staten Island Botanical Garden.

Borough President James Molinaro has set aside one and one-half millions dollars for the vineyard. Officials say the project will be educational and nonprofit. It will demonstrate the process of growing grapes and making wine. It could bring visitors who now ride the Staten Island ferry from Manhattan just to see the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

Organizers say the climate is similar to other winemaking areas of New York State, like the Finger Lakes area and Long Island. For years, people have suggested that Staten Island should have a vineyard.

生词：

Borough 自治的市镇，区

Bronx 布朗克斯

Brooklyn 布鲁克林

Tuscan 托斯卡纳的

Vineyard 葡萄园

Hectare 公顷

Ferry 摆渡，渡口；渡运，运送；来往行驶

break ground: vi. 挖掘(动工,创办,起锚)

翻译：

多年以来，美国最大的城市里大部分家庭垃圾都被送到Staten岛掩埋。Staten岛是组成纽约的五个自治区之一。其他四个分别是布朗克斯、布鲁克林、曼哈顿和奎恩斯。

2001年起，垃圾掩埋被停止了。如今，当地领导者期望Staten岛可以因其他东西而闻名，比如极好的葡萄酒。政府官员准备在夏季之前开始实施托斯卡纳花园葡萄园计划。Staten岛的植物园会种植近一公顷的葡萄来酿酒。自治区领导人詹姆斯M说，这是一项教育性和非盈利性的计划。将会论证种植葡萄和酿酒的过程。