It is 2040 and Britain’s green and pleasant countryside is populated by robots. We have vertical farms of leafy salads, fruit and vegetables, and livestock is protected by virtual fencing. Changing diets have seen a decline in meat consumption while new biotech production techniques not only help preserve crops but also make them more nutritious.

populate if an area is populated by a particular group of people, they live there 居住于，充满......（人群） 一般用被动形式：be populated by......

densely/heavily/highly/thickly populated (=with a lot of people)人口密集的

biotech 生物科学技术 这个词是由biology和technology合成而来。相关词汇：biochemistry 生物化学 biosphere生物圈 biodiversity生物多样性

在2040年，英国的绿色和宜人的乡间村落将满是是机器人。我们生产出绿叶沙拉，水果和蔬菜的垂直农场，牲畜都在虚拟围栏的保护下。饮食的变化导致肉类消费量下降，而新的生物技术生产技术不仅有助于保护作物，还能使其更有营养。

This is the picture painted in a report from the National Farmers Union which attempts to sketch out what British food and farming will look like in 20 years’ time.

picture 这个单词相信大家都很熟悉，表示图画，照片的意思。在这里它表示某种描述在我们头脑中形成的画面，也可以指代某件事情发生的状况。在写作中可以经常使用到类似表达。可以用短语: see the picture, paint a picture, build up a picture等等。

The writer paints a gloomy picture of the economy. 作者把经济状况描绘得一片惨淡。 

The police are trying to build up a picture of what happened. 警方正试图掌握事情发生的经过。

sketch out 概述，简述  sketch out the picture of......勾画出....的图景。

这是全国农民联盟（National Farmers Union）的一份报告中所描绘出的景象，该报告试图勾画出20年后英国食品农业的模样。

“The Future of Food 2040 report is a catalyst to encourage us all to start the debate about our food and our future so we can plan ahead,” said Andrea Graham, NFU’s head of policy services and author of the report, who interviewed 50 experts across Britain’s food chain to gauge their views. “It is also a reminder for government, at a critical time in British history, to make domestic food production a strategic priority in all policy making.”

catalyst 催化剂 一般用来比喻促进事物发展的人或物

This policy is a catalyst for the better economy.这项政策能促进经济的发展。【写作必备】

remindersomething that makes you think about or remember sb/sth, that you have forgotten or would like to forget 引起回忆的事物；提醒人的事物

可以用于短语中 stn serve as a reminder of.....  The incident served as a timely reminder of just how dangerous mountaineering can be. 这次事故及时地提醒了人们登山运动有时会多么危险。

“2040年的食物未来报告将会更加鼓励我们所有人开始有关我们的食物和未来的辩论，因此我们可以提前开始计划，”全国农民联盟NFU政策服务负责人兼报告作者格雷厄姆（Andrea Graham）说，他采访了50位横跨英国的食物链的专家来衡量他们的观点。“这也提醒政府，在英国历史上的关键时刻，将国内粮食生产作为所有政策制定的战略重点。”

While some of the predictions may seem a long way off, others are already in their infancy. “Even now, there are technologies being developed that can care for crops on a plant-by-plant basis or control the grazing of cattle without physical fences, and by 2040 this technology will be commonplace in farming,” Graham said.

a long way off 相当于a long way to go，还有很长的路要走

in one‘s infancy 初期，起步期  Genetic engineering is still in its infancy. 基因工程学仍处于起步阶段。

commonplace常见的  相似表达 widespread common

虽然一些预测看起来似乎还有很长的路要走，但其他预测已经处于起步阶段。“即使是现在，正在开发的技术可以用来照顾每一株的作物，或者在没有物理围栏的情况下控制牛的放牧，到2040年，这种技术在农业中将是司空见惯的，”格雷厄姆说。

The British farming sector will need to be more efficient if it is to meet a key NFU goal of producing net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. “Over the next 20 years we will face potentially seismic changes in all aspects of society,” Graham added. “An increase in the global population and the need to mitigate climate change will provide opportunities for British food and farming to increase productivity and reduce its impact on the environment.”

meet a key goal  实现关键目标

seismic changes 巨大的变化。相关表达 seismic change/shift/revolution

seismic也可以表示地震的，地震引起的 seismic activity 地震活动

如果到2040年要实现NFU的关键目标：实现零温室气体排放，则英国农业将需要更高效。“在未来20年，我们将面临社会各方面潜在的剧烈变化，”格雷厄姆补充道。。“全球人口的增加和减缓气候变化的必要性将为英国的粮食和农业提供机会，以提高生产力并减少其对环境的影响。”

Another key trend will be 3D-printed food, which will produce “intricate sculptures out of everyday foodstuffs that will look good and will also be used to improve the convenience and the nutritional value of meals”. This will enable more food to be produced on demand, reducing wastage.

另一个主要趋势是3D打印食品，它像制作雕塑一样生产出日常食品，外观很好看，也将用于改善膳食的便利性和营养价值。这将使更多的食物按需生产，减少浪费。

With the UK on course to be the most obese nation in Europe by 2030, a greater focus on healthy food will emerge. The popularity of flexitarian diets, which are predominantly vegetarian with only occasional meat and fish consumption, is likely to continue to increase. Already 41% of meat-eaters currently classify themselves as flexitarian, and the percentage of meat-free evening meals is on the rise in Britain, according to research from Kantar Worldpanel.

a greater focus on.... will emerge 对于....将有更多的关注

也可以用 bring/put/provide more/greater focus on....

classify oneself as.... 指把某人（群体）归类为 

到2030年，随着英国成为欧洲最肥胖的国家，人们将更加关注健康的食品。弹性素食（素食主义为主，偶尔进食肉食和鱼类）饮食搭配的普遍程度将可能继续增加。根据凯度消费者指数（Kantar Worldpanel）的研究，目前已有41％的食肉人群将自己归类为弹性素食主义者，而英国的无肉晚餐比例正在上升。