美国国家公共电台 NPR--Border officials crack down on attempts to bring eggs into the U.S.

Border officials crack down on attempts to bring eggs into the U.S.

Transcript¹

U.S. egg prices are soaring. Even though it's illegal to bring raw eggs into the U.S., many people are going to Mexico to buy them. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on Jan. 27, 2023.)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Higher prices in the United States have led many near the southern border to do their shopping in Mexico, where many goods are cheaper. But it turns out it's illegal to cross the border with food like fruit, eggs or meat. KTEP's Angela Kocherga reports that Customs and Border Protection officials are cracking down.

ANGELA KOCHERGA, BYLINE²: Hundreds of people wait in long lines at this border crossing between Juarez and El Paso, Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).

KOCHERGA: After U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers check immigration documents, they ask people if they're bringing anything from Mexico, including food.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: No? No food, especially meats, nothing like that? No chicken eggs, nothing?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Nothing.

KOCHERGA: CBP officers have recently started asking everyone about eggs because they've seen a spike³ in the number of people trying to bring them across the border. Charles Payne is the agriculture supervisor⁴ at the Port of El Paso.

CHARLES PAYNE: The main reason we're here is to prevent the entry of insects, plant diseases and, of course, animal diseases.

KOCHERGA: Raw eggs can carry disease. The U.S. is already coping with its own outbreak of avian flu. That's led to a shortage of hens, higher prices and more people trying to bring in less expensive eggs from Mexico.

PAYNE: So the fact that we're seeing so much more, we're assuming, is a direct relation to the price that they're paying in the United States.

BRITTANY PEREZ: It's, like, crazy.

KOCHERGA: Brittany Perez says she can't believe the price of eggs. She was loading groceries in her car outside a supermarket in El Paso, where a family-sized carton of 18 eggs costs about $9.

PEREZ: And so many families, you know, depend on the eggs, you know, for protein when they can't afford, like, poultry⁵ or beef or fish, you know? So, yeah, it's hard.

KOCHERGA: By comparison, across the border in Juarez, eggs are about half the price.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Speaking Spanish).

KOCHERGA: In this supermarket, there's a giant display of neatly⁶ stacked trays of gleaming, white eggs. Socorro Chavez grabs one for her cart.

SOCORRO CHAVEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

KOCHERGA: She says eggs are cheaper here than in El Paso, but you can't take them across the border, though eye-catching displays like this one have enticed⁷ some to try. Along the southern border, CBP has stopped more than 2,000 people from bringing eggs into the U.S. since November. That's more than four times what they saw during the same period the previous year. Individuals risk being fined up to $300.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: You bringing back anything with you from Mexico?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: No.

KOCHERGA: Back at the El Paso crossing, CBP agriculture supervisor Payne says trained dogs help sniff⁸ out food people routinely try to smuggle⁹ into the country.

PAYNE: We get a lot of baloney coming through the ports of entry, as well as things like pork chorizo, ham lunch meats. We get a lot of fruit - oranges, apples, mangoes, guavas.

KOCHERGA: And avocados. CBP officers expect to see more of those coming from Mexico ahead of the Super Bowl, when avocado consumption surges. People are allowed to bring them across if they remove the seed, which can harbor pests, which means you better make that guacamole quickly before the avocados turn brown. For NPR News, I'm Angela Kocherga in El Paso.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

4 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

5 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

6 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

7 enticed   

诱惑，怂恿( entice的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He enticed his former employer into another dice game. 他挑逗他原来的老板再赌一次掷骰子。
• Consumers are courted, enticed, and implored by sellers of goods and services. 消费者受到商品和劳务出售者奉承，劝诱和央求。

8 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

9 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。