经济学人:重蹈覆辙 中西部的农业危机有多严重(1)

 　　United States 美国

　　Farming in the Midwest: Rhyme Time 中西部的农业：重蹈覆辙？

　　How bad is this farm slump¹? 这次农业危机有多严重？

　　The farm crisis in the 1980s left a deep mark on the Midwest. 上世纪八十年代发生的农业危机给美国中西部留下了不可磨灭的烙印。

　　It was the worst downturn in farming since the Depression. 这是大萧条期以来最为严重的农业衰退。

　　After an unprecedented² boom in demand for wheat ended, thousands of farmers faced ruin. 在前所未有的小麦黄金期结束后，成千上万的农民开始遭殃。

　　Agricultural banks and makers³ of farming equipment were washed away by a wave of bankruptcies⁴. 农业银行和农耕设备制造商被一波又一波的破产所拖垮。

　　Midwestern farmers look at parallels with the 1980s whenever their cyclical industry is heading downwards⁵. 中西部的农民开始把现在所遭遇的情况和上世纪八十年代所遭遇的周期性行业持续下滑进行类比。

　　Prices for corn, wheat and other agricultural commodities started to fall after their peak in 2013, since when the comparison has been raised again. 在2013年玉米价格、小麦价格以及其他农产品价格达到顶峰后，所有产品的价格开始下滑，就从此时起，历史仿佛重演一般。

　　Exports of wheat and soyabeans nearly tripled in the 1970s, thanks to the weakness of the dollar after America abandoned the gold standard in 1971,  因为1971年美国废除了金本位，美元开始贬值，这促使了小麦和黄豆的出口量在70年代猛增三倍

　　and the Russian wheat deal in 1972, when America sold the Soviet⁶ Union about 440m bushels of wheat for around $700m. 同时美国在1972年结束了与前苏联每年约4.4亿蒲式耳市值7亿美元的小麦交易。

　　Until then the Soviets⁷ had imported hardly any American foodstuffs⁸. 在那时之前，苏联几乎没有进口过任何美国食品。

　　The sudden bonanza⁹ was such that farmers bought more and more land, with more and more debt. 农民用贷款的方式购买了越来越多的土地，这带来了出乎意料的好处。

　　This went well until interest rates jumped up, the dollar strengthened and exports to the USSR were halted after the invasion of Afghanistan. 在利率上升之前，这一切发展得很顺利，美元开始变得强势，在入侵阿富汗后，美国对前苏联的出口被禁止。

　　Farmers' biggest asset, land, dropped in value, which in turn increased their liabilities until they became so big that they could not stay in business. 农民最宝贵的财富，也就是土地开始贬值，农民的债务也相对增加了，最终债台高筑不得不破产。

　　The latest farming boom started in 2006, when demand for crops such as maize¹⁰ (corn),  最近的农业兴起开始于2006年，此时对诸如玉米、甘蔗和大豆等农作物的需求产生了巨额的利润，

　　sugar cane¹¹ and soyabeans generated record profits thanks to demand for (maize and sugar-based) ethanol, and the then skyrocketing Chinese economy. 这是因为人对由玉米和糖制造的乙醇需求增加以及中国经济的快速增长所带来的影响。

1 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 bankruptcies   

n.破产( bankruptcy的名词复数 )；倒闭；彻底失败；（名誉等的）完全丧失

参考例句：

• It's a matter of record that there were ten bankruptcies in the town last year. 去年这个城市有十家破产是事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Business bankruptcies rose 50 percent over the previous year. 破产企业的数量比前一年增加５０％。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 downwards   

adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地）

参考例句：

• He lay face downwards on his bed.他脸向下伏在床上。
• As the river flows downwards,it widens.这条河愈到下游愈宽。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

8 foodstuffs   

食物，食品( foodstuff的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Imports of foodstuffs accounted for a small proportion of total imports. 食物进口仅占总进口额的一小部份。
• Many basic foodstuffs, such as bread and milk, are tax-free. 许多基本食物如牛奶和面包是免税的。

9 bonanza   

n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事

参考例句：

• Bargain hunters enjoyed a real bonanza today.到处买便宜货的人今天真是交了好运。
• What a bonanza for the winning ticket holders!对于手持胜券的人来说，这是多好的运气啊。

10 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

11 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。