VOA慢速英语2021 特拉维夫成为全球生活成本最高的城市（在线收听）

The Israeli city of Tel Aviv is the world's costliest place to live, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research group says.

经济学人信息部研究小组表示，以色列城市特拉维夫是全球生活成本最高的地方。

The EIU released the results of its yearly "Worldwide Cost of Living Index" on Wednesday. The index is created by comparing prices in U.S. dollars for goods and services in 173 cities. The EIU uses 400 individual prices across 200 products and services to decide the world's costliest and least costly places.

经济学人信息部周三公布了其年度“全球生活成本排名”。该排名通过比较173个城市的商品和服务的美元价格而创建的。经济学人信息部采用了跨越200种产品和服务的400种单价来确定全球生活成本最高和最低的地方。

It is the first time Tel Aviv has held the index's highest position. Last year, it was in the sixth position. The Israeli city climbed the rankings partly because of the strength of its national money, the shekel, against the dollar. Other reasons were increases in prices for transportation and food.

这是特拉维夫首次占据该排名榜首。去年该市排在第6位。这座以色列城市排名上升的部分原因是由于该国货币谢克尔兑美元汇率走强。其它原因包括运输和食品价格上涨。

Singapore and Paris came in tied for second, followed by the Swiss city of Zurich and Hong Kong. Another Swiss city, Geneva, came in seventh.

新加坡和巴黎并列第二，瑞士城市苏黎世和中国香港特区紧随其后。另一座瑞士城市日内瓦排名第七。

The rest of the top 10 costliest cities were Copenhagen, Denmark; Los Angeles, California; and Osaka, Japan.

生活成本前10名的其它城市还有丹麦哥本哈根、加州洛杉矶以及日本大阪。

Last year, the EIU index named Paris, Zurich, and Hong Kong in a tie for first place.

去年，经济学人信息部的排名将巴黎、苏黎世和香港列为并列第一。

This year's data was collected in August and September as prices for goods rose. The EIU found that, on average, prices rose 3.5 percent in local currency terms. That is the fastest inflation rate recorded over the past five years.

今年的数据是在八、九月随着商品价格上涨而收集的。经济学人信息部发现，按当地货币计算，价格平均上涨了3.5%。这是过去5年中录得的最快通胀率。

Social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic "have disrupted the supply of goods, leading to shortages and higher prices," said Upasana Dutt. She is head of worldwide cost of living at the EIU.

乌帕萨纳·杜特表示，由于新冠肺炎大流行造成的社会限制“扰乱了商品供应，导致商品短缺和价格上涨。”她是经济学人信息部全球生活成本的负责人。

"We can clearly see the impact in this year's index," Dutt added.

杜特还表示：“我们可以清楚地看到对今年排名的影响。”

The average inflation number does not include four cities with exceptionally high rates. Those cities are Caracas, Venezuela; Damascus, Syria; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Tehran, Iran.

平均通胀率没有包括4个通胀率异常高的城市。这些城市是委内瑞拉的加拉加斯、叙利亚大马士革、阿根廷布宜诺斯艾利斯和伊朗德黑兰。

Damascus was ranked the world's least costly city to live in.

大马士革被列为全球生活成本最低的城市。

Tehran, Iran's capital, rose from 79th to 29th in the rankings this year. The sharp rise -- the biggest of any city -- is due to financial punishments by the United States. Those sanctions have led to higher prices and caused shortages.

伊朗首都德黑兰的排名从第79位上升到今年的第29位。德黑兰是所有城市中排名上升幅度最大的城市，它的急剧上升是因为美国的经济制裁。这些制裁导致价格上涨并造成短缺。

Rome, Italy saw the biggest drop in the rankings. It fell from 32nd place last year to 48th place this year.

意大利罗马排名下降幅度最大。它从去年的第32位下降到了今年的第48位。