VOA慢速英语2021 泰国出租车堆土成"菜园"（在线收听）

In Thailand, taxicabs are giving new meaning to the term "rooftop garden."

在泰国，出租车赋予了“屋顶菜园”一词新的含义。

People are using the rooftops of parked vehicles to grow vegetables.

人们正在利用停放的出租车的车顶种植蔬菜。

Many taxicabs in Thailand have lost business during the coronavirus crisis.

在新冠疫情危机期间，泰国的许多出租车司机都没有了生意。

To make better use of them, people have planted small vegetable plots on their rooftops.

为了更好地利用它们，人们在车顶上种植了小块菜地。

Workers from two taxi companies built the small gardens.

来自两家出租车公司的员工建造了这些小菜园。

They stretched black, plastic garbage bags across wooden structures and added soil.

他们在木架上铺上黑色塑料垃圾袋，再在上面加上土壤。

Then they planted vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers and string beans.

然后他们种植西红柿、黄瓜和菜豆等蔬菜。

The result looks more like a work of art than a car parking lot.

这样看起来更像是一件艺术品，而不是一个停车场。

And that is partly the point: to draw attention to the difficulty of taxi drivers and operators in Thai cities.

这也在一定程度上是为了引起人们对泰国城市出租车司机和经营者所面临的困难的关注。

They have lost much business and money due to coronavirus lockdown measures.

由于新冠封锁措施，他们损失了许多生意和钱。

These days, Ratchapruk and Bovorn taxi companies only have 500 cars left working the streets of Bangkok.

如今，Ratchapruk和Bovorn出租车公司只剩下500辆出租车在曼谷的街道上行驶。

Meanwhile, 2,500 cars are not moving.

与此同时，2500辆出租车被闲置在停车场。

They are parked at a number of locations throughout the city, says Thapakorn Assawalertkul.

塔帕科恩·阿萨瓦勒特库尔说，这些出租车停放在曼谷的多个地点。

He is the manager of one of the businesses.

他是其中一家公司的经理。

The streets in the capital have been quiet during the pandemic.

在疫情期间，首都曼谷的街道一直很安静。

This has resulted in a fall in drivers' earnings.

这导致司机的收入下降。

Many of them now cannot afford the daily payments on the vehicles.

许多司机现在负担不起出租车的日常费用。

This is even after the daily payment was halved to 300 baht, or $9.09, the manager said.

这位经理说，即使出租车的日常费用减半至300泰铢（约合9.09美元）之后也是如此。

So, the drivers have walked away and have left the cars in long, silent rows.

因此，司机们离开了，把车排成长长的、安静的一排。

When the pandemic first hit last year, some drivers gave up their cars and returned to their homes in rural areas.

当去年疫情第一次来袭时，一些司机放弃了开出租车，返回了农村家中。

They were scared, Thapakorn said.

他们很害怕，塔帕科恩说。

During the second wave of the coronavirus, more have given up and returned their cars to the companies.

在第二波疫情期间，更多司机放弃了开出租车，并把车还给了公司。

Thapakorn said, "Some left their cars at places like gas stations and called us to pick the cars up."

塔帕科恩说：“有些人把车停在加油站之类的地方，然后打电话叫我们去取车。”

With new surges of the virus this year, the taxi companies were "completely knocked out."

随着今年新冠确诊病例不断激增，出租车公司被“彻底击垮”。

Thousands of cars, he said, were given up by their drivers.

他说，数千辆出租车被司机弃置。

Thailand's new coronavirus cases were at just above 23,400 in mid-August.

8月中旬，泰国新增新冠肺炎确诊病例略高于2.34万例。

The government hopes the country is coming out of this wave.

泰国政府希望泰国能走出这波疫情。

It has been the deadliest so far.

这是迄今为止死亡人数最多的一次。

This wave makes up 97 percent of Thailand's total cases and more than 99 percent of its deaths.

这波疫情的新冠肺炎确诊病例占泰国病例总数的97%，占总死亡人数的99%以上。

In total, Thailand has confirmed 1.4 million cases and over 14,000 deaths.

泰国总共确诊了140万例病例，超过1.4万人死亡。

The situation has left the taxi companies in financial danger.

这种情况让出租车公司陷入了财务危机。

They are struggling to repay loans on the purchase of their cars.

他们正在为偿还购车贷款而苦苦挣扎。

Ratchapruk and Bovorn companies owe around 2 billion baht or $60.8 million U.S. dollars, Thapakorn said.

塔帕科恩说，Ratchapruk和Bovorn公司的债务约为20亿泰铢（约合6080万美元）。

The government has so far not offered any direct financial support.

到目前为止，泰国政府还没有提供任何直接的财政支持。

"If we don't have help soon, we will be in real trouble," he told The Associated Press on September 16.

他在9月16日在接受美联社采访时说：“如果我们不能尽快得到帮助，我们就会陷入真正的麻烦。”

The rooftop taxicab gardens do not offer a way to make money.

出租车车顶菜园不是赚钱的途径。

The company managers were asked to take pay cuts.

公司经理们被要求接受减薪。

And now they take care of newly-made gardens.

现在他们负责打理新建的菜园。

"The vegetable garden is both an act of protest and a way to feed my staff during this tough time," Thapakorn said.

塔帕科恩说：“菜园既是一种抗议行为，也是在这段艰难时期养活我的员工的一种方式。”

"Thailand went through political turmoil for many years, and a great flood in 2011, but business was never this terrible."

“泰国经历了多年的政治动荡，还在2011年经历了一场大洪灾，但生意从未如此糟糕过。”