VOA慢速英语2013 农业报道 - 阿富汗鸦片种植连年增加

 

Agriculture Report - Opium¹ poppy growing has increased in Afghanistan

农业报道 - 阿富汗鸦片种植连年增加

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

Afghan farmers have another big harvest this year, but officials at the United Nations and around the world are not celebrating.

今年阿富汗农民又迎来另一次大丰收。但联合国和世界各地的官员们都没有庆祝。

The crop is opium, farmers have been busy harvest their opium poppies. Farmer Faiz Mohammed in Helmand province makes no apologies. 

这一收成就是鸦片，阿富汗农民正忙着收获他们的罂粟。赫尔曼德省的农民法伊兹·穆罕默德（Faiz Mohammed）对此毫无歉意。

"We are the poorest people in this area. If we don't cultivate poppies we can't feed ourselves and our family. We have tried to cultivate corn and wheat, but that is too cheap, doesn't bring a good income. And poppy crops bring good money." 

“我们是该地区最穷的人。如果我们不种植罂粟，我们就没法养活自己和家人。我们试过种植玉米和小麦，但那些作物太廉价了，没法带来好的收入。而罂粟可以赚大钱。”

The riches promised by opuim stands in contrast, to the rest of the country's struggling economy. Farmer Harie Abudola says profits are driving the opium production, not pressure from the Taliban.

鸦片能够带来的巨大财富和该国其它方面步履维艰的经济形成了鲜明的对比。农民Harie Abudola表示是利润驱动了鸦片生产，而不是塔利班的压力。

"The Taliban have no influence here. The farmers themselves grow poppies because, compared to the price of wheat, there is a huge difference. For instance, we sell four kilograms of corn for 100 Afghanis [$1.89 USD] but poppies bring 2000-5000 Afghanis [$37.80-$94.57 USD]. This is for the benefit of the farmers, we see there is a huge difference in the price."

“塔利班在这里不具影响力。农民们自己要种植罂粟，因为罂粟和小麦在价格上相差巨大。举例来说，每4公斤玉米卖100阿富汗尼（相当于1.89美元），但罂粟可以卖到2000到5000阿富汗尼（相当于37.80到94.57美元）。这对农民的收入有好处，我们可以看到在价格上有着巨大差异。”

注：阿富汗尼是阿富汗货币，简称阿尼。

A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warns that Afghanistan could supply as much as 90% of the world's heroin², UN official Jean-Luc Lemahieu calls it a sign of failure.

联合国毒品和犯罪问题办公室发布的一份报告警告称，阿富汗可以提供全球高达90%的海洛因。联合国官员让吕克·利玛修（Jean-Luc Lemahieu）称这是一个失败的信号。

"We have seen enormous inflow in this country over the last decades. And with regards to the drug control situation, we still see increases of the opium cultivation³, so we cannot say in any way, based on the facts, that we have succeeded. We have failed."

他说，“我们可以看到该国过去几十年巨大的流入。在禁毒形式方面，我们仍然可以看到鸦片种植的增长。所以基于事实，我们怎么也没法说我们成功了。我们就是失败了。”

And he warns that farmers are not the only ones becoming dependent on opium. 

他还警告说，不止是阿富汗农民依赖鸦片。

"It is one of the biggest diseases this country is facing at this moment - one million addicts⁴. It is an enormous health problem. Who will pay for that?" 

他说，“这是最大的弊端之一，阿富汗现在有100万吸毒者。这是一个巨大的健康问题，谁来为此买单？”

That question is far from that thoughts of opium farmers, who say they have no other way to feed their families. 

种植鸦片的农民不会考虑这个问题，他们说自己没有其他办法来养家糊口。

The report released last week says opium production is especially high in the most unstable⁵ areas of Afghanistan. These are areas where the surge increase in American troops, helped beat back Taliban influence.

上周发布的这份报告称，在阿富汗最不稳定的地区，鸦片产量尤其高。美军在这些地区不断增兵，帮助击退了塔利班的影响。

The report says insurgents⁶ use the insecurity in those areas, especially Helmand and Kandahar provinces. To win popular support, the insurgents also assisted opium farmers with their crops. 

该报告说，叛乱分子利用了这些地区的不安全因素，特别是赫尔曼德省和坎大哈省。为了赢得民众支持，叛乱分子还协助农民种植鸦片。

The UN says poor weather and crop disease lead to a reduction in the supply of opium last year. That reduction meant higher price. The report notes that the higher price of opium, makes it an even more attractive crop to grow now. 

联合国称恶劣天气和病虫害导致了去年鸦片供应的减少，而这又意味着价格上涨。该报告指出，价格上涨使得现在鸦片种植更具有吸引力。

The UN says this is the third year in a row that opium poppy growing has increased in Afghanistan. This follows gains made by the government, in years of efforts to reduce the nation's share of the drug trade. 

联合国表示这是阿富汗罂粟种植连续第三年增加。在此之前，阿富汗政府经过多年努力，降低了该国在全球毒品交易中的份额。

And that's the Agricultural Report from VOA Learning English. You can read, listen and learn English with more stories about agriculture at the voalearningenglish website. I am Karen Leggett.

1 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

2 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

3 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

4 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

5 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

6 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网