VOA慢速英语2013 经济报道 - 巴基斯坦选民关注经济

 

Economics Report - Pakistani Voters are Concerned about Economy

经济报道 - 巴基斯坦选民关注经济

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

Pakistan is preparing for national elections next month, many likely voters seem more concerned about the economy than stopping militant¹ violence. 

巴基斯坦正在筹备下月将举行的全国大选。许多潜在选民似乎更关注经济而不是阻止激进暴力。

But few Pakistanis are hopeful for changes. Zafar Saeed directs an occupational training centre in Islamabad, the capital. For the past ten years, the centre has trained thousands for work in an increasingly difficult economy. Now his own business is struggling from power cuts and inflation, he blames the government for the situation.

但几乎没有巴基斯坦人对改变抱有希望。扎法尔·赛义德（Zafar Saeed）管理着首都伊斯兰堡的一家职业培训中心。在过去十年日益艰难的经济中，该中心累计培训了数千人。现在他的生意正在停电和通货膨胀中苦苦挣扎。他将这一局面归咎于政府。

"Our organization has suffered major financial losses, particularly over the past five years, because prolonged power outages have not allowed us to perform our activities. The other main reason is inflation because people can no longer afford to pay for their fees to learn income-generating skills.”

“我们这个机构遭受了重大经济损失，特别是在过去五年里，因为长时间停电使得我们无法进行经营活动。另一个主要原因是通货膨胀，因为人们不再有能力支付学费来学习创收技能。”

Many people share his opinion. Street protests against power cuts are common in Pakistan. Some cuts can now last all day long. 

很多人都赞成他的观点。针对停电的街头抗议在巴基斯坦非常常见。现在有些停电会持续一整天。

Ashfaque Hassan Khan is a professor at the Nast Business School in Islamabad. 

阿什法克·哈桑·汗（Ashfaque Hassan Khan）是伊斯兰堡纳斯特商学院的一名教授。

"We are facing economic challenges and the reason for this is that for five years the economy has never been on the radar² of the government.”

他说，“我们正面临经济挑战。而原因是由于五年来经济从未在政府的考虑之中。”

He also says part of the problem has been too little political will to fix the national tax system. Less than one percent of Pakistan’s 180 million people pay income taxes. About 70 percent of federal lawmakers did not complete any income tax documents last year, most of them are likely to be returned to parliament in the elections.

他还表示，部分原因是巴基斯坦极少有政治意愿来解决国家税务体系。巴基斯坦1.8亿人口中，只有不到百分之一的人口缴纳所得税。大约70%的议会议员去年没有填写任何所得税文件，他们中的大多数在这次选举中可能会重返议会。

As professor Khan notes, that makes it more difficult to ask the country's major donors³ for help. 

正如汗教授所指出的，这使得巴基斯坦更难开口向该国的主要捐助者求援。

"There is a genuine complaint from [the] international community because their taxpayers⁵ have started raising questions that 'why should our government give our taxpayer⁴ money to Pakistan when [the] Pakistani government doesn’t tax their own rich and influential⁶ people?'”

他说，“国际社会会抱怨，因为他们的纳税人已经开始质疑，‘为什么政府要把我们纳税人的资金给巴基斯坦，而巴基斯坦不向自己的富人或有影响力的人征税？’”

60 percent of the Pakistani population is under the age of 25. Recent opinion surveys show most young people are concerned about unemployment, power shortages, and corruption⁷. 

巴基斯坦60%的人口在25岁以下。最近的民意调查显示，大多数年轻人都关心失业、停电和腐败问题。

Maleeha Lodhi is a former ambassador to the United States. She says young people have grown less hopeful about the future.

马利哈·洛迪（Maleeha Lodhi）是前任巴基斯坦驻美国大使。她说，年轻人已经逐渐对未来失望。

"So, the message to Pakistan’s next government is a very strong one. And that message is deal with the economy otherwise young people will opt⁸ out of the system and when young people opt out of the system and lose faith then frankly⁹, the future prospects¹⁰ for any country begin to look very bleak¹¹."

她说，“所以，给下届巴基斯坦政府的信息非常明显。这一信息就是应对经济，否则年轻人会脱离体制。当年轻人脱离体制并失去信心，那么坦白说，国家的未来前景便会显得非常暗淡。”

To build support among young voters, some political parties are promising¹² to reduce unemployment, and fight corruption. However, opinion surveys have shown low ratings for politicians, this is why voters like Zafar Saeed are wondering whether the next government will be any different from the last one.

为了赢得年轻选民支持，一些政党承诺降低失业率并打击腐败。然而，民意调查显示，人们对政治家的评价很低。这就是为什么赛义德等选民想知道下届政府和最后一任政府会不会有任何不同。

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

5 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

6 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

8 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

11 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

12 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。