VOA慢速英语2015 印度马哈拉施特拉邦禁止贩卖牛肉

AS IT IS 2015-03-16 India’s Maharashtra State Bans Beef  印度马哈拉施特拉邦禁止贩卖牛肉

Last week, the western Indian state of Maharashtra banned beef consumption. The state government has barred possession or sales of the meat.

上周，印度西部的马哈拉施特拉邦禁止牛肉消费，该邦政府禁止拥有或销售牛肉。

Hindu groups welcomed the ban. But many Muslims in western India have criticized it. They say it will make tens of thousands of people jobless.

印度教信徒欢迎该禁令，但印度西部很多穆斯林表示批评，称这将导致成千上万人失业。

Hindus consider cows holy. The animals are already protected in India. But, the new law extends the ban to slaughtering² bulls, bullocks, and calves³.

印度教徒视牛为圣物，这种动物在印度得到保护，但新法将禁令扩大到禁止屠宰公牛、犍牛和小牛。

The ban took effect on March 5. On that day, many slaughter¹ houses in Maharashtra suddenly closed. Beef disappeared from the menus of restaurants, including those in the state capital, Mumbai.

该禁令于3月5日生效，在那天，马哈拉施特拉邦的很多屠宰场突然关闭，牛肉从餐馆的菜单上消失了，包括该邦首都孟买在内。

Under the new law, having or selling beef could lead to fines or prison terms of up to five years. The Bharatiya Janata Party passed the law. The BJP won control of the state government last year.

根据新法，拥有或销售牛肉能被罚款，或判高达5年的徒刑。印度人民党通过了这项法律，该党去年赢得了对邦政府的控制权。

The party attempted to ban beef 20 years ago when it was also in power. But the ban was never passed because the BJP lost power soon after.

20年前该党当权时就试图禁止牛肉，但因为该党很快失去权力，禁令就没有得到通过。

Mohammad Ali Qureshi is president of the Mumbai Suburban⁴ Beef Dealers⁵ Association. He said the ban will have a bad effect on tens of thousands of butchers, beef retailers⁶, and others involved in the trade.

穆罕默德·阿里·库雷希是孟买郊区牛肉交易商协会主席，他说该禁令对成千上万的屠户、牛肉销售商等相关人员产生了不利影响。

He said many of those affected⁷ are among the poorest people in the area. They have little or no education, and cannot easily get other jobs. He said people have become jobless without notice.

他说受影响者很多都是该地区最贫困人口，他们没有或很少接受教育，无法轻易找到其他工作，他说人们事先没有得到通知就失业了。

Beef consumption in India is limited to non-Hindus. But the country has become the world’s second-biggest exporter of beef. Most of the meat comes from buffaloes⁸.

印度的牛肉消费仅限于非印度教徒，但该国已成为全世界第二大牛肉出口国，大多数牛肉来自水牛。

Hindu groups do not like that India is a major exporter of beef. They say many cows are being illegally killed.

印度教群体对印度是重要的牛肉出口国不满，他们说很多牛被非法杀害。

Muslims control most of the beef trade. Banning beef has become a major issue between India’s Hindus and Muslims.

穆斯林控制着大部分牛肉交易，禁止牛肉成为印度的印度教徒和穆斯林之间的主要问题。

Venkatesh Abdev is with the World Hindu Council. He says his group will fight for a nationwide ban on beef consumption. Mr. Abdev agrees that the ban will affect people working in the beef trade. But he says it is a price to be paid. He notes the killing⁹ of cows is a very emotional issue for Hindus.

文卡塔斯就职于世界印度教理事会，他说本组织将争取在全国范围内禁止牛肉消费。他承认该禁令会影响牛肉贸易行业的就职人员，但他说这是必须要付出的代价，他说，屠杀母牛对印度教徒来说是件很伤感情的事。

Mohammad Shahid Sheikh is president of a beef transporters group in Deonar, where one can find India’s biggest slaughterhouse. He says more and more trucks with cattle are being attacked. The attacks are blamed on Hindu activists¹⁰.

穆罕默德·沙希德·谢赫是Deonar牛肉运输组织负责人，这里有印度最大的屠宰场，他说有越来越多装载牛的卡车被袭击，袭击活动是印度教活动人士所为。

Mr. Sheikh says those in the beef trade tell protesters that they are following all of the rules. But the protesters say they will do everything they can to prevent the animals from being killed.

谢赫称牛肉贸易从业者告诉抗议者，他们遵守了所有规定。但抗议者称将尽一切努力来阻止牛被杀害。

The beef ban also became a top trend on Twitter last week. Some Twitter users supported the move, but thousands criticized the ban. Some users compared the progress made on protecting cows to the lack of progress on safety for women.

上周牛肉禁令成为推特上的热门话题，一些用户支持此举，但还有无数人批评该禁令。一些用户还将保护母牛上的进展与女性安全上的进展不力作比较。

In the words of one user, “Good to know India is more safe for cows than women.”

用一位用户的话来说，就是“很高兴知道在印度，牛比女性更安全。”

Words in This Story

consumption – n. the act of eating or drinking something

suddenly – adv. very quickly in usually an unexpected way

bullocks – n. young bulls

slaughterhouse – n. a building where animals are killed for their meat

1 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

2 slaughtering   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The Revolutionary Tribunal went to work, and a steady slaughtering began. 革命法庭投入工作，持续不断的大屠杀开始了。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• \"Isn't it terrific slaughtering pigs? “宰猪的！ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

3 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

5 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

6 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 buffaloes   

n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓

参考例句：

• Some medieval towns raced donkeys or buffaloes. 有些中世纪的城市用驴子或水牛竞赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Water buffaloes supply Egypt with more meat than any other domestic animal. 水牛提供给埃及的肉比任何其它动物都要多。 来自辞典例句

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》