VOA新闻杂志2022--高通胀迫使阿根廷人做出艰难的选择

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High Inflation¹ Forces Hard Choices on Argentines

Argentina reported a monthly inflation rate of 7.4 percent in the month of July, the highest number in about 20 years.

The country's consumer prices have increased 71 percent over the past year, the national statistics² agency, called INDEC, said recently.

The latest numbers put Argentina among the countries with the highest inflation rates in the world.

The effects of inflation are clear in Villa³ Fiorito, around 15 kilometers from downtown Buenos Aires. There, unemployed⁴ women gather in the hopes of exchanging goods for food. Such exchanges that do not involve money are known as bartering⁵.

Every afternoon, women set up their blankets and lay out their goods, including clothes and toys. Their hope is to exchange the goods for food to feed their families.

The economic problems are likely to get worse before they get better in Argentina. Experts predict that inflation for the whole year will likely reach 90 percent or higher.

Thirty-one-year-old Soledad Bustos sets up shop in the Villa Fiorito fair every afternoon while one of her children is in school and another is under the care of her sister.

The money is not enough

Bustos offers clothing like jeans, leather boots, sneakers and shirts that she either took out of her own home or bought through the social media service Facebook. In exchange, she asks for powdered milk.

"I can't get to the end of the month, the money isn't enough," Bustos, a single mother, said.

Bustos is unemployed and says she receives around $255 a month from the state. That amount is not enough to feed her family.

Bartering events started spreading in Argentina after the economy collapsed⁶ in 2001. But such events have increased in recent years as the inflation rate has remained high.

"This is living hand-to-mouth," said María Inés Pereyra, 48, the organizer of the event that runs Mondays through Saturdays. "Whatever they obtain today they take it straight to the dining table."

For safety reasons, only women can take part in bartering. Most of the exchanges have already been previously⁷ arranged on Facebook or WhatsApp.

Although there is no set value for the used goods, Pereyra set a top price of $2 for each piece of clothing.

As an example, she pointed⁸ to a pair of leather sneakers that could be traded for a packet of sugar, cooking oil, flour and a local tea.

Fernández's administration has blamed the high inflation rate in July on a currency crisis⁹ caused by "speculative¹⁰ movements that tried to generate¹¹ a crisis of uncertainty¹² and push a devaluation," Gabriela Cerruti, the government's spokeswoman, said recently.

Cerruti's statement came before the inflation rate was released.

The increase of the country's already high inflation rate comes shortly after the government had three economy ministers within one month.

Experts and members of Fernández's administration expect the August inflation rate to be similar to July. That is because of increases in prices for public transport and energy.

In Villa Fiorito, Bustos said she and her fellow barterers are centering their efforts on "surviving."

Words in This Story

consumer – n. a person who buys goods and services

blanket –n. a covering made of cloth that is used especially on a bed to keep you warm

fair – n. an event at which different things (such as crafts or food) are sold or traded

obtain – v. to gain or get (something) usually by effort

speculative – adj. involving financial risk : of or relating to financial activity that could result in either a large profit or a large loss

generate – v. to produce (something) or cause (something) to be produced

devaluation –n. (finance) the act of lowering the value of a country's money so that it is worth

1 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

2 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。

3 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

4 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

5 bartering   

v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Parliament would be touchy about bartering British soil for ships. 用英国国土换取舰只，议会感到为难。 来自辞典例句
• In former times trade was based on bartering--goods were exchanged for other goods. 以前，贸易是以易货（即货物交换）的方式进行的。 来自辞典例句

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

10 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

11 generate   

vt.生成，产生（光、热、电等）导致

参考例句：

• We need someone to generate new ideas.我们需要有人出新主意。
• This book will continue to generate excitement for a long time.这本书将在很长一段时间里继续使人们为之激动。

12 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。