VOA标准英语2008年-Bush Requests More Food Aid for Global Poor

By Scott Stearns
White House
01 May 2008

U.S. President George Bush is asking Congress for $770 million to help ease food shortages and rising prices around the world. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.

President Bush says he is asking lawmakers to spend more on emergency food aid because he is concerned about rising prices.

"In some of the world's poorest nations, rising prices can mean the difference between getting a daily meal or going without food," he said.

The $770 million in additional assistance comes on top of $200 million the president has already released in response to the growing food crisis. When combined with existing programs, Mr. Bush says the United States will spend $5 billion in 2008 and 2009 to fight global hunger.

"This funding will keep our existing emergency food aid programs robust," said mr. bush. 'We have been the leader in providing food to those who are going without in the past, and we will continue to be the leader around the world."

The president wants to spend more on agricultural development programs to help farmers grow more food. He also wants to change the way food aid is delivered by buying more from farmers in the developing world to break the cycle of famine by building-up local agriculture.

Mr. Bush is calling on other nations to lift restrictions¹ on agricultural exports and to remove limits on genetically-modified crops that he says are safe, resistant² to drought and disease, and hold the promise of producing more food for more people.

The global food crisis is the result of a combination of forces including drought, higher energy and fertilizer costs, increasing demand from China and India, and more corn being used for bio-fuels.

Higher prices have led to hunger and hoarding³ in some poor nations. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon this week called for a global effort to address what the World Food Program calls a silent tsunami⁴.

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

3 hoarding   

n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。