VOA标准英语2008年-Oil Price Spike Drives Up Other Costs

Rising fuel costs are making it more expensive to move food and other goods to the marketplace. That means prices are going up for consumers, but incomes may not be rising enough to keep pace with inflation. As VOA's Kent Klein reports, it also means hardship for business people whose profits may not cover the increased costs. (Part 3 of 5)

Every few days, Reuben Dubene leaves his home in Free State, South Africa. He hauls loads throughout South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. He has been doing this job, sleeping in his truck, for more than 20 years. He has survived that and even a hijacking¹ and a shooting. But he fears the high price of fuel could drive him out of business. His salary has not kept up.

Dubene says soaring fuel costs are making it impossible for him to save.
　
Truck convoy² in Somalia

Reuben Dubene is not alone. People worldwide are dealing³ with the rising cost of fuel and, because it has to be transported, food too. Deliveries of items like fertilizer make it more expensive for farmers to grow their crops. And that extra cost is passed on to the consumer.

Farmers, truckers and other people around the world have taken to the streets in recent months to protest high fuel costs - in France, India, in Nepal, to mention a few.

Bettina Luescher is with the U.N. World Food Program. She says the spike⁴ in food prices has led to concerns about political stability. "We have seen riots in some 30 countries around the world, the protests where people really went into the streets and protested because they could not afford the flour anymore and the rice and the maize⁵ and the corn," said Luescher. "And I think that is what is concerning so many government leaders."
　
Senegal shopkeeper Naw Sow struggles to feed his family with high food prices

Many people the world over are concerned about how rising fuel prices are driving up the cost of food and other necessities.

In Dakar, Senegal, businessman Aliou Dia buys bread every morning. He says ten years ago, one baguette cost ten cents. Now it costs more than 40 cents. He says breakfast for his extended family of nine used to cost about $1, but now it is $4.

A 100-kilogram bag of rice cost $5 several years ago. Now he is lucky if he can find a bag half that size for under $40.

Here in the United States, immigrants have been hit especially hard by rising prices. Many Latin American immigrants send money home to their relatives. But statistics from the Inter-American Development Bank show the percentage who do so is down.

Miami construction worker Manuel Pascual says he spends $50 a month on fuel to drive between home and work. That makes it difficult to send money to his family in Honduras. He says he can not help his family as much as before.

The high price of fuel is even a problem in Iraq, home of the world's fourth-largest oil reserves. In the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, anyone with a car can buy government-subsidized gasoline at a discount. But the fuel is poor quality, and the supply is limited. Many drivers buy black market fuel at roadside stands, or they pay three times the subsidized rate for better gasoline at private stations.

Ismail is a taxi driver in Irbil. He says his share of government fuel is only 40 liters per week, and the quality is bad. He buys more expensive gasoline at a private station. And that forces him to raise his fare. Which makes it difficult for poor people to afford a ride in his taxi.

Survival for Ismail and other small business people all over the world who depend on fuel has become more difficult.

 

1 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

2 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

5 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。