VOA标准英语2009-Hard Times for Australia's Once Dominant Win

Australia's once dominant¹ wine industry is facing its biggest challenge, as competition increases from lower-cost rivals and consumer tastes change. Producers are being encouraged to target exports to Asia to revive the industry.
　
Penfolds 1962 vintage Cabernet Shiraz (C), flanked (L and R) by 1991 vintage bottles of Penfolds Grange red wine in Sydney, Australia (File)

Last year, Australian wine exports fell by almost 10 percent, the first decrease in a decade. It was a sign that after a long boom, the country's vineyards are struggling under the weight of increased competition from lower-cost rivals in Chile, Argentina and South Africa and the changing tastes of international consumers.

A long drought also has brought higher irrigation costs, especially in the parched² wine belt in southeast Australia. Relatively³ high wages also undermine Australia's international competitiveness at a time when prices for exported wine have fallen.

The average price per liter of Australian wine sold overseas is about 25 percent lower than it was a decade ago.

Sluggish⁴ demand in Great Britain, a key overseas market, is likely to force a fundamental restructuring of Australia's wine trade, although exports to the United States remain positive.

Wine trade experts think that sales to Asia could help Australian vineyards recover from the downturn.

Kym Anderson, an economist⁵ at the University of Adelaide, says that there are opportunities in both China and Japan.

"They certainly are growing markets but from a very low base, and Japan has been a steady growing but, of course, there is a recession going on there at the moment. But tastes are changing there and in China, too, the middle class is looking in particular for red wine, which Australia is good at producing," said Anderson.

In recent years, Australia's ability to sell vast amounts of relatively inexpensive wine to the U.S. and Britain made it the fourth-largest global exporter.
　
A worker harvests grapes in Mendoza, Argentina for one of local wineries (File)

Australia's success in producing and marketing⁶ low-cost varieties has been keenly watched and emulated⁷ by its rivals, especially in South America.

Now, some wine experts say Australia needs to promote its higher-end wines, and not rely on exporting its mass-market varieties, such as shiraz, which is losing favor in many markets.

Wine experts warn that Australia's wine industry may have to cut production by up to a fifth to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive international market.

1 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

2 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 emulated   

v.与…竞争( emulate的过去式和过去分词 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿

参考例句：

• The havoc that months had previously wrought was now emulated by the inroads of hours. 前几个月已经使他垮下来，如今更是一小时一小时地在恶化。 来自辞典例句
• The key technology emulated by CAD and the circuit is showed. 对关键技术进行了仿真，给出了电路实现形式。 来自互联网