VOA标准英语2010年-Cambodian Development Projects Create

Souem plants crops in the dry season on her relative's plot, using water from the irrigation system

Cambodia's government, with the help of international lenders and foreign investors¹, is funneling² investment into the country's vast rural areas. Although the development projects are welcome in this impoverished³ country, there are worries that they also set the stage for the displacement⁴ of the poor. Here's our report from Cambodia's Kampong Thom province.

Cambodia's economy relies on garment exports, tourism and construction. Rural areas are largely untapped.

"So the government needs to work hard to diversify⁵ its export commodities, export products, add more value by processing more, let's say agriculture production in the country and thereby⁶ create more jobs to help the economy grow faster," said Puto Kamayana.

Country director Puto Kamayana says the Asian Development Bank is helping⁷ build roads, power plants, railways and irrigation systems, like this one in Kampong Thom province.

Souem came here to plant in the dry season on her relative's plot, using water from the irrigation system.

"In my home province, we have difficulty in accessing water," said Souem. "It does not provide sufficient water like what we have here."

These development projects increase interest from investors wanting to plant export crops such as rubber. China, Kuwait and South Korea are among the countries that have signed deals with Cambodia's government to create large plantations⁹.

This 18-year-old plantation⁸ worker says he makes $120 a month, a decent wage for his family.

While big plantations provide jobs, rights groups say they drive the price of land higher, and force many small farmers off their land.

Soeum fears she might lose this land.

"But we don't know what to do because the government has not issued land title on our place yet," she said.

David Pred of Bridges Across Borders, a group that helps farmers, says big plantations are unsustainable because they leave many families with nothing.

"I think it's inevitable¹⁰ that people are going to demand in greater numbers accountability and better governance from their leaders," said David Pred.

The government has granted nearly a million hectares to companies to develop plantations in the countryside, were 92 percent of poor Cambodians live. For them, the hope is that the plantations provide enough jobs to make up for the small farms lost.

 

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 funneling   

[医]成漏斗形：描述膀胱底及膀胱尿道交接区

参考例句：

3 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

5 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

6 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

9 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

10 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。