VOA常速英语--埃及旅游业又迎寒冬

埃及旅游业又迎寒冬

The shores of this resort city are usually packed during the holiday season. But after a Russian plane that had taken off from here crashed in late October, killing¹ all 224 people on board in an apparent terrorist attack, business has plummeted².

一到旅游旺季，这座海滨度假胜地总是人潮涌动。但去年10月末，一架俄客机遭恐怖袭击，机组224人全部遇难，旅游市场一落千丈。

Business owners say most of their income used to come from Russian and British tourists. But both countries have suspended direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.

据商家表示，他们的多数收入均来自俄罗斯和英国游客。但两国均暂停了前往沙姆沙伊赫的航班。

There is no work. They say we are operating at 30 percent or 35 percent capacity, but there is nothing.

旅游接待量只有30%或35%。

Officials are actively³ courting tourists from Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Arab countries. But workers say the increase in business from the Gulf⁴ has not been nearly enough to make up for their losses.

官方正在吸引沙特和其它阿拉伯富国。但商家表示称，海湾地区不足以弥补旅游损失。

The tourism sector⁵, one of Egypt's largest industries and main sources of foreign income, has been reeling since the Arab Spring uprising of 2011.

自2011年阿拉伯起义以来，埃及旅游业就一直举步维艰，旅游业是埃及的主要产业之一，同样也是外汇的主要来源。

Egyptian tourists, who now appear to make up the bulk of the visitors in Sharm el-Sheikh, say fear may be keeping people away, but daily life for vacationers has not changed.

如今在沙姆沙伊赫，埃及游客占据了大多数，他们担心这样的情况会让游客望而却步，但对于游客来说，日常生活并没有因此而发生改变。

It's a beautiful city. I visited many places. I went to Paris, London, Zurich, Switzerland, Arabic countries many of them but I didn't find a city like this city. It's so beautiful.

这是座美丽的城市。我游览过许多地方。巴黎、伦敦、苏黎世、瑞士以及阿拉巴国家，但都无法与这里相提并论。这里太美了。

Officials had hoped 2015 would see the complete recovery of the industry after a nearly 30 percent increase in 2014.

2014年，埃及旅游业增长近30%，官方曾希望埃及旅游业能够在2015年重获新生。

But the plane crash and the killing of eight Mexican tourists, who were mistaken for militants⁶ by the Egyptian military while on a desert safari⁷ in September, have left many attractions across Egypt desolate⁸.

但坠机事件和墨西哥游客事件曾让许多浏览胜地“无人问津”，去年9月，军警将沙漠中的墨西哥游客当做恐怖分子，8名游客死亡。

We don't know what will happen after five minutes, so we cannot talk about next year.

我们不知道五分钟以后会发生什么，所以我们也无法预知明年。

 

Officials trying to revive the industry say they are hopeful 2016 will be better. Egypt’s natural and ancient treasures may attract different groups at different times, they say, but in the end, the visitors will always come back.

官方希望埃及旅游业能够在2016年重获生机。埃及的古老遗迹和自然风光会吸引不同人群光顾，游客一定会再次回到埃及。

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

7 safari   

n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队

参考例句：

• When we go on safari we like to cook on an open fire.我们远行狩猎时，喜欢露天生火做饭。
• They went on safari searching for the rare black rhinoceros.他们进行探险旅行，搜寻那稀有的黑犀牛。

8 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。