经济学人:埃塞俄比亚的商品交易所:高科技,低影响(2)

 　　In July 2015 the ECX did, however, introduce electronic transactions, now used for almost all trades.

　　2015年7月，商品交易所引进了电子交易，然而现在几乎使用到所有行业。

　　Bespoke¹ software is built in-house by Ethiopian engineers.

　　定制的软件是由埃塞俄比亚工程师制作出来。

　　Payments the day after purchase are guaranteed.

　　这个软件是购买后的付款保证。

　　The ECX can also boast never to have seen a default, in a country known for suicides by indebted farmers whose buyers have welshed.

　　在一个农民因逃避负债而选择自杀的国度里，这个软件被吹嘘从没有见过一个拖欠款项的。

　　埃塞俄比亚商品2.jpeg

　　Ethiopia has shown that it is possible for an exchange to prompt the physical infrastructure² of commodity's markets: the ECX oversaw³ a burst in warehouse⁴ construction.

　　埃塞俄比亚已经表明作为交换促进商品市场的物质基础可能是：交易所去监督仓库建设。

　　Fledgling exchanges dotted around Africa often visit Addis Ababa to study the ECX.

　　最初分布在非洲的交易所经常去亚的斯亚贝巴学习埃塞俄比亚商品交易所。

　　But experts doubt it is a helpful model.

　　但专家们不能肯定这是不是一个有用的模板。

　　The government made it viable⁵ by mandating⁶ that almost all trade in coffee and some other commodities go through the exchange.

　　政府通过强制几乎所有咖啡豆和一些其他商品的交易使其变得可行。

　　This might not be possible elsewhere.

　　这可能不能在别处实现。

　　A monopoly imposed by fiat⁷ makes it more like a state marketing⁸ board than an exchange, says Thomas Jayne, an economist⁹ at Michigan State University.

　　密歇根州立大学的经济学家Thomas Jayne说：因命令强制的垄断使得交易所更像是国家的市场委员会。

　　Another model might be the Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa in Malawi, which was set up privately¹⁰ in 2006 at the request of an association of smallholder farmers.

　　另一个模板可能是在马拉维的非洲农产品交易所，该所是应小农协会的要求在2016年私下里成立的。

　　But its volumes remain low.

　　但它的规模很小。

　　And its concentration on staple¹¹ foods such as maize¹² and soya leaves it vulnerable to the sort of government interventions¹³ that can sink exchanges.

　　并且它的交易主要集中在基本的食物如玉米和大豆，这使其易受到政府破坏交易性的干涉。

　　Trading in staples¹⁴ tends to be politically sensitive in times of food scarcity¹⁵.

　　在食物短缺期，必需食物的买卖往往具有政治敏感性。

　　Setting up national exchanges may be the wrong approach.

　　建立国有的交易所可能是错误的做法。

　　The Johannesburg Stock Exchange plans to introduce a regional contract for Zambian white maize later this year.

　　约翰内斯堡证券交易所计划在今年晚些时候为赞比亚白玉米引入区域性合同。

　　For lucrative¹⁶ export crops like coffee, well-established offshore¹⁷ exchanges may make more sense than starting from scratch at home.

　　对于利润丰厚的出口作物如咖啡豆，选择久享盛誉的海外交易所可能比从零开始的本土交易所更明智。

　　Better a functioning exchange somewhere else than a disappointing one on the doorstep.

　　其他地方正常运营的交易所好过门前让人失望的。

　　1.known for 因...而出名

　　例句:He was known for his poor grammar and punctuation¹⁸.

　　他不通语法和乱用标点是出了名的。

　　2.staple foods 主食

　　例句:Potatoes can be important staple foods, but balanced diets need to include other vegetables and whole grain foods.

　　马铃薯能够作为重要的主食，但是平衡的膳食需要包括其他蔬菜和全谷物食品。

　　3.make sense 有意义；讲得通

　　例句:There are some stylistic elements in the statue that just don't make sense.

　　这座雕像上的一些风格元素让人完全捉摸不透。

　　4.electronic transactions 电子交易

　　例句:Nonetheless, micropayments and electronic transactions are coming in2010.

　　尽管如此，小额支付和电子交易仍将在2010年广泛流行。

1 bespoke   

adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求

参考例句：

• His style of dressing bespoke great self-confidence. 他的衣着风格显得十分自信。
• The haberdasher presented a cap, saying,"Here is the cap your worship bespoke." 帽匠拿出一顶帽子来说：“这就是老爷您定做的那顶。” 来自辞典例句

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

4 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

5 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

6 mandating   

托管（mandate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Current requirements mandating that committees keep minutes are too general. 目前对委员会要保持详细记录的指令性要求，还是太过一般化了。
• Mandating that workers who quit without permission forfeit a month's wages. 规定工人私自离岗将受到罚没一个月工资的处罚。

7 fiat   

n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布

参考例句：

• The opening of a market stall is governed by municipal fiat.开设市场摊位受市政法令管制。
• He has tried to impose solutions to the country's problems by fiat.他试图下令强行解决该国的问题。

8 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。

9 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。

10 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

11 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

12 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。

13 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

14 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

15 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

16 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

17 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

18 punctuation   

n.标点符号，标点法

参考例句：

• My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
• A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。