VOA标准英语2009年-Speculators Cause New Price for Garlic

Alison Klayman 17 December 2009

Over the last few months garlic prices have risen 40 times in some parts of China, the world's main garlic supplier. A smaller garlic crop and frenzied¹ speculation² gave consumers nationwide a reason to complain at the market, just as some are hoping to increase their garlic intake³ to help counter the H1N1 flu. 

This is a typical conversation one might overhear in a local Beijing market - a customer and vegetable seller commiserating⁴ over the rising cost of produce.

Wang Yanlin has been selling vegetables in this market on Beijing's east side for five years now.  She says in the last month or so most customers comment on the rising price of one item in particular: garlic.

She says her wholesale⁵ price for half a kilogram of garlic rose to 65 cents this year, up from around 20 cents last year.

Beginning this fall, China has been experiencing a garlic bubble.  Prices rose forty times in some areas of Shandong, China's main garlic-growing province.  In big city wholesale markets, garlic prices increased ten times, and consumers nationwide often pay four times more at the store.  For comparison, the prices of commodities like crude oil and copper⁶ just about doubled this year.

China supplies three-quarters of the world's garlic. Chinese garlic is often cheaper because of lower labor⁷ costs.  Last year the financial crisis lowered demand, and much of the garlic harvest went unsold.  This prompted farmers to plant around 50 percent less this year.

The impact of the garlic crop shortfall was exacerbated⁸ by speculators rushing in to buy up harvests.  Because garlic does not spoil quickly, it is possible to purchase and delay resale until the prices go up.  Chen Shuwei, an analyst⁹ at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants¹⁰, says the garlic market is small and therefore easy to manipulate.

Chen says even though farmers planted less garlic this year, their actions do not influence the market as much as trade does.  Many of the speculators were not high-level business-types.  Chen heard about a group of warehouse¹¹ workers in Shandong who earned millions of Chinese yuan by buying and selling 700 tons of garlic.

Analysts¹² say this bubble is a symptom of the liquidity¹³ that followed too much bank lending as part of China's economic stimulus¹⁴ policy.

Some in the garlic industry argue that garlic prices often fluctuate if you take a longer view. 

Andy Chen is a founder¹⁵ of Jining Land Produce, an international produce supplier based in Shandong.  He says garlic was not always a cheap commodity.

Garlic trader Chen says in 2007 garlic prices dropped too low, and the current price hike is partly a market correction. Both Andy Chen and analyst Chen Shuwei predict garlic prices will eventually come down slightly, but not significantly.

Many Chinese media reports have cited another reason for the garlic bubble.  Some say there has been an unusually high demand for garlic because traditional Chinese doctors are recommending garlic to protect against the H1N1 influenza¹⁶.  In the city of Hangzhou near Shanghai, state-run media reported a high school bought more than 400 pounds of garlic for student lunches to help boost their immune systems. 

Traditional Chinese medicine doctor Lan Yifang recommends his patients eat a small amount of garlic every day to help prevent colds.  He says, much like penicillin¹⁷, garlic has a spectrum¹⁸ of positive effects on people's health.

Dr. Lan says garlic strengthens the immune system, which helps in both prevention and recovery from colds and even H1N1.  He says traditional medicine in many Asian cultures, including Japan and South Korea, promotes eating garlic.

Meanwhile, an official at the Beijing Center for Disease Control says there is no scientific proof garlic can prevent the virus.  H1N1 has killed more than 300 people in China.

Back at the produce market, one of Wang Yanlin's customers, also surnamed Wang, says he has to cut down on his garlic purchases because of the high prices.  For health reasons he sometimes eats half a bulb over raw garlic.

Wang says garlic is good for the eyes, among other health benefits. The only downside he sees is the lingering bad breath.

Vegetable seller Wang Yanlin says over the last few months of price hikes she has been having trouble selling garlic.

She says the best vegetable to sell is cabbage, which remains¹⁹ cheap.  She calls it the vegetable of the regular people.

 

1 frenzied   

a.激怒的；疯狂的

参考例句：

• Will this push him too far and lead to a frenzied attack? 这会不会逼他太甚，导致他进行疯狂的进攻？
• Two teenagers carried out a frenzied attack on a local shopkeeper. 两名十几岁的少年对当地的一个店主进行了疯狂的袭击。

2 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

3 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

4 commiserating   

v.怜悯，同情( commiserate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tigress, far from commiserating, offered her a loan (repayable later on) to make herself more presentable. 虎妞不但不安慰小福子，反倒愿意帮她的忙：虎妞愿意拿出点资本，教她打扮齐整，挣来钱再还给她。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Were they commiserating or comparing notes? 他们是在同病相怜还是在合对口供？ 来自电影对白

5 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

6 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

11 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。

12 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

13 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

14 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

15 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

16 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

17 penicillin   

n.青霉素，盘尼西林

参考例句：

• I should have asked him for a shot of penicillin.我应当让他给我打一针青霉素的。
• Penicillin was an extremely significant medical discovery.青霉素是极其重要的医学发现。

18 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

19 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。