听力文本

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agricultural Report.

Afghan farmers have another big harvest this year, but officials at the United Nations and around the world are not celebrating.

The crop is opium, farmers have been busy harvest their opium poppies. Farmer Faiz Mohammed in Helmand province makes no apologies.

2013 expected opium cultivation levels in Afghanistan, by province.

"We are the poorest people in this area. If we don't cultivate poppies we can't feed ourselves and our family. We have tried to cultivate corn and wheat, but that is too cheap, doesn't bring a good income. And poppy crops bring good money."

The riches promised by opuim stands in contrast, to the rest of the country's struggling economy. Farmer Harie Abudola says profits are driving the opium production, not pressure from the Taliban.

"The Taliban have no influence here. The farmers themselves grow poppies because, compared to the price of wheat, there is a huge difference. For instance, we sell four kilograms of corn for 100 Afghanis [$1.89 USD] but poppies bring 2000-5000 Afghanis [$37.80-$94.57 USD]. This is for the benefit of the farmers, we see there is a huge difference in the price."

A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warns that Afghanistan could supply as much as 90% of the world's heroin, UN official Jean-Luc Lemahieu calls it a sign of failure.

"We have seen enormous inflow in this country over the last decades. And with regards to the drug control situation, we still see increases of the opium cultivation, so we cannot say in any way, based on the facts, that we have succeeded. We have failed."

And he warns that farmers are not the only ones becoming dependent on opium.

"It is one of the biggest diseases this country is facing at this moment - one million addicts. It is an enormous health problem. Who will pay for that?"

That question is far from that thoughts of opium farmers, who say they have no other way to feed their families.

The report released last week says opium production is especially high in the most unstable areas of Afghanistan. These are areas where the surge increase in American troops, helped beat back Taliban influence.

The report says insurgents use the insecurity in those areas, especially Helmand and Kandahar provinces. To win popular support, the insurgents also assisted opium farmers with their crops.

The UN says poor weather and crop disease lead to a reduction in the supply of opium last year. That reduction meant higher price. The report notes that the higher price of opium, makes it an even more attractive crop to grow now.

The UN says this is the third year in a row that opium poppy growing has increased in Afghanistan. This follows gains made by the government, in years of efforts to reduce the nation's share of the drug trade.

And that's the Agricultural Report from VOA Learning English. You can read, listen and learn English with more stories about agriculture at the voalearningenglish website. I am Karen Leggett.

文本转自51voa

译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载

词汇解释

1.opium poppy n. [毒物][植] 罂粟

Along the way I made out a patch of opium poppies waiting to be harvested.
沿路我还辨认出一片等待收割的罂粟田4a~&c~uk,ZQRt4.DGVt1。

2.heroin n. [药][毒物] 海洛因，吗啡

He had to surrender the watches to the police in which the heroin was hidden.
他被迫向警察交出了那些藏有海洛因的手表gDeTC~O)6=nPhh@n[*)。

3.addict n. 有瘾的人；入迷的人

The addict prowled about for a place to drug up.
瘾君子到处潜行找个地方吸毒+llyimgl7L~oIrPs6!8o。

4.in a row 连续；成一长行

They dropped two games in a row and were eliminated from the tournament.
他们在划船比赛中输了两场比赛，并被淘汰出局T3j8O)-@0*&#b。

参考译文

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道RGz#&G2C)mld&73o7X9@。

阿富汗农民今年再次大丰收，但联合国和全世界的官员们对此并不表示欢庆nNF5@AJV4K9nB7U。

这种作物是鸦片，农民们忙着收获罂粟4|PuwBCra;eV8。赫尔曼德省农民费兹·穆罕默德认为不庆祝是理所当然的Z[n5nfM-,&ga。

“我们是这地区最穷的人，如果我们不种罂粟，那就没办法养活自己和家人了8,O]!H_[6t]。我们曾试过种玉米和小麦，但太便宜了，收入不行9Vp#gI_^byb-ssA@EYV。还是种罂粟挣钱uAibx%T7~,qtxi7ucRR。”

与这里罂粟丰收带来的富足相比，该国其他地方经济每况日下]|qr9LOo;2z)|P)。农民Harie Abudola说，是利润促进了鸦片生产，而非塔利班的施压vNvd#EmLL2JoQv&1^8。

“塔利班在这里没有影响力，农民们自己种罂粟是因为，与小麦的价格相比，罂粟收入很高KLj)EMpYlgTp@。比如，每4千克玉米卖价100阿富汗尼(1.89美元)，但同样重量的罂粟卖价2000-5000阿富汗尼(37.80-94.57美元)Hul5K7&-op0o9MdT[d%。这对农民的收入来说，从价格上就可看到很大的差别Sy.W%r0.f5[g0q。”

联合国毒品与犯罪办公室的一份报告警告说，阿富汗人供应了全世界90%的海洛因，联合国官员雷马休称这是失败的信号+i%8(hfHmM&CfqazW。

“过去几十年，我们看到该国收入颇丰k8YLhX~ayuK%c&p=。在毒品控制局势方面，我们看到鸦片种植的增加，所以基于事实，我们无论如何都不能说我们成功了，事实上我们失败了|~#qum2m7cn^|k。”

他警告说，农民并非越发依赖鸦片的唯一群体aX6QRFC]Ekm|。

“这是我国目前面临的一大顽疾，100万瘾君子，这是巨大的健康问题，谁来为此买单呢？”

这些问题根本不在鸦片农民的思考之内，他们说没有养活家人的其他办法qWLwV6,bTE。

上周发布的报告称，阿富汗最动荡地区的鸦片产量非常高，这里阿富汗军队驻兵骤增以帮助击退塔利班的势力v%vN65hbNFc)f5LlbbT@。

报告称叛军利用这些地区的动乱兴风作乱，尤其是赫尔曼德省和坎大哈省+0wslkQpMVFyaY=4。叛军为获得民众支持，也帮助鸦片农民种植罂粟tk2UD7U0bB2rbDKF。

联合国称，去年的恶劣天气和作物病害导致鸦片供应下降8zi@G&Bd|z。这意味着价格上去了，报告称鸦片价格越高，人们更愿意种植罂粟8-az.;CdK,j。

联合国称，阿富汗的罂粟种植量已连续三年有所增加S5J%48-dHWS%jn|Y。此前，阿富汗政府经过多年努力，降低了该国在全球毒品交易中的份额cjRs86(-6(H=fkGl8。

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道，你可登陆voalearningenglish网站获取更多农业报道，我是凯伦·莱格特c&L90f!^=bFi6UpB7B&%。