(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
The United Nations says hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. There has been progress since 1990 toward ending hunger. But it is estimated that more than 840 million people worldwide still do not have enough to eat.
Asma Lateef is the director of The Bread for the World Institute. She says there is now a chance to end world hunger – and not just react to emergencies.
"Well, I think we are in a good space right now. I think for the first time in human history we have the prospect of ending global hunger within a generation – by 2030," Lateef said.
Ms Lateef says many countries have work together to try to end hunger worldwide.
"This has been due to a lot of deliberate work on the part of governments around the world, particularly the governments of countries that are hardest hit by hunger – but also by the support of the United States and the leadership of the United States," Lateef said.
In 1996, the U.N. World Food Summit released a document known as the Rome Declaration. It called for reducing the number of hungry people by half within 20 years. Ms Lateef says when the document was released there was no plan on how to meet that goal.
"There was a great focus on industrialization. I think people felt that if you helped countries develop and have economic growth that that would address hunger as well. And so you did find, actually, a huge reduction in extreme poverty around the world. But that didn't translate into – necessarily at the same pace – a reduction in hunger," Lateef said.
Ms Lateef says a food security crisis in 2008 caused by high prices and shortages, caused countries and organizations to change the way they fight hunger.
"It was the global response that came as a result of that food price crisis. It was a real wake-up call. Riots around the world as people were really struggling to be able to afford food and prices of basic commodities had just skyrocketed. That got the attention of a lot of policymakers, including U.S. leaders at the time. And since then, the Obama administration has really made food security and hunger a priority within global development programs and has galvanized global attention to this issue," Lateef said.
Ms Lateef says the crisis helped political leaders understand that food insecurity was a threat to national security. She says policies developed during that crisis have helped reduce hunger.
"We're very close to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015. We won't make that target because it's next year and because of the food price crisis, but the effort that's been put in over the last few years really puts us on track," Lateef said.
She says enough food is being produced now to feed everyone on the planet. But she says many people do not have enough money to pay for it.
And that's the VOA Learning English Agriculture Report. I'm Caty Weaver.
文本来自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.tuberculosis n. 肺结核；结核病
Tuberculosis can be reactivated by overwork.
肺结核病可以由于过度劳累而复发。
2.wake-up call 警钟；叫醒服务；电话叫醒服务
He urged her to treat the arrest as a wake-up call.
他力劝她把这次拘捕当作一次警钟。
3.galvanize vt. 镀锌；通电；刺激
The aid appeal has galvanized the country's business community.
这份援助呼吁已使该国的商界采取行动。
4.skyrocket n. 流星烟火；冲天火箭 vi. 飞涨，突然高升 vt. 使…猛然上涨
Production has dropped while prices and unemployment have skyrocketed.
在物价和失业人数猛增的同时，生产却下降了。
内容解析
1.We won't make that target because it's next year and because of the food price crisis, but the effort that's been put in over the last few years really puts us on track.
put on track 纳入正轨
Production has already been put on the right track.
生产已经走上轨道。
It is our responsibility to put them on the right track.
我们有责任帮助他们走上正道。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
联合国称每年因饥饿死亡的人数超过死于艾滋病、疟疾和肺结核的人数之和。自1990年努力终结饥饿以来已有进步，但估计全世界仍有8.4亿多人仍没有足够的食物。
阿斯玛·拉蒂夫是施世面包组织主任，她说现在有机会终结世界范围内的饥饿，而不仅仅是应对紧急情况。
“我认为我们现在的机会很好，在人类历史上我们首次可以展望在2030年之前，也就是一代人的时间内终结全球饥饿。”
拉蒂夫说很多国家已经联合起来试图终结全世界的饥饿问题。
“这是因为全世界各国政府都进行了大量认真的工作，尤其是受饥饿影响最严重的国家的政府，美国和美国领导层也提供了帮助。”
1996年，联合国世界粮食峰会发布名为《罗马宣言》的文件，呼吁在20年内将饥饿人数减半。拉蒂夫说当这份文件公布时，并没有如何实现该目标的计划。
“过去我们很关注工业化，我想人们认为只要帮助这些国家发展，有了经济发展就能解决饥饿问题。我们发现极端贫困确实有了很大减轻，但并没有以同样的速度转化为饥饿的减少。”
拉蒂夫说2008年高粮价和粮食短缺导致的粮食安全危机使得各国和各组织开始改变解决饥饿的办法。
“粮价危机使得全球做出应对，这确实是个警钟。当人们艰难想办法应对食品和基本商品价格暴涨时，世界各地出现了暴动。这就引起很多政策制定者的关注，包括当时的美国领导人。自那时起，奥巴马政府确实将粮食安全和饥饿问题列入全球发展计划之内，并激发全世界对这个问题的关注。”
拉蒂夫说这场危机使得政治领袖们明白，粮食危机是对国家安定的一大威胁。她说危机期间制定的政策帮助减轻了饥饿问题。
“我们很快就要实现在2015年之前将饥饿人口减半的千年发展目标，我们不能实现这个目标，因为明年就是2015年了，而且由于出现了粮价危机，但是过去几年的举措使我们已步入正轨。”
她说现在已产出足够的食物来养活地球上的人口，但她说很多人没有足够的钱来买食物。
这就是美国之音慢速英语农业报道，我是凯蒂·韦弗。
