商业报道:世界粮食危机

CNN's Eunice Yoon reports on the developing world's position in the debate over who is to blame for rising food prices.

In India, Food Courts, packed with middle class families, these days eating bigger meals more frequently with greater choice. To Anshul Singhal, it's a sign of the good economic times. “So it's people who are poor, and the poor are getting rich and they can afford food for two times a day.”

But some point to this prosperity¹, as one key cause of record high food prices. New economic power houses, like China and India are often blamed, at least in part for the current food crisis². US president George. W. Bush had pointed³ to growing consumer demand in India as one reason prices are going up. But many in this part of the world say the real gluttons⁵ are: Certainly the rich countries, they not only consume⁴ much more, the amount of food that you waste is just huge. He might have a point.

According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the average American eats 3,770 calories of food a day, compared to 2,940 calories in China or 2,440 calories in India. Americans are also some of the biggest consumers of beef, a food that takes a lot of energy to produce. Chinese agriculturalist Zhouli goes as far as to call the United States a quote "food imperialist ". Li says American food aid and farm subsidies⁶ discourage farmers in poorer countries from raising their own crops.

Some also blame high food prices on the international push to use grain as fuel for cars instead of food for people. American Agro-economist Lester Brown agrees and says he's not surprised / the debate over food is turning ugly. "What we are now seeing is the emergence⁷ of a politics of food scarcity⁸, unlike anything we've seen before." And many food experts say that the blame game is set to get even uglier as nations battle it out in this global food fight/. Eunice Yoon,CNN, Beijing.

1 prosperity   

n.繁荣，昌盛，成功

参考例句：

• I wish you the life of happiness and prosperity. 我祝你生活幸福、万事如意。
• A prosperity never seen before appeared in the countryside.农村出现了前所未有的繁荣。

2 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 consume   

vt.花费，消费；毁灭；vi.消费掉；枯萎

参考例句：

• They generally consume more power and take up more space,too.它们通常消耗更多的能量，并且占用更多的空间。
• The British consume a vast amount of tea each year.英国人每年消费大量的茶叶。

5 gluttons   

贪食者( glutton的名词复数 )； 贪图者； 酷爱…的人； 狼獾

参考例句：

• NIV for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. [和合]因为好酒贪食的，必致贫穷；好17睡觉的，必穿破烂衣服。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

8 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。