VOA常速英语2015--俄罗斯销毁西方食物和鲜花（在线收听）

俄罗斯销毁西方食物和鲜花

MOSCOW— Russia has burned flowers from Holland in a battle against Western imports that saw the destruction of hundreds of tons of food in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine. Critics say the action is unethical while Russia is struggling against rising poverty.

Russia added Dutch flowers to the fire just days after officials destroyed more than 500 tons of banned Western food imports. Authorities say the flowers may have dangerous bugs. But political analysts say the timing with a Dutch-led investigation into the downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine is meant to send a message.

就在俄罗斯官方毁掉500多吨被禁的西方进口食品的几天后，又将荷兰的鲜花放火烧了。当局称这些鲜花可能含有危险害虫，但政治分析家称这与荷兰为首对马航飞机在乌克兰被击落事件的调查时间上相巧合也意在传达一个信息。

“I do not think that this is coincidence. This is one more PR [public relations] action in this anti-Western mainstream," said Andrei Kolesnikov, of Moscow's Carnegie Center.

莫斯科卡耐基中心的安德烈·柯列斯尼可夫说，“我认为这不是巧合，这是这场反西方潮流的公关行动。”

Dutch investigators say they found suspected Russian missile fragments at the crash site. Meanwhile, the Kremlin blames Kyiv and suggests numerous Western conspiracies seeking to tarnish Russia's image.

荷兰调查人员称他们在坠机地点发现疑似俄罗斯导弹的残片，同时，克里姆林宫指责基辅，称西方为玷污俄罗斯的形象进行了无数场阴谋。

But critics say images of food destruction, when millions of Russians live in poverty, show officials are the ones doing harm.

但批评家称，在数百万俄罗斯人生活在贫困之时，这些毁掉食品的图片表明官方是造成破坏的人。

“This is the main point, ethical point, of this action. Because, for many many years there was hunger in Russia," said Kolesnikov.

“这就是这一行动的要点，伦理方面的要点，因为多年来俄罗斯一直存在饥饿问题。”

Authorities say the food ban is stimulating domestic substitutes, but it is also reducing competition and flooding the market with lower quality products.

当局称食物禁令刺激了国内的替代品，但也减少了竞争，让质量低下的产品进入市场。

“The situation is quite bad. With competition, with inflation, with consumer moods, with ... GDP growth, not growth, but decrease in GDP," continued Kolesnikov.

“这一局面很不好，竞争、通胀、消费者情绪和不增反降的GDP。”

Russia bans food from Australia, Canada, the European Union, Norway, and the United States. The Kremlin plans to add more countries to its banned food list to include those supporting EU sanctions against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine.

俄罗斯禁止来自澳大利亚、加拿大、欧盟、挪威和美国的食品，克里姆林宫计划将更多国家加入食品禁令名单中，包括那些支持欧盟因俄罗斯在乌克兰行动而对俄罗斯施加制裁的国家。