VOA慢速英语 2008 1216a

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The United Nations says forty million more people around the world went hungry this year, mainly because of higher food prices. Early estimates from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization show that nine hundred sixty-three million people did not get enough to eat. That represents fourteen percent of the world population.
　

A Cambodian teacher serves rice during a school meal supported by the U.N. World Food Program

World food prices have dropped since early this year. But F.A.O. official Hafez Ghanem says lower prices have failed to end the food crisis¹ in many poor countries. "For millions in developing countries," he says, "eating the minimum amount of food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream."

This year's report on food insecurity warns that the current economic crisis could send even more people into hunger and poverty.

Prices of major cereal² crops have decreased by more than half from their highs earlier this year. But they remain high compared to earlier years.

Seed and fertilizer prices have more than doubled since two thousand six. As a result, the F.A.O. says cereal production in developing countries may increase just one percent this year. Developed countries are likely to have gains of at least ten percent.

The agency says two-thirds of the world's undernourished live in just seven countries. These are India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage who continually go hungry fell from thirty-four percent in nineteen ninety-seven to thirty percent in two thousand five. But the F.A.O. says Ghana is the only country that has reached two sets of hunger reduction targets. These were set by the nineteen ninety-six World Food Summit³ and the Millennium⁴ Development Goals. The main reason is growth in agricultural production in Ghana.

The F.A.O. says some countries in Southeast Asia like Thailand and Vietnam have made progress toward hunger reduction goals. But South Asia and Central Asia have had setbacks.

A separate report predicts that a deficit⁵ in cereal production will increase hunger in North Korea. About forty percent of North Koreans are expected to need food aid in the coming year, even after a harvest that was better than usual. Officials from the F.A.O. and the World Food Program visited North Korea in October. They found that crops there will not meet the needs of close to nine million people.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 cereal   

n.谷类，五谷，禾谷

参考例句：

• I have hot cereal every day for breakfast.我每天早餐吃热麦片粥。
• Soybeans are handled differently from cereal grains.大豆的加工处理与谷类的加工处理不同。

3 summit   

n.最高点，峰顶；最高级会议；极点

参考例句：

• They climbed up the mountain and reached the summit.他们爬山，最终达到了山顶。
• The summit of the mountain is lost in the cloud and mist.山顶隐没在云雾之中。

4 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。