VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS 2013-05-21 Good Economic News, but Poverty Continues. Why?

 

AS IT IS 2013-05-21 Good Economic News, but Poverty Continues. Why?

Hello again, and welcome to As It Is, VOA’s daily magazine show for people learning American English.

I’m Christopher Cruise.

Today on the program, we report on the fight against illegal logging operations in West and Central Africa.. 

“The systemic nature of them in the other countries, if not controlled, could lead to similar destruction.”

And we go back 86 years to the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean..

“Nations and races are not separated by the traditional obstacles of earthbound travel.”

But first, why do so many people in Africa still live in poverty after years of reports about the area’s growing economy?  

Good Government Economic Reports, But Persistent¹ Poverty 

Official economic reports often show progress in Africa's economic development. But many people on the continent continue to live in poverty. VOA’s Peter Heinlein spoke² to one economic expert who says the truth about Africa is often hidden in misleading information..

The International Monetary³ Fund and The Economist⁴ magazine say Africa has passed Asia as the fastest-growing continent. They predict that seven of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies over the next five years will be in Africa.

Yet many of these countries are among the world’s poorest. Why is that?

Morten Jerven is an economic historian at Simon Fraser University in Canada. He believes the numbers being reported are misleading. He says his research shows the numbers often appear to be manipulated, or even made up by governments.

He says government agencies are under pressure to tell their leaders, and possible aid donors⁵, that development programs are working.

“There is one big problem, is that, you know, there is always political pressure. In any statistical⁶ office in any country of the world, would know more or less what the number the executive politicals ((politicians)) would like to have.”

Morten Jerven says the problem is made worse by large international development agencies that gather the information and then pass it on. He says the involvement of these agencies can often influence people to accept the economic statistics, even when they are misleading.

“There should be clearer descriptions about how unreliable these data are. And we’d like to think that these numbers mean something, but most of the time we are just guessing, and we are, we are very often fooled when we do this.”

He says the statistics are sometimes created for political reasons.

“In Malawi, is an example of that, where every year since they introduced the fertilizer subsidy⁷, every year Malawi could report even higher maize⁸ production in the country, to an extent that it became ridiculous, because either Malawians were putting on a lot of weight or Malawians would have to export maize, or the maize production numbers were just simply not true.”

Morten Jerven studied reports from eight African countries. Twenty other countries were included in an email study.

The full study was published in a book called “Poor Numbers: How We are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do About It?”

I’m Peter Heinlein.

Illegal Logging Threatens West and Central Africa

A new report says politically-powerful people, forestry⁹ officials and companies are using small-scale permits to ignore rules in West and Central Africa. The report says the use of such permits puts the European Union and the United States at risk of importing illegal timber.

June Simms has the story...

Some countries give small businesses permission to cut trees in community forests. But the environmental group Global Witness says the permits are being used by large companies to cut trees illegally.

The group says logging companies in Liberia recently used “private use permits” in ways they were not supposed to. It says they cut more than 40 percent of the country’s forests during a two-year period.  In addition to Liberia, the new Global Witness report examines the use of shadow permits in Ghana, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

David Young works on forestry issues for the group.

“The area involved proportionately in Liberia is much greater than in, than in the other countries. So it was a much bigger threat to Liberia’s forests. But the systemic nature of them in the other countries, if not controlled, could lead to similar destruction.”

Investigations¹¹ led Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to announce a ban on the permits. She also promised to investigate officials who had approved the questionable¹² uses.

“The good news in, in Liberia is that the president issued an executive decree early in 2013 to completely close down the private use permits. And she has promised criminal investigations and prosecutions¹³ where necessary. But that was back in January. We’re now in May and we haven’t seen much progress in that investigation¹⁰ and those prosecutions.”

He says the process of awarding shadow permits remains¹⁴ secret. He says that means abuses can continue. He says the secrecy¹⁵ means that by the time abuses are discovered by non-governmental groups or by reporters, much of the damage has been done.

The European Union Timber Regulation went into effect last month. It bans the trading of illegal timber on European markets. Global Witness urges the EU and the United States to consider any timber logged under shadow permits to be high risk and possibly illegal. 

I’m June Simms.

Historic Flight from the United States to Europe

Now, we go back in time 86 years -- to May 20th, 1927. That was the day American pilot Charles Lindbergh left an air field near New York City on the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. 

A few friends watched Lindbergh’s airplane -- called the “Spirit of Saint Louis” -- lift off from the muddy runway. 

Thirty-three hours and 39 minutes later, almost 100,000 people watched him arrive safely at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France.

Lindberg’s flight across the Atlantic excited people around the world. The flight made the once unknown airmail pilot internationally famous. Governments and large companies asked his opinions on the future of aviation. Reporters called him “Lucky Lindy.”  

In 1930 he spoke to a group of aviation officials.

“Possibly the most important effect [of commercial aviation] will be on international relations. When measured in hours of flying time, the great distances of the Old World no longer exist. Nations and races are not separated by the traditional obstacles of earthbound travel. There are no inland cities of the air, and no natural obstructions¹⁶ to its commerce.” 

A few years later, Charles Lindbergh became an anti-war activist¹⁷. Some people accused him of supporting Nazi¹⁸ Germany and of being anti-Semitic and opposing Jews. But during World War Two, as a civilian¹⁹, he flew battle missions in the Pacific, and shot down several Japanese planes. 

After the war, Lindbergh worked for Pan American World Airways²⁰. He was also a brigadier general in the United States Air Force Reserve. He died of cancer in 1974 at age 72.

That’s As It Is for today.

1 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

7 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

8 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

9 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

12 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

13 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

16 obstructions   

n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠

参考例句：

• The absence of obstructions is of course an idealization. 没有障碍物的情况当然是一种理想化的情况。 来自辞典例句
• These obstructions could take some weeks to clear from these canals. 这些障碍物可能要花几周时间才能从运河中清除掉。 来自辞典例句

17 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

18 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

19 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

20 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。