VOA常速英语2008年-Cotton Remains King in Karachi

By Steve Herman
Karachi
13 March 2008

Pakistan is one of the world's top cotton producers. With one out of every five Pakistani farmers growing the crop, supplying millions of spindles and looms¹ and hundreds of mills, the cotton industry is the country's largest economic sector², not counting the service industry. But Pakistan is not able to raise all the cotton it needs. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman visited the Karachi Cotton Exchange to find out why.

The voices of excited traders no longer bellow³ through the marble-lined Cotton Ring inside the Karachi Cotton Exchange. Trading has gone electronic. But at mid-day a few men still huddle⁴ around a small table in a room of the Karachi Cotton Association to set the official spot rate for what is called base grade three cotton.

Pakistani fiber⁵ is greatly desired around the world because it is considered the strongest cotton grown anywhere, able to withstand pressure of 90,000 pounds per square inch.

But few overseas can get their hands on the country's cotton these days. Domestic demand outstrips⁶ supply. And a nation which exported 4.5 million bales as recently as 1989 has seen those lucrative⁷ overseas shipments reduced to a relatively⁸ thin strand⁹.

Since the 1980s when Indian and Pakistani cotton production were at parity¹⁰ - about 10 million bales per year - India's output has tripled while Pakistan's has stagnated¹¹.

One of the country's cotton barons¹² says "do not blame the farmers." Pakistan Cotton Association former chairman Akbar Ali Hashwani puts the blame on practically everybody else in the business.

"Mismanagement, corruption¹³ - whether it is in the formation of the seeds, as well as the fertilizer is concerned, the pesticide¹⁴ is concerned [and] admixture," he said. "So in every sector you find there is dishonesty. So farmers are always at the mercy of these people."

To keep up with demand for its domestic mills, Pakistan finds itself in the unenviable position of importing cotton from rival India next door, which sends two-thirds of its exports to China.

Former cotton association chairman Hashwani, who heads one of Pakistan's biggest trading companies, tells VOA he is not ready to throw in the towel on cotton, despite the frustrations¹⁵.

"We have diversified," he said. "We are in textiles. We are in the mining business. Rice, we are the biggest exporter from here. This something, you know, it is inbuilt in your blood that you are a cotton man. We always want to have the hope, you live on hopes."

That hope is based on Pakistan already possessing the land, water and manpower that could allow production to double in the next several years. But Hashwani and others say that will only happen if the industry gets adequate support from the incoming democratically-elected government and works to root out corruption. If that happens, Pakistan may again be a top exporter for a domestic product still in high demand.

1 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 bellow   

v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道

参考例句：

• The music is so loud that we have to bellow at each other to be heard.音乐的声音实在太大，我们只有彼此大声喊叫才能把话听清。
• After a while,the bull began to bellow in pain.过了一会儿公牛开始痛苦地吼叫。

4 huddle   

vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人

参考例句：

• They like living in a huddle.他们喜欢杂居在一起。
• The cold wind made the boy huddle inside his coat.寒风使这个男孩卷缩在他的外衣里。

5 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

6 outstrips   

v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Technology daily outstrips the ability of our institutions to cope with its fruits. 技术发展的速度超过了我们的制度所能应付其成果的程度。 来自辞典例句
• The significance of the foreign exchange market outstrips its impressive size. 外汇市场的意义超出了它给人的印象尺度。 来自互联网

7 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

10 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

11 stagnated   

v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句
• His mind has stagnated since his retirement. 他退休后头脑迟钝了。 来自辞典例句

12 barons   

男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨

参考例句：

• The barons of Normandy had refused to countenance the enterprise officially. 诺曼底的贵族们拒绝正式赞助这桩买卖。
• The barons took the oath which Stephen Langton prescribed. 男爵们照斯蒂芬？兰顿的指导宣了誓。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

14 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

15 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。