VOA常速英语2008年-The World Bank: World Hunger Growing

By Mil Arcega
Washington
11 April 2008
 

World Bank President Robert Zoellick says the escalating¹ price of food is stunting² opportunities and creating hardship for people in poor countries.  The international lending organization says it aims to double agricultural business investment this year and called on rich countries to help offset³ the rising cost of food.  Speaking to reporters ahead of the World Bank/IMF meetings this weekend, Zoellick said World Bank members must step up efforts to stave off what he called a "growing emergency" in developing countries. VOA's Mil Arcega reports.

The World Bank says Sub-Saharan countries will be among the hardest hit by the skyrocketing cost of food.  Speaking to reporters on Thursday, World Bank President

Robert Zoellick says the situation in the world's poorest countries makes the financial problems in developed nations seem trivial in comparison.

"While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs - and it's getting more and more difficult everyday,” he said.

World Bank studies show the price of wheat has more than doubled in the past year, while the price of rice has risen at least 75 percent.

"In Bangladesh, a two kilogram bag of rice like this now consumes about half of the daily income of a poor family,”  said Zoellick.

Zoellick says the upcoming spring meetings by members of the International Monetary⁴ Fund and the World Bank must do more than recognize the crisis.  He called on rich countries to act quickly to expand safety net programs for poor nations and provide at least $500 million to meet their emergency food needs.

"This is not just about meals foregone today or about increasing social unrest.  This is about lost learning potential for children and adults in the future - stunted⁵ intellectual and physical growth.  Even more, we estimate that the effects of this food crisis on poverty reduction worldwide is on the order of seven lost years," he added.

Food riots have already erupted in developing nations where people spend as much as 60 percent of their income on food.  The U.N. and World Bank blame the rising cost of food on a combination of factors including climate change, higher energy prices and the growing demand for biofuels.

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 stunting   

v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective To report three-year-old twin brothers with speech stunting. 目的报道孪生兄弟同患语言发育迟缓的临床结果。 来自互联网
• No one should talk while stunting except coach or back spotter. 在技巧进行的过程中，只有教练或后保能说话。 来自互联网

3 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

4 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。

5 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。