VOA标准英语2014--埃博拉蔓延另一受害者——经济发展

 

Ebola Claims Another Victim: Economic Growth 埃博拉蔓延另一受害者——经济发展

The Ebola crisis may have begun in Guinea, but Liberia is among the hardest hit – with more than 13 hundred cases reported. 

Fear of the disease is spreading.

The planting season is being disrupted as workers flee from the farms, and trade and transportation has come to a halt where villages and border areas are quarantined. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says as a result, food prices in Liberia are rising.

It says the cost of the staple¹ cassava has increased by 150 percent and peppers by 133 percent. Prices are also going up for rice and even disinfectants like chlorine, that’s used to fight the disease.

The World Bank predicts reduced economic growth – including a drop in Guinea from 4.5 to 3.5 percent. Liberia’s finance minister says the country will not likely reach the expected yearly growth of 5.9 percent. In Sierra Leone, officials say the outbreak will is expected to reduce recent double-digit growth.

Investor² confidence

The extent of the economic downturn depends on the reaction of foreign investors³, who are showing concern, especially for the smaller countries in West Africa that have been hit the hardest – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Ruby⁴ Sandhu-Rojon, the deputy director for the African Bureau of the United Nations Development Program,  said "the three countries were just coming out of conflict and [it was] their time to build up investments from the outside [especially in mining and timber]. What you’re seeing in some of the cases including Sierra Leone [is that] some of the companies have pulled out or decreased their work, and that will have an effect [on the economy and on unemployment]."

A high ranking official in charge of Sierra Leone’s mineral resources told Reuters that miners are afraid to go to diamond-mining districts where Ebola cases have been found. Among the investors that have stopped operations in Liberia is the Australian iron-ore company Tawana Resources.  It has suspended all non-essential activities and sent home many African and foreign workers. Another foreign company in Liberia, the Calgary-based Canadian Oversea Petroleum⁵, has stopped drilling.

Health officials in New Delhi say if the crisis gets worse in the four West African countries, many of the 45 thousand Indians who  live there, including business people, may return home.

Mead⁶ Over, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, said "What worries me is there seems to be an inability by the international economic community and international business to discriminate⁷ between Ghana and Burkina Faso, that have  never reported a case of Ebola, and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.  I’ve heard about cancellations of trips to and business with other countries, including Nigeria. Putting major industrial plans on hold because of the Ebola crisis is not logical, it’s a fear response that’s not justified⁸."

Tourism

Regional officials say tourism is also at risk.

In Sierra Leone, a finance ministry⁹ official, Alimamy Bangura, told the French Press Agency that the outbreak is scaring away investors and is hitting the hotel industry.

In Nairobi, tour manager for Hallmark Travel Planners Levis Omandi said Ebola may affect tourism in Kenya as well.

He said several clients from North America and India have expressed concern about traveling to East Africa.  But he says those fears subsided¹⁰ in mid-August, when Kenya’s national airlines announced it would not fly to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

"[Since] the 15th of August when Kenya Airways¹¹ suspended their flights," he said, "fewer clients are showing concern. It seems as if that is no longer a concern for them and fewer are scared…. As long as the flights were continuing between Kenya and these countries, people were saying it was just a matter of time before someone with the virus travels here, infects other people and spreads [it]."

Measures to fight the virus are also affecting domestic trade.

Local markets have been disrupted by quarantining those who are ill or are thought to have been exposed to the virus. The markets have also been hurt by the crackdown on border crossings between three of the countries.

John Campbell, a Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa Political Studies at the Center for Foreign Relations, said in the short term, quarantining cuts back on economic activity.

"A population that is quarantined," he said, "cannot participate in buying and selling. A quarantined population cannot leave the area to go to work and cannot travel. It is an extremely serious step to take. But quarantining and tracing the contacts are the primary ways to stop the spread of Ebola. "

Local economy

Quarantining, hoarding¹² and looting have contributed to an increase in food prices.

Mead Over of the Center for Global Development said food price inflation and unemployment will not hit everyone the same way.

For example, in rural areas, subsistence farmers grow their own foods for home consumption and are largely protected from the economic fallout.  Over says traders will suffer because quarantining keeps them from selling and buying products. The likely result:  shortages of salt, vegetables and other common foods.

Over says the urban poor are hit hardest -- and are the most vulnerable to the spread of Ebola.

"Unlike in rural areas where people are not in very close contact," he said, "in the poor slums of Monrovia can the capitals of Guinea and Sierra Leone, people live cheek by jowl. So if an individual is infected in a slum where people live, the infected person is quite likely to infect all those immediately living with them."

The World Bank says past diseases spread from animals to humans in India and East Asia have been costly¹³: between $500 million to $50 billion dollars in disease control and lost economic activity.  

Cost of containment¹⁴

The World Health Organization estimates it could be $490 million dollars.    

UNDP official Sandhu-Rojon says a study is underway to evaluate the full impact of the outbreak on the countries affected¹⁵.  It will propose ways to rebuild their economies and health care systems.  And it will determine the financial and human resources needed by municipal officials to provide work. She says the UNDP report is expected to be out within three months.

The World Food Program is working to provide food and water for the quarantined. International agencies are responding to the health emergency with medical supplies and expertise¹⁶. And the World Bank is providing $200 million dollars in economic support.   

1 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

2 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

5 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

6 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

7 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

8 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 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。

12 hoarding   

n.贮藏；积蓄；临时围墙；囤积v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• After the war, they were shot for hoarding. 战后他们因囤积而被枪决。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Actually he had two unused ones which he was hoarding up. 其实他还藏了两片没有用呢。 来自英汉文学

13 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

14 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

15 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

16 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。