新奇事件簿 委内瑞拉的购物者需要按指纹

There are many food shortages¹ in Venezuela. Many Venezuelans cannot buy basic goods. This problem is made worse because people buy too much of something when they see it in the stores. It's a kind of panic buying. President Nicolas Maduro has started a new system to stop people buying too much. Shoppers must soon start scanning² their fingerprints³ when they buy food at grocery stores and supermarkets. This is to make sure that more people can buy an equal share of food and groceries. Mr Maduro has not said when the new system will start, but people close to him say it could be January. It is also unclear how much food people can buy and what happens if they buy too much.

委内瑞拉的许多食品严重短缺。许多委内瑞拉人不能买到基本的生活用品。由于人们在超市看到某种商品后，大批量购买，导致问题更加严重。从而形成了一种恐慌性抢购。马杜罗总理决定采用一种新的系统来阻止人们大批量购买。当购物者在杂货店和超市购买商品的时候，他们必须马上扫描指纹。这是为了保证更多的人能够购买等额的食品和生活用品。马杜罗没有明确表示新系统开始实施的时间，但是与他关系紧密的人称，新系统应该是在1月施行。人们能够购买的食品数量也不明确，购买过多的后果也不清楚。

There are many reasons for Venezuela's food shortages. The government blames smugglers who buy cheap goods and take them to Colombia to resell them for up to four times their original price. Another reason is that the government controls the price of food. Many food companies say the price is too low for them to make a profit, so they do not produce as much as they could. A final reason is the strength of the US dollar against Venezuela's currency. This means it is very expensive to import food from other countries. Critics say the fingerprinting⁴ takes away people's privacy⁵ and will not work. They say the whole economy needs to change and that the government needs to have less control.

委内瑞拉食品短缺的原因很多。政府谴责那些在国内购买便宜商品的走私者，把商品运送到哥伦比亚，并以高出原价四倍的价格售卖。另一原因是，政府控制食品价格。许多食品公司称，价格太低导致他们很难获利，所以他们不会生产很多食品。最终的原因是，美元对委内瑞拉货币的汇率。这意味着委内瑞拉从其他国家进口食品的价格会很高。批判者称，指纹识别会造成个人隐私的泄露，而且不会起作用。他们说，整个的经济状况需要改变，而且政府控制应当减少。

1 shortages   

n.不足( shortage的名词复数 )；缺少；缺少量；不足额

参考例句：

• Food shortages often occur in time of war. 在战争期间常常发生粮食短缺的情形。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• At the same time, worldwide food and fuel shortages eased. 同时，世界性粮食和石油短缺的现象终止了。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

2 scanning   

v.扫描

参考例句：

• He turns the bicycle about scanning the hand brakes. 他把一辆自行车转过来转过去，仔细研究那手刹车。 来自辞典例句
• Scanning was first used in the transmission of pictures by telegraph. 最先应用扫描法是用电报传播图像。 来自辞典例句

3 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 fingerprinting   

v.指纹( fingerprint的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Institutions from banks to pawnshops are fingerprinting to authenticate transactions. 从银行到当铺，都在使用指纹识别对交易进行验证。 来自互联网
• In addition, a digital fingerprinting algorithm based on binary codes is described. 介绍了一种二进制指纹编码方案。 来自互联网

5 privacy   

n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权

参考例句：

• In such matters,privacy is impossible.在这类事情中，保密是不可能的。
• She wept in the privacy of her own room.她在自己房内暗暗落泪。