新奇事件簿 委内瑞拉没收400万儿童玩具

The government of Venezuela has seized nearly 4 million children's toys from a toy distributor. It will give the toys to children for free or at discounted prices in time for Christmas. The government says the distributor was unfairly charging high prices for the toys, which meant only the richest people could buy them. Venezuela has one of the highest rates of inflation¹ in the world. This is the rate at which prices go up. The IMF says the rate could be as much as 2,000 per cent in 2017. Many Venezuelans can't afford to buy non-essential items like toys. Even a jar of Nutella can cost half the monthly² minimum³ salary. In the past few months, Venezuela has also ordered price cuts on clothes.

委内瑞拉政府从一个玩具批发商那里没收了近400万件儿童玩具。这些玩具将在圣诞节前免费赠送给孩子或者打折出售。政府表示，这家批发商出售玩具的价格过高，只有富人才买得起。委内瑞拉拥有全世界最高的通胀率，也就是物价上涨率。IMF表示，到2017年，委内瑞拉的通胀率将高达2000%。许多委内瑞拉人买不起玩具等非必需品。一罐巧克力酱都要花掉半个月的最低薪资。过去几个月，委内瑞拉还下令下调服装价格。

In total, the government seized 3,821,926 toys from two warehouses⁴. It tweeted: "Our children are sacred. We will not let anyone rob them at Christmas. Boys and girls of this country will have a happy Christmas." The government said the toy distributor was keeping the toys out of the shops to reduce their supply and so increase prices. The government also accused the company of buying them with dollars it got at very low rates several years ago and now wanted to sell the toys at much higher prices. The toy distributor has said it has done nothing wrong and was not trying to sell the toys at high prices to make huge profits. It said many of the toys were out of fashion.

政府总共从两个仓库没收了3,821,926件玩具。政府发表推文称：“我们的孩子是神圣的。我们不会让任何人在圣诞节抢劫他们。这个国家的男孩女孩们都将度过一个快乐的圣诞节。”政府表示，玩具批发商一直给商场断供，减少供应量，囤积居奇来提高价格。政府还指控该公司以几年前低汇率购入的美元来购买这些玩具，然后以高得多的价格来出售。该玩具批发商辩解称，他们没有做错任何事，并没有试图高价出售这些玩具来牟取暴利。该公司称，许多玩具已经过时了。

1 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

2 monthly   

adj.每月的，持续一个月的，每月发生的；adv.每月，按月； n.月刊；(复数）monthlies:月经

参考例句：

• The rent on his apartment was his biggest monthly expense.他的房租是每个月最大的开支。
• The monthly rent is $15,inclusive of light and water.每月租金15美元，包括水电费在内。

3 minimum   

adj.最低的，最小的；n.最小量，最低限度

参考例句：

• What is the minimum price?最低价是多少？
• Today's minimum temperature is 10℃.今天的最低气温是10℃。

4 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。