新奇事件簿 马铃薯短缺造成薯片末日

Potato lovers in New Zealand could be in for a big shock. New Zealand is facing a possible potato shortage¹ in the next few months. This means there could be a lack of potato chips (crisps in British English) until next year. Newspapers are calling this situation the "chipocalypse". They combined the words "chip" and "apocalypse" to make this new word. A possible chipocalypse is because of a very wet winter in New Zealand. This has hit potato growers. In some areas, a third of the potato crop has been lost. The wet weather has particularly hit the potatoes that are used to make potato chips. This means makers² will make fewer potato chips and prices for potato chips will be higher.

新西兰马铃薯爱好者将遭遇巨大冲击。未来几个月，新西兰可能面临马铃薯短缺。这意味着薯片（在英国英语中叫作crisps）在明年之前都会短缺。报纸称这种情况为“薯片末日”。他们把“薯片”和“末日”两个词综合起来，组成了新词。可能出现薯片末日是因为新西兰目前正处于非常多雨的天气，对马铃薯种植者造成了冲击。在有些地区，马铃薯损失达三分之一。多雨的天气使得专门用来制作薯片的马铃薯遭遇的损失最大。这意味着商家制作的薯片数量减少，价格会提高。

A spokesman³ for New Zealand potato farmers told the Radio Live NZ news station about the problem. Chris Claridge, head of Potatoes New Zealand, said: "It started raining in March, and it just simply hasn't stopped. We've had the entire year's worth of rainfall already, so the rainfall is 25 per cent above average and while that might not sound like a lot what it means is it's continuous, so the soils never get a chance to dry out." He added: "Potatoes are actually alive. They need to breathe, and so effectively they drown, and then they start to rot because they're submerged in water." A major supermarket chain said: "We are working closely with our suppliers to manage supply as much as possible."

新西兰马铃薯种植者一名发言人将这个问题反映给新西兰无线直播新闻台。新西兰马铃薯联盟负责人Chris Claridge表示：“从三月份开始就下雨，一直没有停。现在的降雨量已经达到以前的全年降雨量了，今年的降雨比以前的平均降雨量多了25%，听上去或许不是很多，但是关键是降雨还在继续，所以土壤很难变干。”他补充说：“马铃薯是有生命的，它们需要呼吸，而现在实际上正在溺水，开始腐烂，因为他们被浸泡在水下。”一个大型连锁超市表示：“我们正与供应商密切合作，尽可能解决供应问题。”

 

1 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

2 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。