VOA常速英语2019--缺乏互联网接入让西弗吉尼亚人很受伤（在线收听）

Lack of Internet Access Hurting West Virginians

Work starts early at Sprouting Farms in this rural area of West Virginia.Employees handpick the organic produce, rinse, prepare and box it up on site, ready to distribute to area customers.The farm also serves as a training center for aspiring farmers who want to learn how to grow and market sustainable produce.The challenge is making that process profitable says project director Fritz Buettner.“In order to improve the bottom line for the farmer we have to keep what I would call the food hub costs down so that’s the cost of aggregation, distribution, marketing, all those things.”And that he says takes broadband connectivity which is limited or unavailable in rural areas such as this.“Right now I would say like half of our farmers maybe do not have access to a solid internet or even cell phone communication to make these types of transactions happen.”In the town of Hinton, a 30-minute drive from Sprouting Farms, connectivity is not an issue.Once a thriving railroad community, the town now depends on high-speed Internet to connect with the outside world.Ken Allman says his online business venture which connects hospitals and physicians around the world would not exist without access to high-speed Internet.

在西弗吉尼亚州的这个农村地区的新芽农场，人们很早就开始工作了。员工手工挑选有机农产品、冲洗、准备并在现场装箱，准备分发给地区客户。该农场还可作为那些想学习如何种植和销售可持续农产品的有抱负的农民的培训中心。项目总监Fritz Buettner说，挑战在于如何使这个过程有利可图。“为了提高农民的底线，我们必须降低我所说的食品中心成本，这就是聚集、分销、营销等所有这些方面的成本。”他说，这就需要宽带连接，而在这样的农村地区宽带连接会受限或并不可用。“现在我想说的是，我们一半的农民可能无法访问可靠的互联网，甚至无法通过手机通信来实现这些类型的交易。”在距新芽农场30分钟车程的辛顿镇，网络连接不是问题。这个小镇曾经是一个繁荣的铁路社区，现在依靠高速互联网与外界连接。Ken Allman说，如果没有高速互联网，他将无法在全球范围内建立连接医院和医生的在线商业经营项目。

“The fact that our team of people in Hinton West Virginia are working with people in Mumbai India or in Tel Aviv Israel to solve problems in, in our field across the U.S., speaks to the magic of what broadband and mobile can do in a small community.”Joe Brouse agrees, as executive director of the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, his job is to help stimulate and promote economic development in the region. But he says lack of connectivity is hindering that objective.“Business is expected, households expect it if people want to live here they need to have access. It’s an aspect of being in the modern world.”The topography of the state and low population levels are among the reasons why affordable broadband is lacking he says, but he remains hopeful.“Our economic development agency works with the state of West Virginia to kind of look at creative solutions to it,that might involve a mixture of grant and loan programs to entities that can own, can own the fiber and help with the delivery system.”He points to Hinton as an ideal model.

“我们在西弗吉尼亚州辛顿的团队正在与印度孟买或以色列特拉维夫的人们合作，以解决我们在美国各地的农田中的问题，这一事实说明了宽带和移动网络在一个小社区可以做什么的魔力。”Joe Brouse同意这一点，作为新河谷地区发展局的执行主任，他的工作是帮助激励和促进该地区的经济发展。但他说，缺乏宽带连接阻碍了这一目标的实现。“商业是可期待的，各个家庭希望有业务。如果人们想住在这里，他们需要有机会接触宽带连接。这是当今世界生活的一个方面。”他说，该州的地形和低人口水平在为什么缺乏负担得起的宽带的原因之列，但他仍然充满希望。“我们的经济发展机构与西弗吉尼亚州合作，研究一种创造性的解决方案，这可能涉及对拥有、拥有光纤和帮助传输系统的实体的赠款和贷款计划的混合计划。”他指出辛顿镇是一个理想的榜样。

By many standards it’s a small place but it’s actually ahead of the game in terms of providing broadband. That’s the story we want to tell all over the state rural Appalachia.That’s encouraging news for Fritz Buettner.“If I’m thinking about the future and we’re gonna grow, these farmers and they’re gonna to be doing more we want more farmers in the network that connectivity issue needs to be dealt with.

从许多标准来看，这是一个小地方，但事实上，在提供宽带方面却遥遥领先。这是我们想在整个阿巴拉契亚州农村地区想告诉大家的故事。这对Fritz Buettner来说是个鼓舞人心的消息。“如果我考虑未来，我们将会去种植，这些农民，他们将做更多的事情，我们希望网络中有更多的农民，这一网络的连接性问题需要解决。