新奇事件簿 委内瑞拉的购物者需要按指纹（在线收听）

There are many food shortages 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 scanning their fingerprints 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 fingerprinting takes away people's privacy 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。