VOA慢速英语2014 阿富汗鸦片产量下降

 

Afghan Opium¹ Production Jumps 阿富汗鸦片产量下降

The United Nations says Afghanistan produced a record amount of opium this year. The announcement has raised questions about the internationally-supported efforts to fight drug production in the country.

The UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime says the opium poppy harvest jumped 17 percent from last year. Opium is used to make the drug heroin².

The office said the 2014 harvest could produce as much as 6,400 tons of the drug. The Afghan opium crop, it said, is responsible for 90 percent of the heroin available in the world market.

United Nations officials say the findings show that efforts to stop narcotics⁴ production in Afghanistan have failed. Andrey Avetisyan spoke⁵ at a press conference in Kabul. He heads the local office of the UN drug agency.

He is calling for better ways to fight drugs both inside Afghanistan and in other countries. And he wants the Afghan government active in those efforts.

“Without tackling the problem of drugs seriously, no serious economic achievement is possible. To develop Afghanistan, to help Afghanistan with economic development, we all together have to finally, seriously do something with the threat of narcotics. We understand with this alarming survey that a new approach to counter narcotics is needed.”

Andrey Avetisyan formerly⁶ served as Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan. He says the Afghan people and their government need to provide the political will and readiness for the anti-drug fight to succeed.

He says the United Nations is pleased to note that the country’s new leadership understands the urgency.

“The new Afghan leadership understands very well that illicit⁷ economy, including drugs, is a very serious threat to the plans the new government has concerning economic development of Afghanistan. With this understanding comes a better possibility of common efforts to fight against drugs.”

The U.N. report noted⁸ a seven percent increase in the land used to grow poppy plants compared to last year. The report said 89 percent of this area is in nine Afghan provinces with a large Taliban presence. Observers believe Taliban fighters use money from the drug trade to support their campaign against the government.

Din³ Mohammad Rashedi is Afghanistan’s Minister for Counter Narcotics. He blames the rise in poppy production on the long presidential election campaign this year.

He says there was not a single police officer available to his ministry⁹ to destroy poppy fields as part of the government’s fight against the drug trade. Instead, he says almost all the security forces were ordered to protect the election process.

The minister adds that security concerns during the voting also led the government to suspend the drug-fighting efforts. But he defends the decisions, saying the presidential election was historic and the biggest concern for the country.

The United States is reported to have spent nearly $8 billion on counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan over the past 10 years. The money was used to launch programs urging Afghan farmers to grow wheat and fruit instead of poppies.

But observers say the large amount of money earned from poppy crops and other payments are far greater than the financial aid from official programs. Some farmers receive payments from the Taliban and criminal groups, some linked to influential¹⁰ Afghans. There are concerns poppy production may increase even more in Afghanistan after international forces withdraw from the country.

Words In The News

record - adj. best or most notable among similar things

drug - n. anything used as a medicine or in making medicine; a chemical substance used to ease pain or to affect the mind

harvest - n. the crop after it is gathered; v. to gather crops

crop - n. plants grown by farmers

1 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

2 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

3 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

4 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

7 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。