VOA慢速英语2014 FAO Declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming 联合国粮农组织宣布2014年为国际家庭农业年

 

FAO Declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming 联合国粮农组织宣布2014年为国际家庭农业年

From VOA Learning¹ English, this is the Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

Family farming has been called the main form of agriculture around the world. The United Nations has declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming.

家庭农业一直被称为世界各地农业的主要形式。联合国已经宣布2014年为国际家庭农业年。

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says, the year-long campaign is designed to increase public understanding of farms owned and operated by families.

联合国粮农组织表示，这次长达一年的活动旨在提升公众对家庭经营的自有农场的认识。

It says farm families are important producers of food for growing populations, but many family farms do not provide the same worker benefits as large company farms. Many family farms can not provide retirement² plans, health care or child care.

它说，农场家庭是不断增长人口的食物的重要生产商，但许多家庭农场不能提供和大公司农场相同的员工福利。许多家庭农场无法提供退休计划、医疗保健或儿童保育。

So the FAO wants to get family farming included in national policies that support agriculture. The goal is to create a balanced and equal environment so family farmers can succeed.

因此，粮农组织希望让家庭农场纳入到农业支持的国家政策中来。目的是创造均衡平等的环境，这样家庭农户才能成功。

FAO officials say they will try to learn more about the difficulties family farmers face and ways to support them. Weather problems, price drops and weak world economies can hurt family farmers. For many, a single crop can mean failure or survival³.

粮农组织官员表示，他们将尝试更多了解家庭农户面临的困难，以及支持他们的办法。天气问题、价格下降以及世界经济疲软可能会伤害到家庭农户。对许多人来说，单单一种作物可能就意味着成与败。

Family farms operate in different ways around the world. Men run the majority of them. Generally Men own or pay to use the land, decide which crops to grow and supervise⁴ the sales. Women are more often the planters and harvesters of the crops. Very long work days are usual on family farms. It is difficult for many family farmers around the world to gain the land, water and other resources needed to farm.

世界各地的家庭农场以不同方式运作，其中多数由男性经营。一般男性拥有或租用土地，决定种什么作物并且主管销售。女性更多是作为种植者和收割者。家庭农场的工作时间一般都很长。对世界各地的许多家庭农户来说获得耕种所需的土地、水和其它资源都很困难。

The U.N. has helped establish more than fifty national committees to deal with these issues. The committees are made up of representatives of family farm communities. Together they decided⁵ on 5 goals to reach by 2014.

联合国已经帮助建立了50多个国家级委员会来处理这些问题。这些委员会是由家庭农场群体的代表所组成。他们一起决定了2014年要实现的5个目标。

One is to establish policies to make equal the rights of men and women farmers. They also want to guarantee that nations have the right to develop their own food production. The committees hope to require governments to accept and follow certain environmental guidelines⁶. And they want governments of mainly agricultural populations to provide financial support to farmers. Finally, the committees agreed to work to support young people in agriculture.

一是制定政策确保男女农民平等。他们还希望保证各国有权发展自己的食品生产。该委员会希望要求政府接受并遵循一定的环境准则。同时他们希望主要由农业人口组成的国家向农民提供财政支持。最后，该委员会同意致力于支持年轻人从事农业。

Family farms have been around for hundreds of years. They could continue to exist for hundreds more. But experts say family farms will need support to compete in the face of technological⁷ improvements⁸ and increasing international trade.

家庭农场已经存在了数百年，它们也将继续存在数百年。但专家表示，家庭农场需要得到支持来和科技进步以及国际贸易增长相竞争。

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

3 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

4 supervise   

v.监督，管理，指导

参考例句：

• We must supervise and speed up the fulfilment of assigned tasks.已经布置了的工作，应当认真督促检查。
• Tomorrow he will supervise all the pupils taking the English examination.明天全体学生考英语，他将担任监考。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 guidelines   

n.指导方针，准则

参考例句：

• The government has drawn up guidelines on the treatment of the mentally ill. 政府制订了对待精神病人的指导方针。
• Planners seem a little uncomfortable with the current government guidelines. 规划师似乎不太接受现行的政府指道方针。

7 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

8 improvements   

增加或修改( improvement的名词复数 )； 改进； 改善； 改良

参考例句：

• improvements in efficiency at the factory 工厂效率的提高
• They've spent a lot of money on home improvements. 他们花了很多钱装修家居。