VOA慢速英语2022 澳大利亚邀请学生和游客弥补劳动力短缺

Australia's government has invited backpackers and students to seek work in the country. "Backpackers" are mostly younger people who travel in a simple way and do not spend very much money.

澳大利亚政府已经邀请背包客和学生在该国寻找工作。背包客多为出行方式简单、花销不大的年轻人。

The move is an effort to fill critical workforce¹ shortages as Australia faces an outbreak of the Omicron variant² of COVID-19.

澳大利亚面临新冠肺炎奥密克戎变种的爆发，此举是为了填补劳动力的严重短缺。

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said his government would not require backpackers or students arriving in the next several weeks to pay the usual $453 visa cost. He also urged such visitors to seek work as they travel around the country.

澳大利亚总理科特莫里森周三表示，政府不会要求未来几周内抵达的背包客或学生支付通常所需的453美元签证费用。他还督促这些游客在澳大利亚各地旅行时寻找工作。

"Come on down now because you wanted to come to Australia," Morrison said during a televised press conference.

莫里森在电视新闻发布会上表示：“现在就快来，因为你想来澳大利亚。”

He added that the backpackers and students could seek work in agriculture, hospitality and "so many other parts of the economy" that lack enough workers.

他还表示，背包客和学生可以在人员短缺的农业、酒店业以及其它许多经济领域寻找工作。

The announcement comes as Morrison faces criticism at the beginning of an election year. Critics say he has not done well in dealing³ with the Omicron outbreak.

宣布这一消息之际，莫里森正面临选举年伊始的批评。批评人士表示，莫里森在应对奥密克戎疫情方面做得并不好。

Australia is experiencing record numbers of new infections and deaths. Officials in Australia reported 67 new deaths and nearly 80,000 new cases on Wednesday. Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly said Australians should expect the pandemic's total death numbers to rise.

澳大利亚正在经历创纪录的新增感染和死亡人数。澳大利亚官员周三报告了67例新增死亡和近8万例新增病例。首席卫生官保罗·凯利表示，澳大利亚人可以预料到大流行死亡人数的上升。

Australian businesses are struggling with the growing number of workers who are sick or ordered to isolate⁴. The labor⁵ shortage has led to supply shortages. Food stores have put in place purchase limits on some goods.

澳大利亚企业正在艰难应对越来越多员工感染或是被勒令隔离。劳动力短缺导致了供应短缺。食品商品已经对某些商品实施了限购。

Rising hospitalizations have put pressure on the health system. Nearly 1.3 million cases of the country's total of 1.6 million cases have been reported in the past two weeks.

住院人数的上升给卫生系统带来了压力。该国总计有160万例病例，其中近130万例是过去两周报告的。

Morrison is also facing criticism over the shortage of at-home rapid tests. On Wednesday, he urged state leaders to drop any requirements for workers in most industries to take daily rapid tests. The federal government also promised to buy 52 million tests this month from Asia and the United States.

莫里森还因家用快检盒短缺而遭受批评。周三，他督促各州领导人放弃对大多数行业员工进行每日快速检测的要求。联邦政府还承诺本月从亚洲和美国购买5200万份检测试剂盒。

As the country faces a shortage of tests, police on Wednesday said 42,000 tests worth about $500,000 were stolen from a freight station in Sydney.

尽管该国面临检测盒短缺，警方周三表示，价值约50万美元的42000份检测试剂盒在悉尼的一个货运站被盗。

1 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

2 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。