VOA标准英语2008年-Oxfam Book Calls for Urgent Action on Poverty

Oxfam on Monday published a book warning that the food and fuel price hikes have signaled the start of a new age of scarcity¹ which could drag millions of people further into poverty. It urges immediate² action to tackle the huge inequalities that prevent poor people from having access to resources such as food fuel and water. For VOA, Tendai Maphosa has more from London.

From Power to Poverty calls for urgent action to address the gap between the world's rich and poor. Duncan Green, the book's author, spoke³ to VOA.

"The comparison would be with the U.S. in the Depression or with Europe after the Second World War where you had the New Deal, you had the creation of welfare states," he explained. "We need some level of political inspiration like that on a global scale if we are actually going to get through this century without catastrophic damage to the climate, and without continued and deepening instability and violence."

Green said the gap between the wealthy and poor has been growing at a fast pace recently. He said the income of the world's 500 richest billionaires exceeding that of the world's 416 million poverty stricken is a sign that there is a need to redistribute the world's resources.

Green says the countries that have been successful in narrowing the gap have had two things in common.

"They have had effective states which have actually managed the economy, managed security, delivered for the national developments and they have also had active citizens," he said. "So, the book argues for this combination of active citizens and effective states as the key place where development happens."

Green also called for an overhaul⁴ of international institutions, such as the IMF and World Bank.

Redistribution, Green said, is also crucial to closing the gap between the haves and have nots. The state, he said, should act as an agent of change through tax and land reforms that give the poor an edge within countries.

　

 

1 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 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。

4 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。