VOA常速英语2013--帮助马达加斯加消灭蝗灾

 

 

Campaign Begins to End Locust¹ Plague 帮助马达加斯加消灭蝗灾

More than a year after a locust plague was declared in Madagascar, a control program finally is about to begin. Massive swarms² of the insects have damaged or destroyed large areas of cropland and pastures.

 

在马达加斯加岛发生蝗灾一年多后，一个控制项目最终启动了。大批蝗虫破坏、毁掉了大面积的农田和牧场。

 

Aerial and ground surveys are underway in Madagascar to map the locations of the Malagasy migratory³ locust swarms.

 

马达加斯加目前正在进行空中和地面调查，以对这里迁移的蝗虫制作地图。

 

Annie Monard, locust response coordinator⁴ for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, currently is in Madagascar. Monard was among those who sounded the alarm over a year ago.

 

Annie Monard是联合国粮农组织(FAO)蝗虫应对协调员，她目前在马达加斯加，她是一年多前发出蝗虫警报的人之一。

 

“It is a plague – no doubt concerning that. It’s a plague because numerous locust swarms escaped the outbreak area. The declaration of plague was made in April 2012.”

 

“这是一场灾难，毫无疑问。因为大批蝗虫逃离爆发地区，2012年4月宣布虫灾发生。”

 

Despite the announcement of a locust emergency, the response was slow to develop. That allowed the swarms to spread even further from the southwest where they’re endemic.

尽管虫灾应急宣布了，有关反应却很慢。这就导致蝗虫蔓延到西南部，导致那里泛滥成灾。

The problem began several years earlier when the last control program – funded by the African Development Bank – ended. The FAO launched emergency campaigns in 2010, 2011 and 2012, but they were not enough to stop the locust plague from developing.

 

虫灾问题开始于几年前，当时由非洲发展银行资助的最后的控制项目刚结束。FAO于2010年、2011年和2012年启动应急项目，但并未能阻止虫灾继续蔓延。

 

“What we did and what FAO does for many, many years is always to promote what we call preventive control strategy. Unfortunately, there are always some situations during which it is not possible to apply the preventive strategy; and progressively the locust situation deteriorated⁵, arising at the level we have now,” she said.

“我们和FAO多年来所做的总是促进所谓的预防性控制战略，不幸的是，总存在一些不能应用预防战略的情况，这就导致虫灾越来越恶化，一直导致目前的局面。”

Then late last year, Monard said Madagascar’s agriculture minister requested the FAO’s help in developing a new spraying campaign. That is now scheduled to be conducted in three stages, between October of this year and September 2016. Total cost of the three-year campaign is over $41-million.

去年年底，Monard说马达加斯加的农业部长请求FAO帮助发展一个新的喷洒项目。目前该项目被制定为三个阶段，时间在今年10月到2016年9月之间。这项三年项目的总成本超过4100万美元。

“For the time being, we got from a wide range of donors⁶ the budget for the first year. But we have still to advocate and to get the budget for the two following campaigns, which will allow us and allow the country to go back to a recession situation,” she said.

“目前我们收到很多捐赠者为第一年预算提供的帮助，但我们仍需努力得到以后两年预算的援助。”

The FAO has raised $23 million dollars for the first year of the campaign.

FAO已为第一年的项目筹资了2300万美元。

The focus of the spraying will be on hopper bands, when the locusts⁷ are still wingless. Hoppers are more sensitive to pesticides⁸ that are less harmful to the environment, including those that contain a fungus⁹. Besides spraying hoppers directly, pesticides will be used to create barriers or buffer¹⁰ zones. This is done by spraying the ground every 600 to 800 meters.

喷洒主要是在蝗虫跳虫的地带上，当时蝗虫还没有翅膀。跳虫对那些对环境有较小危害的杀虫剂很敏感，包括那些含有真菌的杀虫剂。除了直接喷洒跳虫外，杀虫剂还可用来制造隔离带或缓冲区。杀虫剂被喷洒到每600到800米的地面上。

It’s estimated that of the 13 million people at risk, about nine million are directly dependent on agriculture for food and income. In some regions, 70 percent of the rice and maize¹¹ crops have been damaged. As the control program gets underway, the locusts are expected to move to the north where the more productive agricultural lands are located.

估计有1300万人处于危险中，其中约900万人直接依赖于农业来获取食物和收入。在有的地区，70%的水稻和玉米已被毁掉。随着控制项目的实施，这些蝗虫有望转移到产量更高的北方农田里。

 

 

1 locust   

n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐

参考例句：

• A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
• This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。

2 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

3 migratory   

n.候鸟，迁移

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• This does not negate the idea of migratory aptitude.这并没有否定迁移能力这一概念。

4 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

5 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

6 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

10 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

11 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。