2018年翻译资格考试初级笔译试题：粮食问题

　　英译汉

　　There was, last week, a glimmer of hope in the world food crisis. Expecting a bumper harvest, Ukraine relaxed restrictions on exports. Overnight, global wheat prices fell by 10 percent.

　　By contrast, traders in Bangkok quote rice prices around $1,000 a ton, up from $460 two months ago.

　　Such is the volatility of today‟s markets. We do not know how high food prices might go, nor how far they could fall. But one thing is certain: We have gone from an era of plenty to one of scarcity. Experts agree that food prices are not likely to return to the levels the world had grown accustomed to any time soon.

　　Imagine the situation of those living on less than $1 a day - the “bottom billion,” the poorest of the world‟s poor. Most live in Africa, and many might typically spend two-thirds of their income on food.

　　In Liberia last week, I heard how people have stopped purchasing imported rice by the bag. Instead, they increasingly buy it by the cup, because that‟s all they can afford.

　　Traveling though West Africa, I found good reason for optimism. In Burkina Faso, I saw a government working to import drought resistant seeds and better manage scarce water supplies, helped by nations like Brazil. In Ivory Coast, we saw a women‟s cooperative running a chicken farm set up with UN funds. The project generated income - and food - for villagers in ways that can easily be replicated.

　　Elsewhere, I saw yet another women‟s group slowly expanding their local agricultural production, with UN help. Soon they will replace World Food Program rice with their own home-grown produce, sufficient to cover the needs of their school feeding program.

　　These are home-grown, grass-roots solutions for grass-roots problems - precisely the kind of solutions that Africa needs.

　　参考译文：

　　上周，世界粮食危机出现了一线转机。乌克兰预期粮食丰收，因而放宽了粮食出口限制。一夜之间，全球小麦价格下挫 10%。相比之下，曼谷大米报价为每吨 1,000 美元左右，相比两个月前每吨 460 美元的价格有了大幅上涨。

　　这就是当今市场剧烈波动的真实写照。我们无从知晓价格的涨跌幅度，但是有一点可以肯定，那就是：我们已经告别了富足时代，转而进入了匮乏时代。专家们一致认为，短期内粮价不太可能恢复到正常水平。

　　现在全球“最底层的 10 亿人”每天生活费不足 1 美元，是世界上最贫苦的人群，我们不妨设身处地想想他们现在的处境如何。这个群体中大部分人生活在非洲，对于他们当中的许多人而言，食品开支往往要占到收入的三分之二。我听说上周利比里亚的民众不再拿袋子去购买进口大米，更多的人米，因为他们的钱只够买一杯米。走访西非国家后，我发现我们仍有理由保持乐观。在布基纳法索，当地政府积极进口抗旱粮种，同时在巴西等国家的帮助下改善对宝贵水资源的管理。在科特迪瓦，一个女性合作社在联合国基金的扶持下开办了一家养鸡场，为当地村民创收又增产，这种模式也很易于推广。

　　在其他国家和地区，有的妇女团体在联合国的帮助下逐步扩大当地农业生产规模。用不了多久，她们就可以生产出足够多的大米来满足当地学校供餐的需要，届时世界粮食署也将终止在当地的粮援工作。对于基层问题总可以找到因地制宜的解决方案，对非洲而言尤其如此。