时间:2019-01-31 作者:英语课 分类:VOA常速英语2013年(十月)


英语课

 



South Africans Upset Over Tax Hike on Favorite Meat: Chicken 南非上调最受欢迎的鸡肉税费 


JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s government has raised taxes on imported  chicken - a move that directly affects millions in a nation where  inequality and poverty still are rife 1. The government says the move  will protect local chicken producers and save jobs, but consumers say  the change is ruffling 2 their feathers.


约翰内斯堡,南非政府增加了对进口鸡肉的税收——此举直接影响这个国家的数百 万人,不平等和贫困仍然盛行。政府称此举将保护当地的鸡肉生产商和工作机会, 但消费者说变化是触怒他们的羽毛。


The humble 3 chicken is South Africa’s favorite meat. South Africans ate  nearly 1.8 million tons of chicken last year, according to the U.S.  Department of Agriculture.


A new tax on imported chicken, however, may peck away at the meat’s  supremacy. In late September, the government imposed tariffs 4 ranging  from 30 percent to 82 percent on various imported chicken products.  


South Africa has been importing increasing amounts of chicken, and  industry experts say that is negatively affecting a sector 5 that employs  about 100,000 people. The new tariffs will make local chicken more  attractive, but analysts 6 have said all chicken might rise in price.


Widespread displeasure


Predictably, VOA did not meet a single South African consumer who was  happy about the price hike.


“I eat vegetables because I’ve got no money to buy chicken,” said  domestic worker Pamela Sitstshongye.


“A lot of people are suffering in South Africa. They don’t have a lot  of money to buy expensive chicken,” said Paulina Rangoanashe, a law  firm employee.


Michael Sejaphala runs a food truck in Johannesburg selling traditional  foods for modest prices. He said he is struggling.  


“I used to buy four chickens for 100 rand [about $10], and now already  I’m buying four chickens for 140 rand [about $14]. So if it’s going  to have to rise more, wow, it’s going to be quite heavy on my  customers,” said Sejaphala.


Poverty level persists


A new study by the independent research group Afrobarometer found that  South Africa's poverty level has not gone down despite the nation's  economic growth.


At this family-owned butchery in Johannesburg, Alpeka Meat Market  manager Frankie Goncalves said the tax is unfair.


“Well, imported chicken, it’s a bit better than the local chicken, it ’s much better than the local chicken. And the only problem is that we ’re going to battle to keep up with the prices,” he said.


But "chickenomics," experts say, is more complicated.


Kevin Lovell, head of the South African Poultry 7 Association, said the  industry needs to be protected. “And nobody wants to pay more for the  same thing. But everyone wants to keep their job. And that’s what  tariffs are meant for. They’re policy instruments that countries can  use to try and develop specified 8 industries for a specific purpose, and  by doing that to improve the overall economic performance of their  country.”


Whatever happens, South African families may find it increasingly hard  to achieve a future with a chicken in every pot. 




adj.(指坏事情)充斥的,流行的,普遍的
  • Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
  • Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。
弄皱( ruffle的现在分词 ); 弄乱; 激怒; 扰乱
  • A cool breeze brushed his face, ruffling his hair. 一阵凉风迎面拂来,吹乱了他的头发。
  • "Indeed, they do not,'said Pitty, ruffling. "说真的,那倒不一定。" 皮蒂皱皱眉头,表示异议。
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低
  • In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见,他将在选举中获胜。
  • Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。
关税制度; 关税( tariff的名词复数 ); 关税表; (旅馆或饭店等的)收费表; 量刑标准
  • British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
  • The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。
标签:
学英语单词
acetal phospholipid
acne varioliformis miliaris
after summer
amestratus (mistretta)
archicoele
arterial bypass
atrous
automatic starting air shut-off valve
azoic pigment
ballet today
basis of integer
belt conveyer takeups
Bennekom
best invariant estimator
binfields
blank trial
bleached earth
bowed to
Browser plugin
caisson sickness
carpenters rule
Catholic Action
cement based adhesive
cheh
chloro-acetic bromide
common wallabies
costed finished production order
cove-plane T wave
defoes
depreciation composite life method
Diginane
digital subscriber line (dsl)
direction-annexed traverse
down time for car under repair
eightfold way
evening newspaper
exocoelomic membrane
fireproof test
flawful
fortified juice
gage outfit
gate-channel distance
go straight
Guevarist
heat capacity at cnstant volume
Hill Bank
homoiothermic animal
iin
immodelize
immunodepression
imparter
instructional management system
itll
light-cure
LISN
Lozovaya
macroarithmetic processor
macrolon
magnetic cooling effect
mastoid suction tube
mibloerone
mixed seeding and sprout forest
model stocklist
moderatedneutron
monocular tube microscope
monomodal oscillator
multiseasonal
musculus iliocostalis cervicis
napps
newsy
nonevil
otg
peptizations
period of bloom
phocine distemper virus
piled quay
quick motion movement
radiotracer
Rashīdpur
re-registers
reclude
renal venography
resistive hearth furnace
retrieval mark
risin's
Rotoscythe
shielding material
software memory mapping
spoilage and defective work losses
sporangial initial
step amplitude compensation
stood on ceremony
tataow
terodiline
tilt board
tusiad
TV for record vehicle number
unparked
void lattice
western wall flowers
yoshihiko
zero-dispersion