'Sharp drop' in Afghan opium crop

Poppy cultivation¹(栽培) and production in Afghanistan has decreased sharply, according to a United Nations report.
　　The UN Office on Drugs and Crime says opium²（鸦片） cultivation has dropped by 22% in a year and production by 10%.
　　The biggest falls have been in Helmand province, but levels remain higher than three years ago, when British troops began fighting Taliban militants³ there.
　　The report came ahead of a meeting in Paris of European and US officials to discuss a new strategy(策略) in Afghanistan.
　　Meanwhile, vote counting is still ongoing⁴ from last month's Afghan election, which has been mired⁵ in claims of mass rigging.
　　The security situation in the country has been deteriorating⁶, and the death toll⁷ of foreign troops is at a record high.
　　'Progress is possible'
　　The UN says the drugs trade, which helps fund the insurgency⁸, threatens the legitimacy（合法，正当） of the Afghan state.
　　The UNODC report called on the international community to sustain progress in Afghanistan, which produces 90% of the world's heroin⁹.
　　The government is not letting us grow poppy. If I was further away, I would grow poppy... what can we do?
　　Mohammed JawadFarmer in Helmand provinceUS 'needs fresh Afghan strategy'
　　Afghan president leading in voteIt praised the introduction of UK-backed "food zones", which distribute wheat seed for farmers to plant.
　　The report said 20 of the country's provinces were now poppy-free, but the BBC's Chris Morris in Kabul says that does not mean they are free of the refining and trafficking of drugs.
　　The UN report said that the price of opium was at a 10-year low.
　　The UNODC's Executive Director, Antonio Costa, said: "The bottom is starting to fall out of the Afghan opium market. These results are a welcome piece of good news and demonstrate that progress is possible."But he warned that Afghan drugs still have catastrophic consequences: funding criminals, insurgents¹⁰ and terrorists, encouraging corruption¹¹ and undermining public trust.
　　This year there were 69,833 hectares devoted¹² to poppy growing in Helmand, a sharp fall from 103,590 hectares in 2008, the report found.
　　However, this year's figure was also more than double the 26,500 hectares used for poppy growing in the province in 2005, the year before British troops deployed¹³ in the area.
　　Political instabilityHelmand continues to account for nearly 60% of the country's total production of the drug, the UNODC report said.
　　Mohammed Jawad, a farmer in the Helmand city of Lashkar Gah, told the BBC he would grow poppy if he could get away with it.
　　More than 1,300 foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001"This year I'm growing wheat, tomatoes, potatoes and watermelon," he said. "The government is not letting us grow poppy. If I was further away, I would grow poppy. I know growing poppy takes a lot of work, but what can we do?"Ahead of Wednesday's meeting in Paris by European and American officials to discuss Afghanistan, US envoy¹⁴ Richard Holbrooke told French media that a summer offensive（攻击性的） in the south to flush out the Taliban had yielded results.
　　"The coalition¹⁵ forces including the British and Americans have done vast damage to the Taliban, disrupted them, captured major caches of opium, heroin and drug paraphernalia," Mr Holbrooke told France 24 television.
　　Afghanistan faces mounting political instability over last month's presidential election, which has been marred¹⁶ by delays in vote counting and allegations of fraud.
　　Vote tallies¹⁷ released on Monday from the 20 August poll showed President Hamid Karzai leading with nearly 46%, and his nearest rival, Abdullah Abdullah, at 33.2%. Mr Karzai needs 50% of the votes to avoid a run-off.
　　Foreign troops fighting in Afghanistan endured their deadliest month yet in August when 77 soldiers died, according to an independent website - icasualties.org - which tracks military casualties.
　　More than 300 troops have died in Afghanistan so far this year, making it the deadliest year since the 2001 US-led invasion to overthrow¹⁸ the Taliban.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

2 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

7 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

8 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

9 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

10 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

13 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

14 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

15 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

16 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

17 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。