英国新闻听力 非洲手机话费昂贵

Malawi is one of the poorest nations in Africa with millions of people living under the poverty line. Unemployment rates are high. And those who have jobs have meager¹ salaries. Yet a recent survey shows that manyMalawians are using more than half of their monthly incomes on mobile phone usage. This makes Malawi one of the most expensive countries in the world to use cellular² phones.

In Malawi you will see huge billboards³ advertizing mobile phone. Here in the capital Lilongwe, I can see the branding and marketing⁴ also on umbrellas used by street venders, T-shirts. But mobile services are anything but low price in this country. In fact, a report by the International Telecommunications Union, ITU, says on average, Malawians use more than twelve dollars a month on cell phones. This is more than half of what an ordinary Malawian earns. In neighboring Mozambique, consumers spend just over a quarter of their income on mobile phone usage. But in Kenya and South Africa, the figure is significantly lower amounting toless than five percent of average monthly earnings⁵. This lack of competition is why mobile tariffs⁶ are so high. The government might be forced to intervene to bring down the cost of using a mobile phone.

We are thinking of reducing interconnection rates.

But it is not just the cost of mobile services that is an issue in Malawi. Many consumers also want the providers to give them value for their money by improving the quality of service they get.

There are times that the network is very bad. Even the Internet is very slow. So it’s so frustrating⁷ sometimes you want to make a call, it’s a quick one and then you can’t get through. So these are some of thethings that I have seen that maybe they need to change.

And we are told recently according to researchers that they are very high in Africa. You see? And we are looking forward to them going down. They are very high. And we are complaining as customers.

But in order for the services to improve, the government says it needs to upgrade existing infrastructure,especially in rural areas. The authorities admit this could take up to five years.

One of the films up for an award in the documentary category at this Sunday’s Oscars is The Salt of the Earth. It’s a biopic about Brazilian photographer Sebasti?o Salgado who dedicated⁸ his career to documenting the human side of conflicts and crisis. For more than forty years, Salgado has traveled the world capturing unexpected beauty in appalling⁹ places.

1 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

2 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。

3 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

4 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 tariffs   

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

参考例句：

• 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。

7 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

9 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。