VOA慢速英语2021 近一半的阿根廷人陷入贫困

About 42 percent of Argentinians live at or below the poverty rate, the government said.

阿根廷政府称，大约42%的阿根廷人生活在贫困线或以下。

The rate of poverty in the nation of 45 million people has increased since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

自冠状病毒大流行开始以来，这个拥有4500万人口的国家的贫困率有所上升。

The pandemic has also caused three years of deep economic recession to worsen.

这场大流行还导致持续三年的深度经济衰退进一步恶化。

Eduardo David Rodriguez is one of the more than 18 million Argentinians living in poverty.

爱德华多·大卫·罗德里格斯是生活在贫困中的1800多万阿根廷人之一。

He brings fruits and vegetables to sell in a market in Buenos Aires twice a week to help support his family.

他每周两次带着水果和蔬菜在布宜诺斯艾利斯的一个市场上出售，以养家糊口。

He lives with his wife and two of their four children in a small house outside the country's capital.

他和妻子以及四个孩子中的两个住在首都郊外的一座小房子里。

There is no bathroom, running water or fuel to cook with.

那里没有卫生间、自来水和做饭用的燃料。

"Work here is tough, that's the truth, but there's no other option than to come here and bring the family back the daily bread," Rodriquez told Reuters.

罗德里格斯告诉路透社：“这里的工作很辛苦，这是事实，但除了来这里给家人带回每天的面包之外，我们别无选择。”

He said he earns about 12,000 pesos, or $60, each month.

他说，他每个月的收入约为1.2万比索(约合60美元)。

For Rodriquez and his wife, who also works, their monthly family income usually reaches around 39,000 pesos.

对于罗德里格斯和他的也在工作的妻子来说，他们的家庭月收入通常达到3.9万比索左右。

That is well short of the poverty line for a family of four—about 67,000 pesos.

这远远低于一个四口之家的贫困线——约6.7万比索。

Argentina is rich in natural resources, from cattle and corn to natural gas.

阿根廷拥有丰富的自然资源，比如牛、玉米、天然气。

But inflation, poor economic decision-making, and years of debt crises have severely¹ weakened the country's economy.

但通货膨胀、糟糕的经济决策和多年的债务危机严重削弱了该国的经济。

"Sometimes we can only eat so much.

“有时候我们只能吃这么多。

We don't indulge in luxuries but, well, thank God we don't starve," said Rodriguez's wife Maria.

我们不沉溺于奢侈品，但是，感谢上帝，我们没有挨饿，”罗德里格斯的妻子玛丽亚说。

She works in the family's neighborhood clearing storm drains, which carry water away from the streets.

她在她家附近的社区清理暴雨排水沟，排水沟是用来把街道上的水排走的。

"Sometimes we have enough and sometimes not."

“有时我们有足够的钱，有时又没有。”

In his free time, Rodriguez teaches football, the sport called soccer in the United States, to children from other poor homes.

在业余时间，罗德里格斯向其他贫困家庭的孩子们传授足球，这项运动在美国被称为“soccer”。

He works to support their hopes of a professional career in the sport as an escape from poverty.

他致力于支持他们成为职业的足球运动员的希望，以此来摆脱贫困。

"I love being with the boys, and I come to do it without any obligation and without any salary, I do it from passion, because the truth is this is what keeps me going every day," Rodriguez said.

罗德里格斯说：“我喜欢和男孩们在一起，我没有任何义务来做这件事，也没有任何薪水，我是出于激情来做这件事的，因为这实际上是我每天坚持下去的动力。”

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。