2007年VOA标准英语-Arrests of Zimbabwean Businessmen Continue

By Peta Thornycroft
Harare
12 July 2007

Zimbabwe's few surviving manufacturers servicing the retail¹ sector² are starting to close down or reduce their work week even further as the economy dramatically contracts. Peta Thornycroft reports for VOA that shops are emptying, urban commuters are stranded⁴, and businessmen are being arrested in the face of the most dramatic financial collapse⁵ in Zimbabwe's history.

 

Willard Zireva is the chief executive officer of one of Zimbabwe's most famous and enduring brands, OK Bazaars⁶. He was arrested Tuesday on 41 counts of violating the government-ordered price freeze in the company's supermarkets.

 

The government has frozen prices at the June 18 level, when nearly 5,000 percent inflation caused price increases every two or three days.

 

About 2,000 businessmen, from chief executive officers to small one-man traders, have been arrested in the past 10 days on charges of violating the price freeze.

 

Zimbabwean shoppers walk past empty shelves in Mabvuku, Harare 04 Jul 2007

Supermarkets are no longer ordering supplies because they say they cannot afford to sell products at a loss. Staples⁷ such as beef, corn meal, cooking oil, salt, and sugar have disappeared. People are lining⁸ up for small supplies of bread and milk.

Commuter³ buses have stopped running because their fares have been cut in half and owners say they cannot afford to operate any longer.

 

Fuel is scarce in Zimbabwe, because the price has been cut to less than half of what it costs to import.

 

Now, some manufacturers, already working short weeks and suffering from loss of production because of long electricity shut downs, have begun to close.

 

An industrialist⁹ from Bulawayo, Eddie Cross, said he has shut his clothing factory for a week to see whether the situation changes. He said the controlled prices are between 20 to 50 percent of the cost of manufacture.

 

The government has also withdrawn¹⁰ licenses¹¹ from scores of privately¹² owned butchers, and says only the state's bankrupt Cold Storage Commission may slaughter¹³ animals.

 

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A stampede as hundreds of people thronged a shopping warehouse in Harare, 12 Jul 2007

While some consumers say they were happy to be able to buy goods at reduced prices, many are now worried that essential goods will only be available on the black market and will cost far more than before the price freeze.

 

 

There are many eyewitness¹⁶ reports that senior members of the ruling ZANU-PF and the security forces have been the main beneficiaries of reduced prices and have bought in bulk from supermarkets.

According to lawyer Jonathan Samkange, who has represented many of the arrested businessmen, the government has not passed a price control law. He also says he does not know how many people are still detained in connection with the crackdown.

The government said Wednesday, again without legislation to back it up, that profit margins¹⁷ for manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers¹⁸ will be restricted to between five and 10 percent.

Police Superintendent¹⁹ Oliver Mandikapa says he is sending officers to rural areas to monitor small traders' prices.

 

The ongoing²⁰ crackdown is enforced by State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa. The government says it is trying to stop profiteering by unpatriotic businessmen, who are accused of sabotaging²¹ the economy.

 

The political and economic crisis began in 2000 when President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned commercial farms that produced about 40 percent of Zimbabwe's foreign currency.

 

This led to rising inflation and shortages of agricultural supplies because the new farmers, many of them President Mugabe's colleagues, did not know how to farm on a commercial scale. Most of the land they were given is not used.

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

4 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 bazaars   

（东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场

参考例句：

• When the sky chooses, glory can rain into the Chandrapore bazaars. 如果天公有意，昌德拉卜的集市也会大放光彩。
• He visited the shops and bazaars. 他视察起各色铺子和市场来。

7 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

8 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

9 industrialist   

n.工业家，实业家

参考例句：

• The industrialist's son was kidnapped.这名实业家的儿子被绑架了。
• Mr.Smith was a wealthy industrialist,but he was not satisfied with life.史密斯先生是位富有的企业家，可他对生活感到不满意。

10 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

11 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

12 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

13 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

14 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

16 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

17 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

18 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

19 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

20 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。

21 sabotaging   

阴谋破坏（某事物）( sabotage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr Smith fiercely denied any question of sabotaging the talks. 史密斯先生坚决拒绝任何企图阻挠谈话的提问。
• Failed in sabotaging APEC summit in Sydney of Australia. 澳大利亚悉尼APEC会议遭遇惨败。