VOA标准英语2008年-Bangladesh Steps Up Food Aid for Poor as Rice P

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
07 January 2008

Bangladesh is stepping up food aid for millions of poor people following a massive hike in prices for rice in recent months. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi that the government is trying to rush in rice from overseas.

Officials in Dhaka said Monday the government will give food assistance to more than half a million families over the next five months.

The government also will sell 45,000 tons of rice to poor people at subsidized rates.

The decision came as prices for rice soared to nearly half a dollar a kilo - almost 70 percent higher than a year ago. The spiraling prices hurt the poor in a country where an estimated 60 million live on less than $1 a day.

Rice is a staple¹ food for most people in Bangladesh. But the country is reeling under a severe shortage after natural disasters wiped out much of the crop.

"We had the floods that came in August, which affected² about 10 districts…. And then the cyclone³ came in, so we have had, and the natural disasters, which have affected almost 50 percent, 40 percent of the country," said Douglas Broderick, who heads the World Food Program in Dhaka. "Obviously this was a very bad year for Bangladesh, which is prone⁴ to natural disasters, but it has been kind of a double hit, a double whammy on the country."

The government is procuring⁵ stocks from overseas to tide the country over until the next harvest.

It has asked neighboring India as well as Vietnam to send rice. It also is importing rice from Thailand. Shipments are expected to arrive over the next two weeks.

The WFP's Broderick says the government is doing its best to build up food stocks through imports.

"Fifty-thousand tons of food right now is what we are concerned about," he said. "We need that … it is something they [government] are working very hard in terms of procurement⁶."

The government hopes prices will fall after it sells some of the imported grain in the market at subsidized rates.

Bangladesh is one of the world's poorest countries, and its vulnerability to natural disasters often worsens the plight⁷ of its population.

1 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

4 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

5 procuring   

v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条

参考例句：

• He was accused of procuring women for his business associates. 他被指控为其生意合伙人招妓。 来自辞典例句
• She had particular pleasure, in procuring him the proper invitation. 她特别高兴为他争得这份体面的邀请。 来自辞典例句

6 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

7 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。