VOA标准英语 G8 Agriculture Ministers Conclude Summit on Food Sta

Agriculture ministers from the major industrialized nations called on Monday for increased agriculture production as a way to combat world hunger. At the end of a 3-day meeting in northern Italy, G-8 ministers also took a first step toward fighting speculators who have helped push up the price of basic foods, sparking riots in several poor countries.
　
Castelbrando castle where G8 and G5 agriculture ministers are meeting in northern Italy, 18 Apr 2009

After three days of talks in northeastern Italy, the Group of Eight agriculture ministers, joined by representatives from key emerging and developing countries, called for a study into setting up a global system to stockpile essential foodstuffs¹.

In their final declaration, the ministers called on the relevant international institutions to examine whether a system of stockholding would be effective in dealing² with humanitarian³ emergencies or as a means to limit food price volatility⁴.

The head of the U.N. food agency, Jacques Diouf, said he was pleased by the fact that so many top agriculture officials had met to draw attention to the fact that the international community had not resolved the food crisis. Officials acknowledge that the U.N.'s goal of reducing the number of hungry people by half by 2015 is still far from being achieved.

The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization says high food prices plunged⁵ an additional 40 million people into hunger last year, pushing the overall number of needy⁶ to almost 1 billion people.

While recession has cooled soaring prices, officials say it offers only a temporary respite⁷. Skyrocketing prices for basic foodstuffs last year triggered riots in some poorer nations around the world.

Conference host Italy led calls for action to tackle commercial price-fixing, and both Italy and France advocated the global stockpiling of essential foodstuffs.

Italy's agriculture Minister, Luca Zaia, said the final document recognizes that speculation⁸ on the markets raises the price of food and leads to hunger. The document also recognizes the need to maintain free markets.

Agriculture ministers from G 5 countries Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa joined G 8 agriculture ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States and Russia at the summit near Treviso.

Ministers from Argentina, Australia and Egypt also attended the talks, as well as officials from the African Union, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called food security a "moral obligation" that affects global economic development and international stability.

And in a statement, he said that the agriculture summit took "an important step toward building a consensus⁹ around issues affecting access, availability and utilization¹⁰ of food among vulnerable populations."

1 foodstuffs   

食物，食品( foodstuff的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Imports of foodstuffs accounted for a small proportion of total imports. 食物进口仅占总进口额的一小部份。
• Many basic foodstuffs, such as bread and milk, are tax-free. 许多基本食物如牛奶和面包是免税的。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

5 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

6 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

7 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。

8 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

9 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

10 utilization   

n.利用，效用

参考例句：

• Computer has found an increasingly wide utilization in all fields.电子计算机已越来越广泛地在各个领域得到应用。
• Modern forms of agricultural utilization,have completely refuted this assumption.现代农业利用形式，完全驳倒了这种想象。