VOA标准英语2013--Residents Living on China-N. Korea Border Await Calmer Times

 

Residents Living on China-N. Korea Border Await Calmer Times

Delectable¹ crabs³, with a tough outer shell and meaty legs, have been coming to China every day from North Korea, despite threats of war.

After a short trek⁴ across the border, they end up in Yanji distribution centers. Some are flown as far away as Shanghai.

“Everyone has to eat!” as one crab² distributor puts it. “There really is no crisis, really the only challenges we face are at sea, such as typhoons, the inability of boats to go out to sea or seasonal⁵ fishing bans."

Crabs are just a small part of the $11 billion in annual trade between China and the North.

At a Korean market in Yanji, all kinds of fish are caught off the North’s shores, dried, and brought in daily to be processed, sold or shipped.

In China’s border areas about 50 percent of the population is ethnic⁶ Korean. Many stay in touch with family members in the North and are painfully aware of the conditions across the border and opportunity that could benefit both.

A growing number of North Koreans, tens of thousands, are working in factories in China. Some work at hotels.

The recent tensions have led to a halt in tourism, but according to local groups, the trade is still thriving.

American Kendra Schaefer, who visited Pyongyang earlier this month on a tour, said it felt much like an abandoned amusement park.

"Really once you got on the ground there, there was no sense that anything different was happening, it was already eery and deserted," she remarked, "and there was no electricity lights everywhere at night, you know there was no restaurant, there is no commerce, there is no grocery store that you can see, there is no boutiques, there is nothing to buy.”

That lack of commerce is something the Chinese government hopes to change. Peking University professor Wang Dong said China wants to convince North Korea that it is in its best interest to open up.

“To really open up to the international community, and start a reform process that will bring prosperity to their own people, not just poverty and not just keep on saber rattling," he said.

Many in Yanji feel that is already starting to happen and are hoping the current situation will soon blow over. 

1 delectable   

adj.使人愉快的；美味的

参考例句：

• What delectable food you cook!你做的食品真好吃！
• But today the delectable seafood is no longer available in abundance.但是今天这种可口的海味已不再大量存在。

2 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

3 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

5 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。