尼泊尔贫困战 Nepal's poverty battle

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Rob.
大家好，欢迎大家参加今天的BBC英语学习栏目六分钟英语，我是Rob。
And hello, I’m Vera.
大家好，我是Vera。
In today’s programme, we have news of a pioneering scheme to help families in one of the World’s poorest countries.
在今天的节目中，我们收到一个具有开拓性的计划的消息，这个计划是帮助来自世界上最贫穷国家之一的家庭。
Yes, that country is Nepal, where it is estimated 40% of the population live in poverty.So they have poor living standards and do not have access to facilities that some of us take for granted.But how bad do things have to be to live in poverty?
是的，这个国家是尼泊尔，按照估计它40%的人口生活在贫困中。因此他们的居住条件很差，并且生活设施也很差，不是我们中的一些人想当然地那种。但是生活在贫困中会有多糟糕？
It’s a good question. The government in Nepal has launched a new scheme to assess the extent of poverty in the country – in other words, to find out how bad it really is.
这是个好问题。尼泊尔政府已经出台了一项新计划，用来评估国家的贫困程度，换句话说，去找出它到底有多贫困。
It’s very keen to find out exactly how many people are living below the poverty line, or in other words, to work out who the poorest people are.
找出到底有多少人民生活在贫困线以下，或者说，判断出谁是最贫困的人，是很难的事情。
We’ll find out more about this scheme shortly but, as always, we like to start the programme with a question to think about.So here is the question. According to the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, which is the poorest country in the world? Is it:a) The Democratic Republic of Congob) Malawic) Burkina Faso
我们将简短的了解更多关于这项计划，但是，如往常，我们以一个小问题开始今天的讨论。问题在这里。根据国际货币基金组织，IMF，世界上最贫困的国家是？刚果民主共和国马拉维布基纳法索
I would take a guess that it’s Malawi.
我猜是马拉维。
Malawi, b. Well, we will find out if you’re right at the end of the programme.But before then, let’s talk more about this new scheme by the Nepalese government to assess the extent of poverty in the country.
马拉维，好的，我们在节目的末尾公布答案。但是在这之前，我们会讨论更多关于尼泊尔政府评估国家贫困程度的新计划。
It’s a massive undertaking because officials will be going from house to house across the country gathering data.
这是一项艰巨的任务，因为官员们将要挨家挨户的收集全国的数据。
It could take some time. But once this data – or information – is collected, what are the government going to do with it?
这可能要花一些时间。但是一旦数据或信息采集了，政府将有何作为呢？
Let’s hear from the BBC’s Jill McGivering, who can tell us a bit more about what is going on.
让我们来听BBC记者Jill的报告，她能告诉我们更多关于这项计划的进展状况。
Officials in Nepal are starting a massive task: going from house to house across the country, gathering data about each family’s income, assets and how much food they have to eat.They’re trying to identify those living in extreme poverty - people who go hungry for either three, six or nine months of each year.They’ll later allocate new ’poverty cards’ which will make these families eligible in the future for government subsidies - cheaper food, education and health care.Officials expect about a quarter of the population to be issued with them.
尼泊尔的馆员正在开始一项艰巨的任务：挨家挨户的走访全国家的居民，采集关于家庭收入、财产和有多少食物的数据。他们正在试图确定那些在极度贫困环境下生存的人们——一年中至少挨饿3,6或9个月的人们。随后他们分配新“贫困卡”，这个卡使这些贫困家庭在未来可以合法获得政府的补助——便宜食品，教育和医疗保健。官员们希望全国大约四分之一的人口都能到获得这种贫困卡。
So, we heard that the government is trying to identify those living in extreme poverty – so the worst kind of poverty.
因此，我们听说政府正在试图确定那些处在极度贫困的人们——最贫困的人们。
It will be finding out about people’s income, their assets - so what they own – and how much food they have to eat.Those who are in extreme poverty have been defined as people who go without food for between three and nine months each year.
他们将对比人们的收入、财产，他们拥有什么以及他们有多少可吃的食物。那些生存在极度贫困中的人们已被定义为每年3到9个月没有食物的人群。
Those people who fall into this category will later be allocated ’poverty cards’ which give these families subsidies – or financial support – for food, education and health care.
进入这个分类的人们将随后被分配到贫困卡，意味着这些家庭能得到补助、财政支持、食物和医疗保险。
And the scheme could help a quarter of the population, so it sounds like a good idea.
这项计划能够帮助四分之一的人口，听起来的确是个好主意。
It does. Many people have welcomed the idea but there are challenges too in running such a big scheme.Let’s hear from the BBC’s Jill McGivering again. See if you can hear what the challenges are.
的确。很多人都欢迎这个主意，但是在运行这个大型计划的同时也面临一些挑战。我们来听一段来自Jill的报告，看你是否能听到这些挑战是什么。
The government’s been talking for years about introducing a scheme like this.Those involved are delighted that the process has finally started, although this is only the first phase and no-one’s sure how many months it will take just to survey the whole country.They describe it as pioneering but also admit there will be challenges.Making sure people give accurate information, for example, preventing bias against different ethnic groups and protecting the programme from fraud and corruption.The best judges, of course, will be Nepal’s most poor - whose burden this new national programme is supposed to ease.
政府多年来一直在讨论引入这样的计划。参与的计划官员都很高兴这项计划终于开始了，虽然这仅是第一阶段，没人知道将持续多少个月去调查全国。他们认为这项计划是具有开拓性的，但也承认会有挑战。确保统计数据的正确性，比如，防止不同人种的歧视，保护过程中的欺骗和腐败。被认定为最贫困的人们将是尼泊尔最贫困的人们，会享受到这项新的国家方案，应该能减轻其生存压力。
So there are a number of challenges in running this scheme.They include relying on people to give accurate information and preventing bias – or prejudice – against different ethnic groups.
因此，在运行这项计划的时候有很多挑战。包括依靠人力去获得正确的信息，防止对不同种族人群的偏见或歧视。
Yes, there are many different ethnic groups in Nepal, so it’s important to make sure that one isn’t favoured over another.Finally, there’s a risk that there could be fraud and corruption because of the economic advantages on offer to the poorest families.
是的，尼泊尔的确有很多不同种族人群，因此确保种族之间互相不起冲突是很重要的。最后，还可能存在欺诈和腐败行为，因为要向最贫困的家庭提供经济支持。
Of course, the other challenge is how many months it will take and no-one is really sure, especially because of the mountainous terrain that some people live in.
当然，另一个挑战就是这项计划要持续多久，没人能确定，特别是有些人居住在山地中。
But people seem delighted – or happy – that after years of talking, something is finally being done to tackle poverty in Nepal.
但是人们看起来还是很高兴或者开心，经过这么多年的讨论，一些工作确实实行起来以解决尼泊尔的贫困问题了。
But who can really tell if it’s successful or not?
但是谁能真正能确定或分辨它成功与否呢？
Well, the best judges – as we heard – are Nepal’s poor, whose lives may be made a little easier.
被认为是最贫困的人们，他们的生活可能会得到一些改善。
Well, something that isn’t easy is your quiz question Rob.
Rob,你的小测试问题并不简单哦。
Really?! Well, earlier I asked you, according to the IMF, which is the world’s poorest country?a) The Democratic Republic of Congob) Malawic) Burkina Faso
真的？！之前我问过你，根据IMF，那个国家最穷？刚果民主共和国马拉维布基纳法索
And I said Malawi. Was I right?
我说是马拉维。对吗？
I’m afraid you were wrong. The answer is actually The Democratic Republic of Congo.OK, it’s almost time to go now but before we do, Vera, please can you remind us of some of the vocabulary we heard today?
我想你错了。答案是刚果民主共和国。好的，快到时间了，Vera，你能提醒大家今天听到的一些词汇吗？
Yes, of course. We heard:pioneeringthe extentdataallocatedsubsidiesbiascorruptionterrain
当然了。开拓性的程度数据分配的补助偏见腐败地形
Thanks Vera. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s programme. Please join us again soon for more 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com. Bye for now!
谢谢Vera。我希望你很享受今天的讨论，请继续加入我们的六分钟英语。拜拜！
Bye!
拜拜！