I am pleased to welcome you to the United Nations for this first meeting of your contact group. Your focus on food security

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问题     I am pleased to welcome you to the United Nations for this first meeting of your contact group.
    Your focus on food security in Africa comes at a crucial time. The latest food crisis on the continent has brought home to us, more than ever before, the urgent need for a strategy to break the pattern of recurrent crises and bring about a Green Revolution in Africa. But achieving this will require radical approaches on multiple fronts.
    Africa has faced food crises in the past; it has faced deadly diseases; it has struggled to come to terms with governance challenges in states with limited capacity and resources.
    But rarely has the continent had to face the kind of intersecting challenges we see today. Today, Africa faces a deadly triad of related burdens -- food insecurity, HIV/AIDS and an emaciated capacity to govern and provide services.
    We cannot find viable solutions to the challenge of food security unless we address the challenges of AIDS and governance at the same time.
    Food insecurity in Africa has structural causes. Most African farmers farm small plots of land that do not produce enough to meet the needs of their families. The problem is compounded by the farmers’ lack of bargaining power and lack of access to land, finance and technology.
    This further weakens farmers’ ability to withstand the impact of recurrent drought and the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic.
    Thirty million Africans now live with HIV, and the continent has borne the brunt of more than 20 million AIDS deaths worldwide. In some areas of Africa, more than 40 percent of the population is HIV-positive, and similar proportions are going hungry.
    The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on food production -- with seven million African farmers already dead -- is only too obvious. Infection rates are rising among African women. The latest figures show that women make up 58 percent of Africans already infected.
    Because of AIDS, skills and knowledge are dying out rather than being passed from one generation to the next. Both at the household level and the government level, resources are being diverted from food production to health care. In turn, food shortages fuel the disease, through malnutrition, poverty and inequality.
    Clearly, breaking this destructive cycle poses a huge challenge to governance. It will require strong institutions, improved skills and innovative policies. But in an irony so typical of the age of AIDS, Africa’s ability to govern and to provide services is itself being stretched to breaking point by the disease.
    This interlocking set of issues facing Africa is far greater than the sum of its parts. Ad-dressing the issue I have raised requires a new, integrated response from both the Governments of Africa and the international community. It requires a shift from short-term approaches to a reassessment of our entire strategy for development -- or, taking long-term measures even when addressing short-term emergencies. Ladies and gentlemen,
    The United Nations family is already joining forces to mount the coordinated effort needed. I hope you will work across the board with us, and with the Governments of Africa, in developing the range of revolutionary approaches we need to tackle the deadly triad and break the pattern of food crises in Africa.
    I opened my remarks with a message of despair; let me close with one hope. Yes, this is an unprecedented set of challenges. But your presence here today tells me that we have unprecedented consensus on the need to confront them. Together, we must mobilize the political will to succeed.
    Thank you very much.  

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答案 欢迎各位来到联合国,参加本联络小组的第一次会议。 你们很适时地将重点放在非洲的粮食安全方面。非洲最近的粮食危机使我们比以往任何时候都更充分地认识到制定一个能打破不断发生此类危机的局面,并给非洲带来一场绿色革命的战略的紧迫性。但要做到这一点,就要在多个方面采取积极措施。 非洲过去也曾出现粮食危机,曾出现过致命的疾病,在一些国家,由于能力和资源方面的限制,政府在治理上遇到过挑战。 但非洲大陆很少像现在这样同时遭遇来自许多领域的挑战。目前,非洲面临着三重极其繁重的负担,即粮食安全问题、艾滋病病毒/艾滋病和政府日渐衰弱的治理和服务能力。 如果不同时应对艾滋病和治理方面的挑战,我们就不能为粮食安全问题找到一个可行的解决方案。 非洲的粮食安全问题有着结构性的原因。多数非洲农民耕种的小片土地不能生产满足自家需要的产品。此外,农民们没有议价能力,也无法获得土地、资金和技术。 这些进一步削弱了农民承受:反复出现的干旱和不断蔓延的艾滋病疫情影响的能力。 目前有3000万非洲人感染艾滋病病毒,全球有2000多万人死于艾滋病,非洲大陆首当其冲。在非洲的一些地区,超过40%的人口感染艾滋病病毒,还有同样数量的人正面临饥荒。 艾滋病病毒/艾滋病对粮食生产的破坏性影响是再明显不过的,已有700万非洲农民因此丧身。艾滋病在非洲妇女中的传染率在上升,最新数据表明妇女占非洲艾滋病感染者的58%。 由于艾滋病的影响,知识和技能无法代代相传,正在逐渐失传。不论是在家庭还是在政府层面,资源被用于医疗,而非粮食生产。而粮食短缺反过来又通过贫穷、不平等和营养不良等因素加剧疾病的蔓延。 显然,如何打破这一恶性循环为政府治理提出了严峻的挑战。应对这一挑战需要强有力的制度、更高的技能和创新的政策。而具有讽刺意味的是,非洲政府的治理和服务能力却几乎被这种疾病消耗殆尽,而这种情况在这个艾滋病年代又是常常发生的。 作为一个整体,非洲面临这一系列的问题盘根错节,要远比各个问题的简单总和更加难以对付。要解决我所提出的问题,非洲各国政府和国际社会应该采取一种综合性的新对策,摈弃短期方案,对我们的整个发展战略进行重新评估,换句话说,就是即使在处理短期性紧急状况时也要采取立足长远的措施。 女士们,先生们, 联合国大家庭已经携起手来,通过合作解决这些问题。我希望你们在各方面与我们及非洲各国政府共同努力,制定一系列必要的革命性方案,解决非洲致命的三重负担问题和打破非洲粮食危机的怪圈。 我带着失望开始这篇演讲,请让我满怀希望结束它。是的,我们面临着一系列前所未有的挑战。但你们能出席今天的会议,说明我们对于解决这一问题的必要性有着空前的一致。我们必须共同努力,为我们的成功做出政治决断。 谢谢大家。

解析     本文是有关非洲粮食安全问题的讲话,就非洲粮食问题的根源作了详细的说明,并请求获得国际社会的援助。
    本文要求应试者具有一定的社会背景知识,如国家政治及艾滋病方面的常识,这些知识构成考查应试者基本素质的内容,在较为短暂的时间内,应试者还需对复杂的长难句作出判断,使翻译不仅信息完整正确,还要基本符合汉语习惯。在此基础上,应试者还要对文中的某些单词或短语作出判断,使其翻译不仅正确还要符合上下文语境的需要。
    - 基本素质采分点
    1.United Nations                   联合国
    2.food security                    粮食安全
    3.Green Revolution in Africa       非洲的绿色革命
    4.HIV/AIDS                         艾滋病病毒/艾滋病
    5.HIV-positive                     感染艾滋病病毒
    6.infection rate                   感染率
    - 结构理解采分点
    1.The latest food crisis on the continent has brought home to us, more than ever before, the urgent need for a strategy to break the pattern of recurrent crises and bring about a Green Revolution in Africa.
    该句基本可按照原文顺序进行翻译,其中注意可将修饰性结构more than ever before按照汉语习惯放在谓语短语bring home to前面,该句还要求应试者正确理解bring home to的含义。因此,原句可译为“非洲最近的粮食危机使我们比以往任何时候都更充分地认识到制定一个能打破不断发生此类危机的局面,并给非洲带来一场绿色革命的战略的紧迫性。”
    2.We cannot find viable solutions to the challenge of food security unless we address the challenges of AIDS and governance at the same time.
    该句是主从复合句,unless引导的状语从句位于句子后半部,按汉语可将次要成分前置的特点,可优先翻译该从句。因此,原句可译为“如果不同时应对艾滋病和治理方面的挑战,我们就不能为粮食安全问题找到一个可行的解决方案。”
    3.The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on food production -- with seven million African farmers already dead -- is only too obvious.
    该句为保持译文完整的逻辑性,可将形式较为松散的修饰性成分with短语后置。因此,原句可译为“艾滋病病毒/艾滋病对粮食生产的破坏性影响是再明显不过的,已有700万非洲农民因此丧身。”
    4.Because of AIDS, skills and knowledge are dying out rather than being passed from one generation to the next.
    本句译文可在正确理解短语rather than(而不是)的基础上,将该短语翻译略去,以免译文过于生硬。因此,原句可译为“由于艾滋病的影响,知识和技能无法代代相传,正在逐渐失传。”
    5.But in an irony so typical of the age of AIDS, Africa’s ability to govern and to provide services is itself being stretched to breaking point by the disease.
    该句是简单句,句子主干部分是Africa’s ability...is itself being stretched..., 句子前半部分的typical of短语修饰an irony,但为了整体译文内容相对紧凑,该部分可在翻译时,放在最后。因此,原句可译为“而具有讽刺意味的是,非洲政府的治理和服务能力却几乎被这种疾病消耗殆尽,而这种情况在这个艾滋病年代又是常常发生的。”
    - 言语表达采分点
    1.bring home to sb.                使……充分认识
    2.radical approach                 积极的措施
    3.come to terms with               达成协议;设法忍受
    4.a triad of related burdens       三重负担
    5.be compounded by                 使……更坏
    6.bear the brunt of                首当其冲
    7.die out                          灭绝
    8.be diverted from...to...         从……转移到……
    9.interlocking                     错综复杂的
    10.work across the board with sb   与……通力合作
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