VOA慢速英語:朝鮮恐將面臨糧食緊缺問題

North Korea could face more food shortages later this year if a drought continues. That is what the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said last week. A drought means a serious lack of rain, which makes it difficult to grow crops.

朝鮮旱情如果繼續(xù)的話，朝鮮下半年恐將面臨糧食短缺。上周時候聯(lián)合國世界糧食計劃署如是說。干旱意味著降水量嚴重缺乏，導(dǎo)致莊稼無法生長。

"The lack of water now could seriously affect the main crop season later this year," according to WFP's communications officer Zoie Jones. She wrote to the VOA Korean Service in an email.

目前的缺水狀況可能會影響到今年晚些時候的大部分季節(jié)作物。世界糧食計劃署通訊員Zoie Jones這樣說。她在VOA朝鮮地區(qū)服務(wù)部郵件中這樣寫道。

Her organization is concerned about children getting enough to eat. She added, "There will be a significant increase in malnutrition especially among children."

她所負責(zé)的組織關(guān)心的是兒童溫飽問題。她補充說，這種情況很容易出現(xiàn)嚴重的營養(yǎng)不良情況，尤其是在兒童中現(xiàn)象比較普遍。

The WFP warning came one day after the North Korean state media reported on the country's drought conditions. The official Korean Central News Agency called it "The worst drought in 100 years... causing great damage to its [North Korea's] agricultural fields."

世界糧食計劃署這一警告在朝鮮國家媒體報道其旱情后的一天發(fā)出。朝鮮中央新聞社官方稱此次旱情是“100年來最嚴重的一次干旱，會對朝鮮農(nóng)業(yè)造成巨大影響。”

A famine in the 1990s killed an estimated one million people in North Korea. In May, the U.N. reported the number of hungry people in North Korea has more than doubled in the last two decades. The number rose to 10.5 million in 2014, up from 4.8 million in 1990.

在1990年代發(fā)生的饑荒造成了朝鮮大約100萬人死亡。在五月份，聯(lián)合國報道稱朝鮮饑餓人口數(shù)量比二十年前增加了兩倍多。2014年饑餓人口數(shù)量從1990年的480萬人上升到了1050萬人。

The WFP's Ms. Jones said her agency is ready to give the North aid if the situation gets worse. She said the WFP is "closely monitoring" the situation and "is ready to assist," if needed.

世界糧食計劃署的Jones說如果情形愈加惡劣，她的機構(gòu)會考慮向朝鮮提供援助。她說世界糧食計劃署會密切關(guān)注旱情，如有需要，時刻準備援助。

The U.N. food agency will continue the current humanitarian work in North Korea. The work was supposed to end in June. The agency needs $28 million to continue its work until the end of the year.

聯(lián)合國糧農(nóng)組織在朝鮮的人道主義工作將繼續(xù)進行。這項工作原計劃在六月底結(jié)束。該機構(gòu)需要2800萬美元繼續(xù)完成下半年到今年年底的工作。

However, she said, "If the dry spell causes a spike in malnutrition then the funding situation will become even more critical."

然而，她說，如果干旱導(dǎo)致營養(yǎng)不良情況發(fā)生，那么資金問題將會至關(guān)重要。

Also last week, China said it would help its neighbor and ally. "China is willing to provide the aid that is needed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

同時，上周時候，中國方面稱其愿意向鄰國和同盟伸出援助之手。如果朝鮮方面有需求的話中國愿意提供幫助。中國外交部發(fā)言人對記者這樣講。

The United States, however, said it has no plans to provide humanitarian aid to the North.

然而美國稱并沒有向朝鮮提供人道主義援助的計劃。

"The United States remains deeply concerned about the well-being of the North Korean people," said a State Department spokesman. "The United States has no plans to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea at this time, nor has North Korea requested U.S. assistance."

美國依然非常關(guān)心朝鮮人民的生活，美國國務(wù)院發(fā)言人說。但是美國沒有此次沒有向朝鮮提供人道主義援助的計劃，朝鮮方面也沒有向美國要求提供援助。

I'm Anne Ball.

VOA's Hyunjin Kim and Jee Abbey Lee reported this story. Anne Ball wrote it for Learning English with additional information from Reuters. Hai Do was the editor.

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Words in This Story

drought – n. a long period of time when there is very little or no rain

famine –n. a situation in which many people do not have enough food to eat

spike –n. a sudden, rapid increase in something

malnutrition –n. unhealthy condition from not getting enough to eat