剑桥雅思12阅读Test6Passage1原文翻译

文章指出食品生产与其他生产活动的不同之处，讨论了农民面临的风险和挑战，以及解决这些问题的不同方法和观点。作者提出了政府干预、金融工具、社会保障网、市场透明度以及气候适应措施等多种解决方案。文章还强调了集体行动和直接销售等社区参与的重要性。总的来说，文章提出了一系列观点和建议，旨在解决农业系统中的风险问题并提升食品安全性。

段落A

Two things distinguish food production from all other productive activities: first, every single person needs food each day and has a right to it; and second, it is hugely dependent on nature. These two unique aspects, one political, the other natural, make food production highly vulnerable and different from any other business. At the same time, cultural values are highly entrenched in food and agricultural systems worldwide.

段落A：食品生产与其他所有生产活动的不同之处在于：首先，每个人每天都需要食物，并且有权获得食物；其次，食品生产极大地依赖于自然。这两个独特的方面，一个是政治的，另一个是自然的，使得食品生产高度脆弱，与任何其他业务都不同。同时，文化价值在全球食品和农业系统中根深蒂固。

段落B

Farmers everywhere face major risks, including extreme weather, long-term climate change, and price volatility in input and product markets. However, smallholder farmers in developing countries must in addition deal with adverse environments, both natural, in terms of soil quality, rainfall, etc., and human, in terms of infrastructure, financial systems, markets, knowledge and technology. Counter-intuitively, hunger is prevalent among many smallholder farmers in the developing world.

段落B：无论在哪里，农民都面临着重大风险，包括极端天气、长期气候变化以及投入品和产品市场的价格波动。然而，发展中国家的小农户还必须处理不利的环境，无论是在土壤质量、降雨等自然环境方面，还是在基础设施、金融体系、市场、知识和技术等人为环境方面。令人意想不到的是，发展中国家的许多小农户都面临饥饿问题。

段落C

Participants in the online debate argued that our biggest challenge is to address the underlying causes of the agricultural system’s inability to ensure sufficient food for all, and they identified as drivers of this problem our dependency on fossil fuels and unsupportive government policies.

段落C：在线辩论的参与者认为，我们面临的最大挑战是解决农业系统无法确保所有人获得足够食物的根本原因，并将这个问题的驱动因素确定为我们对化石燃料的依赖和不支持的政府政策。

段落D

On the question of mitigating the risks farmers face, most essayists called for greater state intervention. In his essay, Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, argued that governments can significantly reduce risks for farmers by providing basic services like roads to get produce more efficiently to markets, or water and food storage facilities to reduce losses. Sophia Murphy, senior advisor to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, suggested that the procurement and holding of stocks by governments can also help mitigate wild swings in food prices by alleviating uncertainties about market supply.

段落D：在减轻农民面临的风险问题上，大多数论文作者呼吁加大国家干预。国际农业发展基金组织总裁卡纳约·F·恩万泽在他的文章中认为，政府可以通过提供基础服务（如道路，以便更高效地将农产品输送到市场，或者提供水源和食物储存设施以减少损失）显著降低农民的风险。国际农业和贸易政策研究所高级顾问索菲亚·墨菲建议，政府的采购和持有库存也可以通过消除市场供应的不确定性来帮助缓解食品价格的大幅波动。

段落E

Shenggen Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute, held up social safety nets and public welfare programmes in Ethiopia, Brazil and Mexico as valuable ways to address poverty among farming families and reduce their vulnerability to agriculture shocks. However, some commentators responded that cash transfers to poor families do not necessarily translate into increased food security, as these programmes do not always strengthen food production or raise incomes. Regarding state subsidies for agriculture, Rokeya Kabir, Executive Director of Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha, commented in her essay that these ‘have not compensated for the stranglehold exercised by private traders. In fact, studies show that sixty percent of beneficiaries of subsidies are not poor, but rich landowners and non-farmer traders.’

段落E：国际粮食政策研究所总干事樊胜根举出埃塞俄比亚、巴西和墨西哥的社会保障网和公共福利计划作为解决农户贫困问题和减轻其对农业冲击的有价值的方式。然而，一些评论员回应说，对穷人家庭的现金转移不一定会增加食品安全性，因为这些计划并不总是加强食品生产或提高收入。关于农业补贴，孟加拉国Nari Progati Sangha执行主任罗基亚·卡比尔在她的文章中评论说，这些“并没有补偿私人交易商的控制。事实上，研究显示，百分之六十的补贴受益者不是穷人，而是富有的土地所有者和非农业贸易商。”

段落F

Nwanze, Murphy and Fan argued that private risk management tools, like private insurance, commodity futures markets, and rural finance can help small-scale producers mitigate risk and allow for investment in improvements. Kabir warned that financial support schemes often encourage the adoption of high-input agricultural practices, which in the medium term may raise production costs beyond the value of their harvests. Murphy noted that when futures markets become excessively financialised they can contribute to short-term price volatility, which increases farmers’ food insecurity. Many participants and commentators emphasised that greater transparency in markets is needed to mitigate the impact of volatility, and make evident whether adequate stocks and supplies are available. Others contended that agribusiness companies should be held responsible for paying for negative side effects.

段落F：恩万泽、墨菲和樊胜根认为，私人风险管理工具，如私人保险、商品期货市场和农村金融，可以帮助小规模生产者减轻风险并进行改进投资。卡比尔警告说，金融支持计划经常鼓励采用高投入型农业实践，这在中期可能会使生产成本超过收获价值。墨菲指出，当期货市场过度金融化时，可能会导致短期价格波动，从而增加农民的食品不安全性。许多参与者和评论员强调，市场需要更大的透明度，以减轻波动的影响，并明确是否有足够的库存和供应。其他人则认为，农业企业应对负面影响负责支付。

段落G

Many essayists mentioned climate change and its consequences for small-scale agriculture. Fan explained that ‘in addition to reducing crop yields, climate change increases the magnitude and the frequency of extreme weather events, which increase smallholder vulnerability.’ The growing unpredictability of weather patterns increases farmers’ difficulty in managing weather-related risks. According to this author, one solution would be to develop crop varieties that are more resilient to new climate trends and extreme weather patterns. Accordingly, Pat Mooney, co-founder and executive director of the ETC Group, suggested that ‘if we are to survive climate change, we must adopt policies that let peasants diversify the plant and animal species and varieties/breeds that make up our menus.’

段落G：许多论文作者提到了气候变化及其对小规模农业的影响。樊胜根解释说，“除了减少农作物产量外，气候变化还增加了小农户的脆弱性。”天气模式日益不可预测，增加了农民在管理与天气有关的风险方面的困难。根据该作者的观点，解决方案之一是开发更能适应新的气候趋势和极端天气模式的作物品种。因此，ETC集团的共同创始人兼执行董事帕特·穆尼建议“如果我们要应对气候变化，我们必须采取政策，让农民多样化我们菜单中的植物和动物物种和品种/品种。”

段落H

Some participating authors and commentators argued in favour of community-based and autonomous risk management strategies through collective action groups, co-operatives or producers’ groups. Such groups enhance market opportunities for small-scale producers, reduce marketing costs and synchronise buying and selling with seasonal price conditions. According to Murphy, ‘collective action offers an important way for farmers to strengthen their political and economic bargaining power, and to reduce their business risks.’ One commentator, Giel Ton, warned that collective action does not come as a free good. It takes time, effort and money to organise, build trust and to experiment. Others, like Marcel Vernooij and Marcel Beukeboom, suggested that in order to ‘apply what we already know’, all stakeholders, including business, government, scientists and civil society, must work together, starting at the beginning of the value chain.

段落H：一些参与的作者和评论员主张通过集体行动组织、合作社或生产者组织来进行基于社区的和自主的风险管理策略。这些群体增加了小规模生产者的市场机会，减少了营销成本，并根据季节性价格条件调整购买和销售。墨菲认为，“集体行动为农民增强政治和经济讨价还价能力，减少了他们的商业风险。”评论员吉尔·通警告说，集体行动并非免费提供。组织、建立信任和尝试需要时间、精力和金钱。马赛尔·弗诺伊和马赛尔·贝克伯姆等人建议，为了“应用我们已经知道的”，所有利益相关者，包括企业、政府、科学家和公民社会，必须共同努力，从价值链的开始着手。

段落I

Some participants explained that market price volatility is often worsened by the presence of intermediary purchasers who, taking advantage of farmers’ vulnerability, dictate prices. One commentator suggested farmers can gain greater control over prices and minimise price volatility by selling directly to consumers. Similarly, Sonali Bisht, founder and advisor to the Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education (INHERE), India, wrote that community-supported agriculture, where consumers invest in local farmers by subscription and guarantee producers a fair price, is a risk-sharing model worth more attention. Direct food distribution systems not only encourage small-scale agriculture but also give consumers more control over the food they consume, she wrote.

段落I：一些参与者解释说，市场价格的波动通常会因中间购买者的存在而加剧，这些购买者利用农民的脆弱性来操纵价格。一位评论员建议，农民可以通过直接向消费者销售来更好地控制价格并最小化价格波动。同样，印度喜马拉雅环境研究和教育研究所（INHERE）的创始人兼顾问索纳利·比什特写道，社区支持农业通过消费者以订购方式投资于当地农民并保证生产者获得公平价格的方式是一种值得更多关注的风险共担模式。直接食品分销系统不仅鼓励小规模农业，还让消费者对自己消费的食品更有控制权。