2014年ESL之商务英语 20 Farming and Agribusiness
时间：2018-12-03 作者：英语课 分类：2014年ESL之商务英语
Farming and Agribusiness
Brad: Is this your first visit to this area?
Irene: It is and I’m surprised to see so many farms. I thought farming was a dying industry.
Brad: Family farms and small-scale farming are disappearing, but agribusiness is alive and well, thanks to government subsidies 1.
Brad: They can be, but the subsidies were originally given to protect the livelihood 3 of farmers.
Irene: And that’s not what’s happening?
Brad: Well, agribusiness has edged out small-scale farms because output is the name of the game. A lot of small- scale farmers have thrown in the towel.
Irene: That’s a shame, but the subsidies are still used to protect domestic food production, right?
Brad: That may be, but we’re losing a way of life. I come from a long line of farmers.
Irene: And you’re not farming?
Brad: Nope.
Irene: What do you do?
Brad: I work for the government agency that gives out subsidies to the very farms that put us out of business.
Irene: That’s quite a twist of fate.
Brad: You said it.
Script by Dr. Lucy Tse
- European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
- Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
- It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。
- Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
- My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。