PBS高端访谈:欧盟补助因英国退欧而处于困境之中的地区
时间:2019-03-09 作者:英语课 分类:PBS访谈社会系列
英语课
AMY GUTTMAN: In spring and summer, tourists come to Cornwall to visit the pretty ports that line this part of the southwest coast of England. It's a five-hour journey by car or train from London, and attracts people for the sea, the surf, and the food — from fish 'n chips to the world famous clotted 1 cream with scones 2 and Cornish pasties, a meat and potato-stuffed pastry 3.
Half-a-million people live in Newlyn and the other towns that make up the county of Cornwall. 56-and-a half percent of them voted last month to leave the European Union. Which was a bit surprising, considering this scenic 4 way of life has recently been sustained by EU subsidies 5.
Cornwall relies on fishing, farming and tourism – all of them seasonal 6 industries, at the mercy of the temperamental English weather. That's partly why the region has, for decades, been dependent on government support.
Because Cornwall's economic output per capita is less than 75 percent of the EU average, it receives millions of dollars in EU aid every year.
Cornwall has received around 90 million dollars a year from the EU with another 660 million dollars pledged through 2020. Those funds are now in jeopardy 7.
This is the bidding for today's catch in Newlyn. All the hake, sole, haddock and other fish is sold in an hour. To be trucked to London and across the Channel.
Fish wholesaler 8 Matthew Stevens supplies top local and London restaurants. Five generations of his family have fished off Cornwall. His father established their fish merchant business in the 1930s.
欧盟补助因英国退欧而处于困境之中的地区
MATTHEW STEVENS: I love doing it. I'm not a sailor, mind. This is quite an exceptional trip for me to be on a boat.
AMY GUTTMAN: Thank you. We're very grateful.
Stevens relies on a mostly Eastern European staff, rather than Cornish people, to filet 9 and pack his fish. That's one reason he voted to remain in the EU.
MATTHEW STEVENS: I'd love to employ 80 Cornishmen, you know, but come on guys, where are you? You know, come to me. We've got work here.
AMY GUTTMAN: Besides skilled workers, the EU has provided Stevens money to help grow his business through a match-funding grant which gave him 45 percent of the money, about $460,000, needed to equip his factory and buy new machinery 10. In return, Stevens was tasked with increasing revenue and the number of people he employed.
MATTHEW STEVENS: I've been able to develop my business from a staff of five to almost 90 staff, multi-multi-million pound turnover 11 business but I've been able to do that with the support of Brussels, or the EU.
AMY GUTTMAN: While Stevens, now 70-years-old, has prospered 12, many fishermen in Cornwall are struggling. Most voted to leave the EU saying its conservation quotas 14 limit what they can catch and sell and are based on out of date scientific data. The quotas also require them to observe a "discard ban," which forces them to toss back into the ocean any fish they catch above their quotas or else risk fines.
BRACKEN PEARCE: We've got a really small share of the quota 13.
AMY GUTTMAN: 23-year old fisherman Bracken Pearce says the quotas unfairly favor the French over the British, limiting the British fishermen to a lower percentage of the regulated fish.
BRACKEN PEARCE: Now we got 200 kilos of haddock per month. I could take my boat out in the first tow and in four-and-a-half hours I could catch that, and if we was abiding 15 to the discard ban, I would have to bring my boat straight in and tie it up until the next month's boat was allocated 16 and that would put the whole port out of business.
AMY GUTTMAN: Once the UK exits the EU, Pearce is counting on continuing to sell his fish to wholesalers in Europe.
BRACKEN PEARCE: They bought our fish before — the European Union — and they'll buy it afterwards. We all want what's best for our fishing industry, because it's what puts food on our table.
AMY GUTTMAN: As with its fishing community, there is division among Cornwall's farmers, too. 38-year-old Paul George is a third generation dairy farmer who voted to leave the EU.
PAUL GEORGE: I believe that our government will look after Cornwall just as well as the EU has been looking after it.
AMY GUTTMAN: George sells all his milk to a European cooperative called Arla, which pays George 20 percent below the price of his production costs because global milk prices have been depressed 17 for years.
Ironically, an EU subsidy 18 helps him stay afloat. It's called the "single farm payment," Which is paid to a farmer based on how much land he owns. George says the one size fits all approach isn't fair and that the subsidy should be based instead on how much farmers produce.
PAUL GEORGE: I don't value the basic payment scheme in my business as highly as some other people. However, every little does count at the moment, and no, I wouldn't want to be without a support package. I think it's supporting the less efficient farmers more so than the more efficient farmers.
AMY GUTTMAN: Rather than a handout 19, George is hoping milk prices may rise.
PAUL GEORGE: The EU money is welcomed in any form, of course it's welcomed. I'm just saying to you now that I think the UK are going to survive outside the EU.
AMY GUTTMAN: Farmer James Hosking wishes the UK did not vote to leave.
JAMES HOSKING: Tunnels like this were put up with funding from the EU.
AMY GUTTMAN: His great-grandfather set up Fentongollan Farm in 1893, where today he raises sheep and grows daffodils, broccoli 20, and other vegetables. Just like fish wholesaler Matthew Stevens, Hosking took advantage of an EU matching grant program to build and extend plant nurseries and upgrade equipment. After investing more than $200,000 of his own money, Hosking received matching funds from the EU on the condition that he increase production and create five full time jobs.
JAMES HOSKING: For several years, the amount of money we could afford to grow our business was actually being match funded by europe, so we were growing at twice the speed we would have been able to grow at without it.
AMY GUTTMAN: He created twenty new jobs, and increased plant production five times over. Without EU money, Hosking says his farm would be half the size. Just as important as the grant for him has been the free migration 21 of workers across borders.
JAMES HOSKING: Today, there are probably about 30 people working here. There are sort of 15 of our local, if you like, Cornish people here and then probably 15 or 20 Eastern Europeans here are the moment. I voted "in." A lot of people here, now said well actually, I was doing it really as a protest. That we were not happy.
SARAH NEWTON: All of us know the European Union isn't perfect and needs reform.
AMY GUTTMAN: Figuring out what comes next is part of Sarah Newton's job. She's a Conservative member of Parliament from Cornwall who voted to remain in the EU.
Beyond subsidies for the farmers and fisherman, EU money paid for new roads and rail line and high speed broadband internet service.
In Newton's constituency, the towns of Truro and Falmouth deviated 22 from the rest of the county and voted to remain. There, EU funds helped create a yacht production facility, a performing arts center, and converted an old fishing wharf 23 into an outpost for creative and technology businesses.
SARAH NEWTON: We're seeing investment and growth in the digital economy. Businesses coming here because they can be based from here and work with people all over the world.
AMY GUTTMAN: Shortly after Cornish voters decided 24 to leave the EU, the County Council sought assurances that EU funding would continue.
So, what happens now with many of these EU funded businesses and projects?
SARAH NEWTON: The money that's already been committed, people will receive. The big challenge now, is for me to make sure that the British government actually replace that money.
AMY GUTTMAN: Do you think it's more than a little hypocritical that this region voted overwhelmingly to leave and the very next day there was an outcry from the Cornish peoples, saying, 'oh, but can we keep the money?'
SARAH NEWTON: The whole idea of sovereignty was really important and that was more important than the money that Cornwall receives. I personally felt rather disappointed with the leadership of Cornwall council.
AMY GUTTMAN: Despite being on the losing end of last month's Brexit vote, Newton doesn't believe there should be a second referendum.
SARAH NEWTON: Now, the most important thing is to stabilize 25 the british economy and negotiate the best possible relationship we can have with the European Union.
AMY GUTTMAN: The frayed 26 relationship worries Garry Barter 27, a 27-year old entrepreneur who returned to Cornwall two years ago. He obtained a business degree in a program paid for by the EU at Falmouth University, where many graduates are finding jobs in a developing local hub of internet-based companies.
GARRY BARTER: Falmouth was almost a ghost town. There wasn't a lot going on there for the younger generation, and now actually, the whole town is thriving.
AMY GUTTMAN: Barter co-founded Hertzian, a business that uses artificial intelligence to analyze 28 customer feedback, such as user reviews for mobile games. He now has five employees, but Barter fears a Brexit from the EU will weaken a magnet for young talent.
GARRY BARTER: The growth of the university has been fundamental to us being able to grow. By removing the EU funding, it could really harm the new businesses in the area.
Once the EU funding drops, it will be up to the fishermen, farmers, and young entrepreneurs like Garry Barter to make the seeds of that investment grow.
GARRY BARTER: I think If the funding does dry up, and it's not replaced, then yes, I think we will have to look at relocating. We want to create the Cornish jobs and also supplement them and bring new people to the area.
adj.凝结的v.凝固( clot的过去式和过去分词 )
- scones and jam with clotted cream 夹有凝脂奶油和果酱的烤饼
- Perspiration clotted his hair. 汗水使他的头发粘在一起。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
n.烤饼,烤小圆面包( scone的名词复数 )
- scones and jam with clotted cream 夹有凝脂奶油和果酱的烤饼
- She makes scones and cakes for the delectation of visitors. 她烘制了烤饼和蛋糕供客人享用。 来自辞典例句
n.油酥面团,酥皮糕点
- The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
- The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。
adj.自然景色的,景色优美的
- The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
- The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。
n.补贴,津贴,补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )
- 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》
adj.季节的,季节性的
- The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
- The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。
n.危险;危难
- His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
- It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻,上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。
n.批发商
- We're the largest furniture wholesaler in Illinois. 我们是伊利诺伊州最大的家具批发商。 来自辞典例句
- These are used to create profiles for each wholesaler. 这是他日常的工作或通过与批发商的正式会谈。 来自互联网
n.肉片;鱼片
- They feasted us on filet mignon and strawberry shortcake.他们拿出鱼片和草莓松脆饼盛情款待我们。
- You cannot make filet mignon out of chopped liver.你不能从品质差的肉制造品质高的肉。
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构
- Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗?
- Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。
n.人员流动率,人事变动率;营业额,成交量
- The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
- Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。
成功,兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 )
- The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认,这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
- Mr. Black prospered from his wise investments. 布莱克先生由于巧妙的投资赚了不少钱。
n.(生产、进出口等的)配额,(移民的)限额
- A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
- He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。
(正式限定的)定量( quota的名词复数 ); 定额; 指标; 摊派
- In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
- Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。
adj.永久的,持久的,不变的
- He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
- He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。
adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的
- When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
- His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。
n.补助金,津贴
- The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
- The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。
n.散发的文字材料;救济品
- I read the handout carefully.我仔细看了这份分发的资料。
- His job was distributing handout at the street-corner.他的工作是在街头发传单。
n.绿菜花,花椰菜
- She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
- They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的,而菜花都是白色的。
n.迁移,移居,(鸟类等的)迁徙
- Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
- He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。
v.偏离,越轨( deviate的过去式和过去分词 )
- On this occasion the plane deviated from its usual flight path. 这一次那架飞机偏离了正常的航线。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- His statements sometimes deviated from the truth. 他的陈述有时偏离事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.码头,停泊处
- We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
- We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
vt.(使)稳定,使稳固,使稳定平衡;vi.稳定
- They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
- His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。
adj.磨损的v.(使布、绳等)磨损,磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 )
- His shirt was frayed. 他的衬衫穿破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The argument frayed their nerves. 争辩使他们不快。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
n.物物交换,以货易货,实物交易
- Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上,鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
- They have arranged food imports on a barter basis.他们以易货贸易的方式安排食品进口。
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