2022年12月19日 VOA慢速英语：印度的板球拍业务处于危险之中

 

The best cricket bats in the world are made in England and India from willow trees. A bat is the long stick cricket players use to hit the ball.
世界上最好的板球拍是在英国和印度用柳树制成的。球棒是板球运动员用来击球的长棍。
 
The bats from India are in especially high demand. That is because they are much less costly than the English bats.
来自印度的球棒需求特别高。那是因为它们比英国蝙蝠成本低得多。
 
Bats from India cost between $50 and $500, while the ones made in England cost three to four times more.
来自印度的球棒需求特别高。那是因为它们比英国蝙蝠成本低得多。
 
The bat factories are in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and they employ about 100,000 people.
蝙蝠工厂位于印度控制的克什米尔地区，雇佣了大约 10 万人。
 
The area makes about 3 million bats each year. The factories have customers in 125 countries. The cricket bat business brings in about $12 million to the Indian economy. The Kashmir bats make up about 70 percent of the world market because of their lower cost.
该地区每年生产约 300 万只蝙蝠。这些工厂在 125 个国家/地区拥有客户。板球拍业务为印度经济带来了约 1200 万美元的收入。由于成本较低，克什米尔蝙蝠约占世界市场的 70%。
 
Many of the area's factories, however, have closed because of a serious lack of willow trees.
然而，由于严重缺乏柳树，该地区的许多工厂已经关闭。
 
As Indian-made bats became more popular around the world, more and more willow trees were cut down. New willow trees were not planted to replace them. Wood farmers chose to grow different kinds of wood that grow more quickly than willow trees.
随着印度制造的蝙蝠在世界范围内越来越受欢迎，越来越多的柳树被砍伐。没有种植新的柳树来取代它们。林农选择种植比柳树生长速度更快的不同种类的木材。
 
Mohammad Shafi Dar is 55 years old. He is one of the skilled workers involved in making cricket bats. He takes a piece of willow and cuts it with a motorized saw. He then passes it on to another worker for the next part of the bat-making process.
Mohammad Shafi Dar 今年 55 岁。他是参与制作板球拍的技术工人之一。他拿起一根柳树，用电动锯将其锯断。然后，他将其交给另一名工人，以进行蝙蝠制作过程的下一部分。
 
Dar followed his father into the business when he was a young man. He told VOA that, for the first time, he is worried about losing his job.
达尔年轻时跟随他的父亲进入这个行业。他对美国之音说，这是他第一次担心失去工作。
 
"In the last couple of years," he said, "bat production has decreased." He said about six workers recently lost their jobs at his factory.
“在过去的几年里，”他说，“蝙蝠产量下降了。”他说他的工厂最近有大约六名工人失业。
 
On the main highway that connects Kashmir with the main part of India, there are 400 cricket bat factories. Drivers see the pieces of willow trees gathered along the road. Fifty of the factories have closed because they do not have the wood they need.
在连接克什米尔和印度主要地区的主要公路上，有 400 家板球棒工厂。司机们看到路边成片的柳树。五十家工厂因为没有所需的木材而关闭。
 
The workers who lose their jobs do not have many other choices for work. Dar said they can become day laborers, work in agriculture or become sand diggers.
失去工作的工人没有太多其他工作选择。达尔说，他们可以成为临时工、从事农业工作或成为挖沙工。
 
Fayaz Ahmad Dar is president of the Kashmir Cricket Bat Manufacturers Union. He said the willow tree shortage started about five years ago. He said the business is almost "extinct due to complete negligence." Area factories, he said, receive just half the supply they used to.
Fayaz Ahmad Dar 是克什米尔板球棒制造商联盟的主席。他说柳树短缺大约在五年前开始。他说，这家公司几乎“由于完全疏忽而灭绝”。他说，地区工厂收到的供应量只有过去的一半。
 
Ahmad Dar said the tree-growers in the area are planting cottonwood and poplar. Wood from those trees can be used in making plywood, which is used in the building industry. Those trees grow faster and their wood can be sold sooner. The willow trees grow more slowly.
艾哈迈德达尔说，该地区的树木种植者正在种植棉白杨和杨树。来自这些树木的木材可用于制造用于建筑行业的胶合板。那些树长得更快，它们的木材也能更快卖掉。柳树长得更慢了。
 
Ahmad Dar said he has talked with the director of commerce and industries for the Kashmir area. He told her about cricket's growth around the world and how important the area's factories are for the sport.
艾哈迈德达尔说，他已经与克什米尔地区的工商主管进行了交谈。他向她讲述了板球在世界各地的发展以及该地区的工厂对这项​​运动的重要性。
 
Ahmad Dar said he asked that the government set aside land that could only be used for planting willow trees so that Kashmir's cricket bat business can survive.
艾哈迈德达尔说，他要求政府留出只能用于种植柳树的土地，以便克什米尔的板球拍业务能够生存。
 
After the meeting, the Sher-e-Kashmir University's department of agriculture sent the bat manufacturers 1,500 small willow trees to plant.
会议结束后，谢尔克什米尔大学农业部向蝙蝠制造商发送了1500棵小柳树进行种植。
 
Ahmad Dar, however, said that was not nearly enough. The bat-makers need many more trees than that. He said just one bat company needs the wood from 10,000 to 15,000 trees each year in order to meet demand.
然而，Ahmad Dar 说这还远远不够。蝙蝠制造商需要的树比这多得多。他说，仅一家蝙蝠公司每年就需要 10,000 到 15,000 棵树来满足需求。