Vốn bị ảnh hưởng nghiêm trọng từ đại dịch Covid-19, trận lũ lụt lớn vừa qua khiến tình hình ở Trung Quốc càng thiệt hại nặng nề hơn và đứng trước nhiều nguy cơ bên cạnh bối cảnh chính trị căng thẳng với Hoa Kỳ, IELTS TUTOR cùng phân tích từ vựng và cấu trúc quá bài báo 'Everything is gone.' Flooding in China ruins farmers and risks rising food prices để các em cập nhật thêm thông tin và rèn luyện khả năng đọc hiểu nhé.
I. Đoạn báo IELTS TUTOR phân tích
By this time of year, the rice growing on Bao Wentao's family farm should have been ready to harvest.
Instead, heavy flooding has engulfed huge swathes of southern China, including more than 36 acres of rice fields that 19-year-old Bao and his father tend to in their village near Poyang Lake.
[...] Surging floodwater burst the banks of Poyang Lake in Jiangxi province last month, destroying thousands of acres of farmland in what's known as the "land of fish and rice."
[...]The disaster is bad news for the world's second-largest economy, which is already in a fragile state because of the coronavirus pandemic. Beijing has so far been able to secure food supplies by importing vast amounts of produce from other countries, and by releasing tens of millions of tons from strategic reserves.
But analysts warn that such measures can only be useful for so long. Tense relationships between China and much of the Western world, and the coronavirus pandemic, may make importing a lot of food trickier in the future. The flooding in China, meanwhile, could soon get worse: Heavy rainfall is expected through much of this month, and Chinese officials have warned that the flooding could creep further north, threatening the country's wheat and corn harvests.
- Food security
It's not entirely clear how much of China's food supply may be at risk, since the government hasn't released specifics about the current state of production.
[...] Analysts at the Chinese brokerage firm Shenwan Hongyuan, meanwhile, recently estimated that China could lose 11.2 million tons worth of food compared to last year, given how much cropland was damaged by mid July. That would be equivalent to 5% of the rice that China produces.
[...] Damage estimates released by analysts also don't include the potential loss of wheat, corn or other crops, which could be threatened should the flooding.
Already, analysts point out that corn costs have been surging. The price of corn in China was 20% higher last month compared to a year ago, according to Chinese data provider SCI — the highest level in five years.
[...] Analysts from Baocheng Futures, a Chinese futures brokerage firm, attributed the rise mainly to concerns about extreme weather conditions in soybean production areas, and uncertainty surrounding US-China trade relations.
- China's response keeps rice price stable
Beijing has responded to the crisis with attempts to stabilize food prices and boost supply — including by tapping into strategic reserves of food.
Tens of millions of tons of rice, corn and soybeans have been released into the market in recent months by the China Grain Reserves Corp and the National Grain Trade Center, the two agencies that manage and sell state reserves of grain.
[...] China is also increasing imports — especially from the United States. Beijing committed to buying billions of dollars worth of American goods as part of a truce in the trade war agreed in January.
[...] Some analysts, though, caution that China shouldn't rely too much on overseas imports.
The trade relationship between Beijing and Washington, for example, could create uncertainty for China's food supply chain should US authorities cut off or heavily tax those imports, according to analysts from Chinese research firm Tianfeng Securities.
[...] The Covid-19 pandemic has also caused some countries to suspend food exports, the Tianfeng Securities analysts added in a recent research note, creating more risks for food security in China.
The analysts suggested a few options for China to increase food production, including to loosen restrictions on the production of genetically modified crops. But they also acknowledged that at least in the short term, the country may have to import as much as it can before its trade relationships can deteriorate.
II. Phân tích từ vựng & cấu trúc tác giả sử dụng trong bài báo
- heavy flooding has engulfed huge swathes of southern China: trận lũ lụt lớn đã nhấn chìm những vùng đất rộng lớn ở miền Nam Trung Quốc
- (To) engulf ( = sweep over sth): nhấn chìm, làm tiêu tan
- Surging floodwater burst the banks of Poyang Lake: nghĩa là nước lũ dâng cao làm vỡ bờ hồ Bà Dương (Surge = increase/rise: từ này hay gặp ở cấu trúc điểm cao task 1 mang nghĩa tăng cao)
- The disaster is bad news for the world's second-largest economy, which is already in a fragile state because of the coronavirus pandemic: Thảm họa này là một tin xấu đối với nền kinh tế lớn thứ hai trên thế giới, vốn đang trong tình trạng mõng manh vì đại dịch Corona.
- strategic reserves: những nguồn dự trữ mang tính chiến lược
- Tense relationships: những mối quan hệ căng thẳng
- brokerage firm: công ty mô giới
- equivalent (adj) ( = approximate: từ này hay dùng để so sánh tương phản số liệu ở task 1): tương đương
- which could be threatened should the flooding: nghĩa là có thể bị đe dọa nếu có lũ lụt
- Attribute sth to sb/sth: quy cái gì cho ai/cái gì
- Beijing has responded to the crisis with attempts to stabilize food prices and boost supply — including by tapping into strategic reserves of food: nghĩa là Bắc Kinh đối phó (đáp lại) với cuộc khủng hoảng bằng những nỗ lực nhằm ổn định giá lương thực và thúc đẩy nguồn cung cấp - bao gồm cả việc khai thác nguồn dự trữ lương thực chiến lược.
- (To) commit: cam kết
- as part of a truce in the trade war agreed in January: là một phần của sự đình chiến trong cuộc chiến thương mại được thỏa thuận vào tháng Một.
- (To) caution ( = warm): cảnh báo thận trọng, danh từ mang nghĩa là sự thận trọng, sự cẩn thận
- (To) rely on sth/sb: tin tưởng, dựa vào ai/cái gì
- (To) Suspend: đình chỉ, tạm hoãn
- But they also acknowledged that at least in the short term, the country may have to import as much as it can before its trade relationships can deteriorate: nghĩa là nhưng họ cũng thừa nhận rằng ít nhất trong thời gian ngắn hạn, quốc gia này có thể phải nhập khẩu nhiều nhất có thể trước khi các mối quan hệ thương mại của họ xấu đi. (deteriorate: làm hư hỏng, xấu đi)
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