【雅思课外精读】缅甸毒品为何如此泛滥？

　　【雅思课外精读】缅甸毒品为何如此泛滥？*注：本文摘自7月18日《经济学人》

　　Myanmar vice缅甸之恶Illegal drugs have become deeply rooted in Burmese society非法毒品已经深深扎根于缅甸社会Vigilantes say they have no alternative but to take the matter into their own hands治安警察表示，他们别无选择，只能自行处理此事

　　1. UNDER COVER of darkness, one night in 2017, Seng Naw and some 150 like-minded men revved up their trucks and drove a couple of miles from the town of Mohnyin in Kachin state, in remote northern Myanmar. Where the rice paddies give way to forest and mountains they found something that resembled a “festival”, according to Mr Seng Naw: scores of youths lolling about, high on heroin and methamphetamine sold to them by several dealers on the scene. It was 4am or thereabouts, by which time Mr Seng Naw knew the junkies would be too far gone to put up a fight, though some of his crew had brought clubs just in case. They rounded up the group—96 users and four dealers—packed them into the trucks and deposited them at the town’s police station.

　　2017年的一个晚上，在夜幕的掩护下，Seng Naw等大约150人开动他们的卡车，从缅甸北部偏远的克钦邦莫宁镇开出了几英里。在稻田和森林山脉的交界地带，他们发现了一群人像在过节一样。据Seng Saw说，他们看到一群年轻人在那里闲荡，已经吸嗨了，海洛因和冰毒是在场的几个毒贩卖给他们的。那时候大概是凌晨四点，Seng Saw知道，这时候这些瘾君子已经没有任何战斗力，对他们毫无还手之力了，但是他的一些同事还是带了警棍以防万一。他们围捕了这些人，他们一共有96名吸毒者和4名毒贩，警察把他们塞进卡车，送到了镇上的警察局。

　　2. That was Mr Seng Naw’s biggest haul. He is vice-president of the Mohnyin branch of Pat Jasan, a vigilante group trying to stamp out drugs. It was founded in 2014 by several prominent Kachins, a largely Christian ethnic group, who were dismayed by the havoc drugs had brought to their community. In Mohnyin, Mr Seng Naw says, people would regularly use drugs in public: on streets, in paddyfields, at university, even in a cemetery. As the number of addicts in Kachin state soared, so did violent crime, says Hpala Lum Hkao, a Baptist pastor and Pat Jasan’s secretary-general. The government could not, or would not, tackle the crisis. So they decided to pat jasan—“sweep and clean”.

　　这是Seng Saw的一次大收获。他是帕敢民间缉毒组织莫宁分部的副主席，帕敢是一个试图取缔毒品的民间组织，该组织2014年由几位克钦人建立。克钦人笃信基督教，他们对毒品给当地社会带来的浩劫深恶痛绝。Seng Saw称，在莫宁，人们经常在公共场所吸毒：街上，稻田里，大学甚至是墓地里都会看到有人吸毒。浸信会牧师帕敢民间缉毒组织的秘书长Hpala Lum Hkao说，随着克钦邦吸毒人数激增，暴力犯罪也在激增。政府无法也不愿应对这场危机，所以他们决定建立帕敢，帕敢意为“扫荡，清除。”

　　3. There are no reliable data on the number of addicts in Myanmar, but the Transnational Institute, an international research outfit, believes the problem is severe. The official tally of “injecting drug users” has risen steadily over the past decade, to 93,000. But in the past five years methamphetamine, which is typically heated and the fumes inhaled, has supplanted heroin as a “drug of concern”, according to the government. It is cheap and readily available. Mai Kaung Saing, a journalist who reports on northern Shan state, which borders Kachin state (see map), estimates that 30% of the local population uses drugs, primarily heroin and meth. The problem is national. “Every family has been affected by drug-use issues,” says Tom Kramer of the Transnational Institute.

　　对于缅甸的吸毒人数，并没有准确的数据，但是国际研究机构多国研究所认为，缅甸毒品问题非常严重。官方统计的“注射毒品使用者”在过去十年里稳步上升，达到93000人。但是根据政府的报道，在过去的五年里，通过加热吸入的冰毒已经取代海洛因成为“令人担忧的毒品“，冰毒便宜且产量丰富。掸邦与克钦邦接壤，常驻该地北部的记者Mai Kaung Saing估计，当地30%的人吸食毒品，主要是海洛因和冰毒。这个问题是全国性的。多国研究所的汤姆·克莱默称，“每个家庭都受到吸毒问题的影响”。

　　4. The surge in addiction is a symptom of the country’s central role in the drug trade. For decades assorted militias, some almost completely autonomous and others at war with the government, have controlled much of Myanmar’s border regions, especially in Shan and Kachin states. Many of the gunmen, and some of the soldiers sent to fight them, are involved in the drug trade. In the 1970s and 1980s Myanmar became the world’s biggest source of opium and heroin, and remains the second-biggest producer today. In 2018 sales of illegal opiates accounted for 1-2% of its GDP, according to the UN.

　　缅甸在毒品交易中一直扮演着核心角色，而吸毒人数激增是这一角色的主要症状。数十年来，各种民兵组织控制了缅甸边境大部分地区，尤其是在掸邦和克钦邦，其中一些民兵组织几乎完全处于自治状态，有的甚至还和政府交战。很多被派去和他们作战的士兵也参与了毒品交易。在20世纪七八十年代，缅甸成为世界上最大的阿片类毒品和海洛因来源国，至今，缅甸仍然是世界第二大毒品生产国。根据联合国的数据，2018年，缅甸非法阿片类药物的销售占其GDP的1-2%。

　　5. Since the 1990s Myanmar has also been producing meth which, like heroin, was initially intended for export. Gradually, however, as supply has increased and prices have declined, a domestic market has emerged. In Lashio, a city in northern Shan state, four yaba (meth) tablets can be bought for about $0.75. Many users find meth helps them work long hours or in arduous conditions, as truck drivers or miners; others are young and bored.

　　自上世纪90年代以来，缅甸一直在生产冰毒，与海洛因一样，冰毒最初是用于出口的。然而，随着供应的增加和价格的下降，这些毒品逐渐进入国内市场。在掸邦北部的腊秀市，4片亚巴(冰毒)药片售价约为0.75美元。许多吸毒者如卡车司机和矿工发现冰毒能帮助他们长时间工作在艰苦条件下工作，其他人则因为年轻无聊而吸食毒品。

　　6. The International Crisis Group, an NGO based in Brussels, reckons the drug trade contributes more than any other industry to Shan state’s economy. In eastern and northern Shan state, “people get paid in yaba, they trade in yaba,” says David Mathieson, an analyst. So when vigilante groups like Pat Jasan cracked down in 2015 and 2016, it depressed the local economy.

　　总部设在布鲁塞尔的非政府组织国际危机组织(International Crisis Group)估计，毒品贸易对掸邦经济的贡献超过其他任何行业。在掸邦东部和北部，“人们用亚巴（冰毒）付钱，用亚巴交易。”分析师戴维•马蒂森说。所以当像Pat Jasan这样的治安维持会组织在2015年和2016年进行镇压时，当地经济受到了打击。

　　7. The authorities have little incentive to tackle the trade. Police rarely pursue drug-traffickers. Sometimes they are users and dealers themselves: members of Pat Jasan have on several occasions inadvertently arrested officers, says Mr Hpala Lum Hkao. Sometimes they are simply too scared to arrest anyone but small-time dealers, says Mr Mai Kaung Saing. Some of the militias in drug-producing areas are even more deeply steeped in the trade, either providing protection to drug rings or running them themselves.

　　当局不管这些交易。警方很少追捕毒贩，有时他们甚至自己吸毒，还参与毒品交易。Hpala Lum Hkao说，帕敢有几次甚至逮到了警察。Mai Kaung Saing说，警察有时候只是太过害怕，不敢逮捕任何人，除了那些三流的毒贩。一些在毒品生产地区的民兵深度参与毒品交易，他们要么为贩毒集团提供保护，要么自己经营毒品生意。

　　8. Kachins like Mr Seng Naw have refused to stand idle as their community becomes hooked. Pat Jasan, which claims to have 10,000 volunteers at its beck and call, is the biggest, most organised vigilante group in Myanmar, and has “a lot of energy”, according to Mr Kramer. It says it has destroyed 3,000-4,000 hectares of poppy fields, launched numerous campaigns to educate people about the harms of drugs, and arrested dealers and users, some of whom have ended up in their “rehabilitation” centres. Mr Hpala Lum Hkao says the group has opened 77 in total, though some have since closed down. Treatment consists of prayer, physical activity and the odd bath to dull the pain of withdrawal. Addicts there against their will are sometimes placed in stocks or shackled for the first few days, to ensure they do not escape.

　　像Seng Naw这样的克钦人不想在他们的社会深陷毒品漩涡的时候袖手旁观。据称，帕敢有1万名志愿者随时待命，是缅甸规模最大、组织最严密的治安维持会组织，据克莱默说，该组织“精力充沛”。该组织表示，他们已经摧毁了3000 - 4000公顷的罂粟田，开展了许多活动来教育人们了解毒品的危害，还逮捕了毒品贩子和吸毒者，其中一些人被关进了他们的“康复”中心。Hpala Lum Hkao表示，帕敢总共有77家分部，但是其中一些已经关门。帕敢提供的治疗包括祈祷、身体活动以及洗浴来减轻戒毒带来的疼痛。那些瘾君子最开始的时候，有时会违背规则，会被关进监狱或戴上镣铐，以确保他们不会逃脱。

　　9. This punitive approach to treating addiction is the norm in Myanmar, says Mr Kramer, even though it is highly ineffective: around 80% of those forced into treatment will relapse. Even Mr Hpala Lum Hkao concedes that once the inmates have been released from Pat Jasan’s centres, they frequently fall back into their old habits. Some officials are coming round to the idea that there are more humane and effective methods of treating addiction, says Mr Kramer. But curing addiction in Myanmar will take more than an evidence-based approach to treatment. It will involve ending the long civil war in Kachin and Shan states and stemming the flood of drugs. Until then, Messrs Hpala Lum Hkao and Seng Naw will remain on high alert.

　　克莱默说，这种惩罚性的戒毒方法在缅甸很常见，尽管它们非常并没有什么用：大约80%被迫戒毒的人会复吸。就连Hpala Lum Hkao也承认，一旦那些瘾君子从帕敢戒毒中心出来，他们经常会再次吸毒。Kramer说，一些官员开始意识到有更人性化和更有效的方法来戒除毒瘾。但是，在缅甸，戒除毒瘾需要的不仅仅是循证的戒毒方法，还涉及到结束克钦和掸邦的长期内战，并遏制毒品泛滥。在此之前，Messrs Hpala Lum Hkao和Seng Naw将保持高度警惕。

　　精读解析

　　篇章结构P1—P2：由过去的一次缉毒行动引入：缅甸吸毒人数激增，有的组织如帕敢在采取措施。P3—P7：缅甸毒品泛滥情况：毒品产量大，吸毒人数多，各种势力都卷入毒品交易中。P8：面对缅甸的毒品泛滥，帕敢采取措施打击毒品交易，强制人们戒毒。P9：帕敢的戒毒方式或许效果不大；解决缅甸毒品问题涉及很多方面。

　　重点单词like-minded /'laik'maindid/ adj. 具有相似意向或目的的【例句】I appeal to all like-minded people to support me.  我呼吁所有志同道合的人来支持我。

　　rev up 加快转速; 加速【例句】We revved up rehearsals for the opening of the play.我们为戏剧的开演更加紧排演。

　　paddy /'pæd ɪ / n. 稻田【短语】paddy field 稻田paddy rice 水稻；稻谷paddy soil 水稻土rice paddy n. 稻田；水田【例句】Ordinary shoes are not appropriate to paddy fields.普通鞋不适于下稻田。

　　give way to让位于，让步，代替【拓展】give way to 给……让路；为…所替代；听凭决定give way to sb 屈服；让步give way to sth 为...所代表；给...让路to give way 让路，让行【例句】The audience gave way to uncontrollable bursts of laughter.听众忍不住发出一阵阵笑声。He gave way to hopeless grief as soon as he heard the bad message.一听到那个坏消息, 他立即陷入绝望的境地。

　　loll about懒散；闲荡【拓展】loll about the streets 在街上闲荡【例句】Don't loll about in the street after school.放学后不要在街上到处闲逛。

　　heroin /'her əʊɪ n/ n. 海洛因注：注意区分：heroine n. 女英雄；女杰；女主角【例句】He is a heroin addict.他是个吸海洛因成瘾的人。

　　on the scene / ˈɔ nð əˌ si:n/ 到场；出现；在场【拓展】come on the scene 出场；出现on the urban scene 在城市里【例句】Wang Nan wears the stomacher type white nuptial dress, lets the honored guest on the scene envy romantically happily.王楠身穿抹胸式白色婚纱，甜蜜浪漫让在场嘉宾羡慕不已。

　　thereabouts /'ðe ə r ə ba ʊ ts/ adv. (地点、时间、数量等)大约, 上下；附近, 左右【短语】or thereabouts 用在数量词后面表示概数;thereabouts detail 大约那时or somewhere thereabouts 上下的样子【例句】His age may have been fifty or thereabouts, for his black, curly hair was thickly shot with gray.他那鬈曲的黑发已经多半灰白，料想他的年纪当在五十上下。

　　junkie /'d ʒʌ ŋ k ɪ / n. 有毒瘾者；废旧品商人【例句】I've broken away from that whole junkie crowd.我已同那帮瘾君子决裂了。round up赶拢，使集中；使……集拢；去以成整数【例句】That's going to round up potentially some of his children, too.这可能导致他的几个孩子被捕。

　　deposit /d ɪ 'p ɒ z ɪ t/ n. 存款；保证金；沉淀物v. 存放；使沉积【短语】bank deposit 银行存款time deposit 定期存款deposit rate 存款利率safe deposit 保险箱on deposit 存放着，寄存，保藏着;(在银行里)存(款)，储存着;(以分期付款或购物时)作为第一期交付的货款;【例句】He put a deposit on a house.他给一所房子付了押金。She deposited the money in the bank.她把钱存在银行里。

　　haul /h ɔ ː l/ n. 用力拖拉；努力得到的结果；拖，拉；捕获物；一网捕获的鱼量；拖运距离vt. 拖运；拖拉【短语】long haul 长途运输；长距over the long haul 长远地；从长远观点看haul distance 运距；运输距离；行程长度；运程长度for the long haul 长远地short haul 短途；短时间；短距旅行；短程运输haul up 把…拖上来；迎风行驶；[计]通信距离haul in 绞入；拉进，靠拢；引船进坞【例句】The protesters were hauled off to jail.抗议者被拉走投入监牢。

　　vigilante / ˌ v ɪ d ʒɪ 'lænt ɪ / n. (自发组织的)治安团体的成员【例句】It comes as social media is blamed increasingly for a rise in vigilante attacks.社交媒体正日益成为义警袭击事件上升的攻击对象。

　　stamp out扑灭；踩灭【例句】The Sanitary Board tries to stamp out the epidemic.卫生局试图消灭这种流行病。dismay /d ɪ s'me ɪ / n. 沮丧，灰心；惊慌vt. 使惊慌；使沮丧【短语】in dismay 郁闷地; 沮丧地;【例句】He watched the burning bouse with dismay.他绝望地看着着火的房子。

　　havoc /'hæv ə k/ n. 大破坏；浩劫；蹂躏vt. 严重破坏【短语】wreak havoc 肆虐；造成严重破坏play havoc with 毁坏；使陷入大混乱【例句】The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。

　　secretary-general /'sekr ə tri'd ʒ en ə r ə l/ n. 秘书长,总书记【例句】In 1888, Coubertin took office the France school edition, athletictraining committee secretary generals.1888年，顾拜旦就任法国学校教育、体育训练筹备委员会秘书长。

　　outfit /'a ʊ tf ɪ t/ n. 全套装备, 全套工具；一套服装；集体; 组织【例句】He works in a small publishing outfit.他在一家小型出版单位工作。

　　tally /'tæl ɪ / n. 标签；记账；计数器vt. 计算；记录；使符合【短语】tally with 与…相符合tally up 总结；加一；结算medal tally 奖牌总数【例句】The tally was two ayes and three nays.投票结果是两票赞成, 三票反对。

　　methamphetamine / ˌ me θæ m'fet ə mi ː n/ n. 甲基苯丙胺,脱氧麻黄碱(一种中枢兴奋药)【例句】In the 1980's, "ice," a smokable form of methamphetamine, came into use.在1980年代，"冰"作为一种可烟吸方式的甲基苯丙胺变得流行起来。

　　fume /fju ː m/ vt. 冒烟；熏；愤怒地说n. 烟；愤怒，烦恼【例句】The smoke and fumes almost suffocated me.烟雾差点儿把我闷死了。

　　inhale / ɪ n'he ɪ l/ v. 吸入；猛吃猛喝【例句】Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him.珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。

　　supplant /s ə 'plɑ ː nt/ vt. 代替；排挤掉【例句】The prime minister was supplanted by his rival.首相被他的政敌赶下台了。

　　meth /meθ/ n. 甲安菲他明(一种兴奋剂)【例句】A newly-elected West Virginia sheriff resigned from his job and admitted in court that he is a meth addict.新当选的西佛吉尼亚治安官辞职，他在法庭上承认对甲安菲他明上瘾。

　　symptom /'s ɪ m(p)t ə m/ n. 征兆；症状【例句】The symptoms manifested themselves ten days later.十天后征兆显露出来了。

　　assorted / ə 's ɔ ː t ɪ d/ adj. 混杂的；各种各样的；组合的v. 把…分等级；把…归为一类【短语】assort with v. 相称；与…协调【例句】There's a bag of assorted sweets on the table.桌子上有一袋什锦糖果。

　　militia /m ɪ 'l ɪʃə / n. 民兵组织, 民兵【例句】That center was next to actually a militia base, and he's been attacking militias.遭袭的拘留中心位于民兵基地旁边，哈夫塔尔一直在攻击民兵。

　　autonomous / ɔ ː 't ɒ n ə m ə s/ adj. 自治的【例句】autonomous region 自治区autonomous county 自治县autonomous prefecture 自治州autonomous system 自治系统；独立系统autonomous operation 独立作战；自仲作【例句】Each of the U.S. states has an autonomous government.美国的每个州都有一个自治政府。

　　opiate /' ə upi ə t/ n. 鸦片剂；[口]麻醉剂（opiate的复数）v. 用鸦片制剂治疗；使麻木【例句】Opiates are a whole different ball game.阿片类止痛药的游戏规则完全不一样。

　　in arduous condition在艰苦的条件下

　　arduous /'ɑ ː dj ʊə s/ adj. 费力的；努力的；险峻的【短语】make arduous efforts v. 努力奋斗【例句】Long hours of arduous hiking tired the scouts.长时间的艰苦跋涉把这些童子军给累坏了。

　　vigilante / ˌ v ɪ d ʒɪ 'lænt ɪ / n. (自发组织的)治安团体的成员【例句】The vigilantes felt he did not conformto their definition of Americanism.治安维持会成员觉得他和他们所界定的美国主义不相符合。

　　crack down严厉打击【拓展】crack down on 镇压；制裁crack down on counterfeit goods 打假【例句】The university is cracking down on plagiarism.学校正在严惩抄袭行为。

　　have incentive to有动力做某事【例句】China gets 80% of its electricity from coal, and Duke gets about 70%, so both have incentive to act.  中国80%的电力都来自于燃煤发电，而杜克能源这一比例约为70%；双方都有动力采取行动。

　　drug-trafficker毒品贩子【例句】One of Mexico's top drug traffickers is under arrest in the Netherlands.墨西哥一名头号毒品走私犯在荷兰被捕。

　　small-time /'sm ɔ :l'taim/ adj. 小规模的,卑贱不足取的,三流的【例句】He was a small-time lawyer keen to be someone.  他是个没有什么名堂却总想出人头地的律师。

　　steep /sti ː p/ adj. 陡峭的；夸大的；不合理的；急剧升降的v. 浸；泡；使…充满【例句】The train snailed up the steep grade.火车在陡坡上缓缓而行。

　　at its beck and call听命于它；随叫随到

　　poppy /'p ɒ p ɪ / n. [植]罂粟属植物；罂粟花；深红色adj. 罂粟科的【短语】opium poppy n. 罂粟poppy seed 罂粟籽【例句】The Queen laid a poppy wreath at the war memorial.女王向阵亡将士纪念碑献了罂粟花圈。

　　rehabilitation /'ri:h ə ,bili'tei ʃə n/ n. 修复;复兴；复职;恢复名誉,昭雪；(病残人的)康复,更新;(罪犯的)改过迁善【同根】rehabilitate vt. 改造(罪犯等); 使恢复正常生活；使恢复原状; 修复；恢复…的名誉【例句】He’s booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。

　　punitive /'pju ː n ɪ t ɪ v/ adj. 惩罚性的；刑罚的【例句】Some in Congress are mooting separate and more punitive measures for banks.国会内部的某些人士正讨论对银行采取独立且更严厉的措施。

　　ineffective / ɪ n ɪ 'fekt ɪ v/ adj. 无效果的,未能产生预期效果的,不起作用的；无能力的【例句】The court is ineffective because it lacks the necessary enforcement machinery.法院效率低是因为缺乏必要的执行机制。

　　concede /k ə n'si ː d/ vt. & vi. 承认；出让；容许【短语】concede defeat 承认失败; 认输;concede to 让步concede the land to forestry 退耕还林【例句】I had to concede that I'd overreacted.我不得不承认我反应过度了。

　　inmate /' ɪ nme ɪ t/ n. (尤指)同院病人；同狱犯人【例句】The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location.监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。

　　humane /hj ʊ 'me ɪ n/ adj. 仁爱的,慈善的【例句】humane society 人道协会；保护动物协会Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗?