ChinesePod
@ 51117 中國和西方的農民
A 號外號外！李曉鳳辭職結婚去了！
hàowài hàowài ! Lǐ Xiǎofèng cízhí jiéhūn qù le!
Extra! Extra! Li Xiaofeng is quitting her job, and she's going to get married.
B 真的？她老公是誰？怎麼從來沒聽她提起過？
zhēnde? tā lǎogōng shì shéi? zěnme cónglái méi tīng tā tíqǐ guo?
Really? Who's her husband? How come I've never heard her mention him?
A 你們肯定猜不到！她已經把自己的這輩子託付給了一個美國農民！
nǐmen kěndìng cāibudào! tā yǐjīng bǎ zìjǐ de zhè bèizi tuōfù gěi le yī ge Měiguó nóngmín!
You'll definitely never guess! She's already given her life to an American farmer!
C 她真是敢作敢為，放著國內白領麗人不做，去美國種地了。她怎麼想的啊？
tā zhēnshì gǎnzuògǎnwéi, fàng zhe guónèi báilǐnglìrén bù zuò, qù Měiguó zhòngdì le. tā zěnme xiǎng de a?
That's really taking bold action! She's given up on a white-collar job in China, and gone to America to till the earth. What's she thinking?
B 你們太孤陋寡聞了吧！美國哪有什麼農民啊，都是農場主！自己有田有地不說，還能拿到大筆的政府補貼。而且他們哪用自己種地啊，全都是機械化的！小李嫁給這位山姆大叔是享福囉！你以為都像中國農民似的，面朝黃土背朝天，一年就盼個好收成來養家餬口啊？
nǐmen tài gūlòuguǎwén le ba! Měiguó nǎyǒu shénme nóngmín a, dōu shì nóngchǎngzhǔ! zìjǐ yǒu tián yǒu dì bù shuō, hái néng ná dào dàbǐ de zhèngfǔ bǔtiē. érqiě tāmen nǎ yòng zìjǐ zhòngdì a, quándōu shì jīxièhuà de! Xiǎo Lǐ jiàgěi zhè wèi Shānmǔ dàshū shì xiǎngfú luō! nǐ yǐwéi dōu xiàng Zhōngguó nóngmín shìde, miàncháohuángtǔ bèicháotiān, yī nián jiù pàn ge hǎo shōucheng lái yǎngjiāhúkǒu a?
You're so behind the times! Since when does America have peasants? They're all farm-owners! It goes without saying that they have their own fields and land-- they also get juicy government subsidies. And do you think they have to work the land themselves? No way-- it's all mechanized! Getting married to this Uncle Sam means Xiao Li will be living the good life. And you thought they were all like Chinese peasants, slaving away under the hot sun, hoping all year long for a good harvest that would allow them to raise their families.
A 你明顯歧視中國農民嘛！現在農民的生活可是起了翻天覆地的變化。國家已經取消了農業稅，外國農民可是要交很多稅的哦！政府還提高了糧食收購價，農民再也不是靠天吃飯了。而且現在農民也懂得市場規律了，什麼好賣種什麼。沒聽說過嗎，還有城裡人去農村包地種紅薯，都發了！
nǐ míngxiǎn qíshì Zhōngguó nóngmín ma! xiànzài nóngmín de shēnghuó kěshì qǐ le fāntiānfùdì de biànhuà. guójiā yǐjīng qǔxiāo le nóngyèshuì, wàiguó nóngmín kěshì yào jiāo hěn duō shuì de o! zhèngfǔ hái tígāo le liángshi shōugòu jià, nóngmín zài yě bù shì kào tiān chīfàn le . érqiě xiànzài nóngmín yě dǒngde shìchǎng guīlǜ le, shénme hǎo mài zhòng shénme. méi tīngshuō guò ma, hái yǒu chénglǐrén qù nóngcūn bāodì zhǒng hóngshǔ, dōu fā le!
Obviously, you look down on Chinese farmers. There have been earth-shaking changes in farmers' lives recently. The government has abolished the agricultural tax-- farmers in other countries have to pay so much in taxes! The government has also raised the purchase price of grain, so farmers will never again have to rely on Nature to eat. And modern farmers understand the laws of the market, so they plant things that will sell well. Haven't you heard: there are urban dwellers who go to the villages, rent land, and plant sweet potatoes, and they've gotten rich on it!
C 沒錯！現在解決三農問題是國家的頭等大事。你看，農村九年義務教育免費，孩子上學不愁了。還有農村醫療合作制度，農民只要每年交20塊錢，大病住院政府都報銷75%，比我們城裡還好。戶籍制度也在改革，以後就沒有什麼城市人、農村人的分別了。
méicuò! xiànzài jiějué sānnóngwèntí shì guójiā de tóuděngdàshì. nǐ kàn, nóngcūn jiǔ nián yìwù jiàoyù miǎnfèi, háizi shàngxué bù chóu le. hái yǒu nóngcūn yīliáo hézuò zhì dù , nóngmín zhǐyào měinián jiāo èrshí kuài qián, dàbìng zhùyuàn zhèngfǔ dōu bàoxiāo bǎifēnzhī qīshíwǔ, bǐ wǒmen chénglǐ hái hǎo. hùjí zhì dù yě zài gǎigé, yǐhòu jiù méiyǒu shénme chéngshìrén, nóngcūnrén de fēnbié le.
That's right. Solving the ``three agricultural issues [villages, agriculture, peasants-Ed.]" is one of the highest things on the government's agenda now. Look, nine years of compulsory education in the villages is free. So they don't have to worry about their kids' schooling. Plus, there's the rural medical cooperation system. Peasants just need to pay twenty RMB per year, and the government will reimburse 75% if they get seriously sick and have to stay in a hospital. That's even better than us in the cities. They are also reforming the household registration system. In the future, there won't be a distinction between city people and rural people.
B 好是好，但是農村畢竟差。而且中國農民的文化素質還是普遍偏低，說不好聽就是大老粗。外國農民可不一樣。
hǎo shì hǎo , dànshì nóngcūn bìjìng chà. érqiě Zhōngguó nóngmín de wénhuà sùzhì hái shì pǔbiàn piān dī, shuō bù hǎotīng jiùshì dàlǎocū. wàiguó nóngmín kě bù yīyàng.
That's all well and good, but the villages are still in pretty bad shape. And the cultural level of Chinese peasants is universally on the low side. Not to put too fine a point on it, they're rednecks. Foreign farmers are different.
A 大哥，中國有九億農民，提高文化水平也不是一年半載的事。而且你怎麼知道外國農民有文化？
dàgē, Zhōngguó yǒu jiǔ yì nóngmín, tígāo wénhuà shuǐpíng yě bù shì yīniánbànzǎi de shì. érqiě nǐ zěnme zhīdào wàiguó nóngmín yǒu wénhuà?
Buddy, China has nine hundred million farmers. Lifting their cultural level isn't something you can just do overnight. And how do you know that foreign farmers are so cultured?
C 好了！好了！我們扯遠了！小李和她老公只要相愛，就……
hǎo le! hǎo le! wǒmen chě yuǎn le! Xiǎo Lǐ hé tā lǎogōng zhǐyào xiāng ài, jiù......
OK, that's enough. We're getting way off topic. As long as Xiao Li and her husband are in love, well, then....
D Hi, morning!給大家介紹我的老公，Chuck！來來來，大家吃喜糖啊……
Hi, morning! gěi dàjiā jièshào wǒ de lǎogōng, Chuck! lái lái lái, dàjiā chī xǐtáng a......
Hi, morning! Let me introduce my husband: Chuck! Come on, everyone, have some wedding candy...
Key Vocabulary
號外 hàowài extra! extra!
託付 tuōfù entrust
敢作敢為 gǎnzuògǎnwéi ready for bold action
白領麗人 báilǐnglìrén white-collar person
孤陋寡聞 gūlòuguǎwén ignorant and ill-informed
農場主 nóngchǎngzhǔ land-owner
補貼 bǔtiē subsidy
機械化 jīxièhuà mechanization
面朝黃土背朝天 miàncháohuángtǔ bèicháotiān toiling under a beating sun
收成 shōucheng harvest
翻天覆地 fāntiānfùdì earth-shaking
取消 qǔxiāo to cancel
靠天吃飯 kào tiān chīfàn to depend upon nature to survive
包地 bāodì to rent land
三農問題 sānnóngwèntí three rural issues （farmers, villages, agriculture)
義務教育 yìwù jiàoyù compulsory education
報銷 bàoxiāo submit an expense account
大老粗 dàlǎocū rustic and uncouth
一年半載 yīniánbànzǎi about one year
扯 chě to talk casually
Supplementary Vocabulary
廢除 fèichú abolish
敢作敢當 gǎnzuògǎndāng be prepared to stand up for one's beliefs
自給自足 zìjǐzìzú to be self sufficient
城鄉差距 chéngxiāngchājù the rural-urban gap
集體所有制 jítǐsuǒyǒuzhì collective ownership
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