《中英對照讀新聞》In the dark：Electricity a ’luxury’ in poor Madagascar 黑暗之中：電力在貧窮的馬達加斯加是「奢侈品」

馬達加斯加首都安塔那那利弗的街景。（美聯社檔案照）

◎孫宇青

Raymond Rakotondrasoa surveys the charred remains of his mud and thatched-roofed house in Madagascar.

雷蒙．拉科通德拉索亞（譯音）正查看他位於馬達加斯加、已付之一炬的土造及茅草屋頂房屋殘骸。

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"I left a candle burning on my bedside table. It fell and set fire to my clothes. If it had happened during the night I could have died," says the 70-year-old retired construction worker, who lost all his worldly possessions in minutes that terrible day.

這位70歲的退休建築工人說：「我在床邊桌上留了一盞蠟燭，結果倒下後燒到衣服。如果發生在晚上，我可能早就死了。」在那個可怕的日子，他的身家財產在幾分鐘內化為烏有。

In the country where two-thirds of its 26 million population lives below the poverty line, only 15 percent of the inhabitants have access to electricity. According to the World Bank, Madagascar ranks 184th out of 190 countries in terms of access to electric power.

在這個2600萬人口的國家，有3分之2民眾生活在貧窮線以下，只有15％的人有電可用。世界銀行指出，在電力普及程度方面，馬達加斯加在190國中排名第184名。

One solution would be to replace the crumbling hydropower plants built during French colonial rule. Besides, solar power is an obvious alternative in the country that enjoys some 2,800 hours of sunlight annually.

（AFP）

解決方法之一是替換法國殖民時期建造、逐漸敗朽的水力發電廠。此外，在這個全年日照時數約2800小時的國家，太陽能顯然也是一項替代方案。

（法新社）

新聞辭典

charred：形容詞，焦黑的。例句：A charred body of a man was found inside the room.（房內發現一具燒焦的男屍。）

worldly：形容詞，塵世的；物質的。例句：For vagrants, the clothes they are wearing are all the worldly goods they have.（對街友來說，身上穿的衣服就是全部財產了。）

crumble：動詞，碎裂；崩潰。例句：Support for the chief executive officer is crumbling.（支持執行長的勢力正在瓦解。）

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