COVID created a Billionaire every 30 hours

Tuesday, May 24, 2022 - 01:00

Print Edition?World

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new billionaire every 30 hours and now one million people could fall into extreme poverty at the same pace, Oxfam?said Monday as the Davos Summit returns.

在達沃斯峰會開幕之際，樂施會周一表示，新冠大流行每30小時就會誕生一個新的億萬富翁，而現(xiàn)在可能有100萬人以同樣的速度陷入極端貧困。

Oxfam：牛津饑荒救濟委員會（Oxford Committee for Famine Relief）又叫樂施會。

The international charity said it was time to tax the rich to support the less fortunate as the global elite gathered at the Swiss mountain haven for the World Economic Forum after a two-year COVID-induced absence.

在世界精英齊聚瑞士高山安全區(qū)參加因新冠而缺席兩年的世界經(jīng)濟論壇時，國際慈善組織表示，是時候向富人征稅以支持不那么幸運的人了。

haven /?he?vn/?n. 安全的地方；保護區(qū)；避難所?? The hotel is a haven of peace and tranquility. 這家旅館是一處安寧的去處。

Oxfam said it expects 263 million people to sink into extreme poverty this year, at a rate of one million every 33 hours, as soaring inflation has added a cost-of-living crisis on top of COVID.

樂施會表示由于激增的通脹使得生活成本危機緊接著新冠，預測今年將有2.63億人口陷入極端貧困，以33小時產(chǎn)生100萬極端貧困人口的速度進行。

on top of 另外；熟練掌握；在……之上；緊接著。例句：He gets commission on top of his salary. 他除了薪金之外還拿傭金。

By comparison, 573 people became billionaires during the pandemic, or one every 30 hours.

與之相對，疫情期間，573名人士成為億萬富豪，相當于每30小時產(chǎn)生一位。

"Billionaires are arriving in Davos to celebrate an incredible surge in their fortunes," Oxfam Executive Director Gabriela Bucher said in a statement.

樂施會執(zhí)行主管Gabriela Bucher在一次聲明中說道：“億萬富翁們正在前往達沃斯論壇慶祝他們難以置信暴漲的財富?！?/span>

"The pandemic and now the steep increases in food and energy prices have, simply put, been a bonanza for them," Bucher said.

Bucher 說:“簡單地說，疫情以及現(xiàn)在食品和能源價格的急劇上漲對他們來說是一筆財富。”

bonanza n. ??/b??n?nz?/??1.發(fā)財（或成功）的機遇?a bonanza year for the computer industry 計算機業(yè)興旺發(fā)達的一年。2.興盛；繁榮??the usual bonanza of sport in the summer 夏季體育運動的一貫熱潮

"Meanwhile, decades of progress on extreme poverty are now in reverse and millions of people are facing impossible rises in the cost of simply staying alive," she said.

她說:“與此同時，幾十年來在消除極端貧困方面取得的進展現(xiàn)在正在倒退，數(shù)百萬人僅僅是為了生存而面臨著不可思議的成本上升?！?/span>

Oxfam called for a one-off "solidarity tax" on billionaires' pandemic windfall?to support people facing soaring prices as well as fund a "fair and sustainable recovery" from the pandemic.

樂施會呼吁對億萬富翁的疫情暴利征收一次性“團結稅”，以支持面臨物價飆升的人們，并為疫情后的“公平和可持續(xù)復蘇”提供資金。

Windfall：1.意外之財；意外獲得的東西?windfall profits 意外的利潤??The government imposed a windfall tax (= a tax on profits to be paid once only, not every year) on some industries. 政府對某些行業(yè)征收暴利稅。2. 風吹落的果子（尤指蘋果）

It also said it was time to "end crisis profiteering" by?rolling out?a "temporary excess profit tax" of 90 percent on windfall profits of big corporations. Oxfam added that an annual wealth tax on millionaires of two percent, and five percent for billionaires, could generate $2.52 trillion a year.

它還表示，現(xiàn)在是時候通過對大公司的暴利征收90%的“臨時超額利潤稅”來“結束危機中的暴利行為”了。樂施會補充說，對百萬富翁每年征收2%的財富稅，對億萬富翁征收5%的財富稅，每年可以產(chǎn)生2.52萬億美元的收入。

profiteering /?pr?f??t??r??/ n.牟取暴利

Roll out v. 正式推出（新產(chǎn)品），開展（新的政治運動）；把……展開（或攤開）；碾平，壓平，搟平；離開（通常比預期的要晚）

Such a wealth tax would help lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty, make enough vaccines for the world and pay for universal health care for people in poorer countries, it said. Oxfam based its calculations on the Forbes list of billionaires and World Bank data.

報告稱，這樣的財富稅將幫助23億人擺脫貧困，為全世界生產(chǎn)足夠的疫苗，并為較貧窮國家的人民支付全民醫(yī)療保健費用。樂施會這些數(shù)據(jù)是根據(jù)福布斯億萬富翁榜和世界銀行的數(shù)據(jù)進行計算。

英文原文：http://www.dailynews.lk/2022/05/24/world/279358/covid-created-billionaire-every-30-hours