Why I Would Raise Chickens

⊙ By Bill Gates

翻译：蓝蓝

Why I Would Raise Chickens

我为什么要养鸡

⊙ By Bill Gates

翻译：蓝蓝

鸡年说“鸡”，一起看看由比尔·盖茨牵头的比尔与梅琳达·盖茨基金会这一年来在非洲推广的养鸡致富项目。授人以鱼不如授人以渔，说的不正是这个道理吗？

If you were living on $2 a day, what would you do to improve your life?

That’s a real question for the nearly one billion people living in extremepoverty[贫穷]today. There’s no single right answer, of course, and poverty looks different in different places. But through my work with thefoundation[基金会], it’s pretty clear to me that just about anyone who’s living in extreme poverty will be better off if they have chickens.

Chickens are easy andinexpensive[便宜的]to take care of. Manybreeds[品种]can eat whatever they find on the ground. Hens need some kind of shelter where they cannest[筑巢], and as yourflock[鸟群]grows, you might want some wood and wire to make acoop[鸡舍]. Also, chickens need just a fewvaccines[疫苗], which won’t cost a lot of money.

They’re a goodinvestment[投资]. Suppose a new farmer starts with five hens. One of her neighbors owns a rooster tofertilize[使受精]the eggs. After three months, she can have a flock of 40chicks[小鸡]. Eventually, with a sale price of $5 per chicken—which is typical in West Africa—she can earn more than $1,000 a year, versus the extremepoverty line of about $700 a year.

They help keep children healthy.Malnutrition[营养不良]kills more than 3.1 million children a year. Although eating more eggs can help fight malnutrition, many farmers with small flocks find that it’s more economical to let the eggs hatch, sell the chicks, and use the money to buy nutritious food. Or if a farmer’s flock is big enough to give her extra eggs, she can then cook them for her family.

Theyempower[授权]women. Because chickens are small and typically stay closeto home, many cultures regard them as a woman’s animal, in contrast to largerlivestock[牲畜]like goats or cows. Women who sell chickens are likely to reinvest the profits in their families.

When I was growing up, chickens weren’t something you studied—they were something you made silly jokes about. It has been eyeopening for me to learn what a difference they can make in the fight against poverty. It sounds funny, but I mean it when I say that I am excited about chickens.

这是一篇非常标准的议论文，有着脉络清晰的总分总结构，大家在平时的写作中完全可以学以致用：盖茨先以一个问句开头，引起读者往下阅读的兴趣，然后通过回答问题来概括自己的观点；接着从四个方面具体论述，每段第一句就是一个简明扼要的分论点；最后进行总结，稍微幽上一默。另外，文中提到不少和“鸡”有关的表达，同学们不妨自行归纳，这是扩充词汇量的好办法哦！

如果你每天只能靠两美元（约合人民币13.79元）生活，你会做些什么来改善自己的生计呢？

对于今天依然生活在极度贫困中的近十亿人来说，这是一个非常现实的问题。诚然，要解决这个问题，并没有一个放之四海而皆准的办法；在不同地区，贫困的表现形式也是千差万别的。不过，通过与盖茨基金会的合作，我清楚地认识到这么一点：只要这些处于极度贫困的人开始养鸡，他们的日子就会好过很多。

家鸡容易打理，成本低廉。许多鸡种很杂食，在地上找到的东西都能吃下去。你需要给母鸡搭个棚子，好让它们筑巢。随着鸡群的壮大，你也许还要用木头和线缆建个鸡舍。家鸡需要打的疫苗也不多，这方面的花销并不大。

养鸡是一项很好的投资。假设一个养鸡新手刚开始有五只母鸡，她的一位邻居养了一只公鸡，可以给鸡蛋受精。三个月之后，她就能拥有40只小鸡。在西非，一只鸡通常能卖五美元（约合人民币34.34元），如此一来，这个鸡农一年下来赚到的钱将超过1000美元（约合人民币6868.8元），而极度贫困线的标准是一年700美元（约合人民币4808.16元）左右。

养鸡能让儿童健康成长。每年有310万儿童死于营养不良。尽管提高鸡蛋摄入量可以有效对抗营养不良问题，但许多鸡农拥有的鸡只数量并不多，他们发现更划算的做法是孵化鸡蛋，把小鸡卖掉，再用赚到的钱去购买有营养的食物。如果一个鸡农养了一大群鸡，能够给她提供一些多余的鸡蛋，她就可以给自己的家人加加餐了。

养鸡有助于女性的赋权。由于鸡只体型较小，通常养在家附近，因此在多种文明中，相较于体型更大的山羊、奶牛等牲口，家鸡常常被视为“妇女之友”。女性更有可能把卖鸡获得的收入重新花在家人身上。

从小到大，鸡并不是大家研究的目标，而是拿来开些愚蠢玩笑的对象。这种动物竟然能在对抗贫困的问题上起到如此重要的作用，这真是让我大开眼界。这话听起来也许有点逗，但是养鸡确实让我无比兴奋——我是说真的。