Qatar卡塔爾

張祖平

A narrow strip of land， Qatar sits in the Persian Gulf and borders1 Saudi Arabia. The land is dry and poor， yet Qatar is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It has plentiful oil and natural gas reserves. Because of this wealth， the government offers many services free to its citizens.

卡塔爾是一個狹長的小國，坐落在波斯灣，和沙特阿拉伯接壤。卡塔爾土地干旱、貧瘠，卻是世界上最富裕的國家之一。它擁有豐富的石油和天然氣資源。因為這些財富，卡塔爾政府向它的公民提供了很多免費服務。

Qatar was a British Protectorate until 1971 when it declared its independence. Now it has become one of the most progressive and prosperous countries in the region.

卡塔爾曾是英國的保護國，1971年宣布獨立。如今，它已經成為了該地區最先進、繁榮的國家之一。

The lack of farmlands and water leads to severe limitations on agriculture， and a large proportion of the countrys food must be imported2. Use of treated sewage treatment and desalinated3 water for irrigation4， however， has helped to expand the production of fruits such as melons and vegetables such as tomatoes and eggplant， which Qatar now exports to other Persian Gulf countries. Production of meat， cereal grains5， and milk also began to increase by the end of the 20th century.

良田和淡水不足嚴重限制了卡塔爾的農業，全國很大一部分食物必須進口。不過，污水治理和海水淡化灌溉促進了如西瓜等水果，以及如西紅柿和茄子等蔬菜的生產，這些如今還被卡塔爾出口到了其他波斯灣國家。到20世紀末，卡塔爾的肉類、谷類和牛奶的生產開始增加。

Once fishing and pearling， the main industries of Qatars economy， have greatly declined6 in importance. Pearling is almost non-existent， in large part because of Japans cultured pearl7 industry. Since the late 1990s， the government has placed greater emphasis on commercial8 fishing and shrimp harvesting.

漁業和采珠業曾是卡塔爾的支柱產業，現在它們的重要性已急劇下降。采珠業幾乎不存，很大原因在于日本支配了珍珠養殖業。20世紀90年代末期以來，卡塔爾政府對商業捕魚、捕蝦更加重視了。

Qatar is the kind of place where you can learn about the ancient pursuit of falconry9 or watch camels ridden by remote-controlled robot jockeys10 race across the desert， admire traditional dhows11 sailing on the water alongside one of the worlds most spectacular modern skylines， or enjoy Dohas food in the restaurants and then watch the sun set over sand dunes that seem to spring from an Arabian fairy tale.

卡塔爾就是這樣一個地方：你可以學習古老的馴鷹術，或者觀看遙控機器騎手騎著駱駝在沙漠中賽跑；你可以贊嘆古老的單桅三角帆船在水中航行，沿岸是世界上最壯觀的高樓大廈；或者你也可以在餐館品嘗多哈的美食，然后欣賞如同來自阿拉伯神話中的沙丘上的日落。

Put simply， Qatar is racing headlong12 into the future without losing sight of its past.

一言概之，卡塔爾正奔向未來，卻沒有丟掉過去的風景。

Just over a decade ago， we labeled Qatar one of the most boring places on Earth. Now its fast becoming one of the most exciting places.

10多年前，我們認為卡塔爾是地球上最無聊的地區之一?，F在，它很快成為了世界上最激動人心的地區之一。

The government has attempted to modernize the fishing and agriculture sectors by offering interest-free loans； yet food production continues to generate only a tiny part of gross domestic product （GDP）.

卡塔爾政府試圖通過提供無息貸款讓漁業和農業部門實現現代化，但是食物生產仍舊只占國民生產總值（GDP）的很小一部分?！?br>