每日英語跟讀 Ep.K513: About Argentina - Argentine artist paints on inflation-hit banknotes

Argentina’s cash has lost so much value in recent years that local artist Sergio Guillermo Diaz finds painting on even the most valuable banknotes has become affordable.

阿根廷鈔票的價值近年大幅衰減，以至於當地藝術家塞希歐‧古勒莫‧迪亞茲發現，就算在最有價值的紙幣上作畫，他也能夠負擔。

With annual inflation that likely neared 100% last year, the largest denomination of Argentine currency, the 1,000-peso bill, is worth around $5.60 officially or just $3 on parallel markets commonly used to skirt capital controls.

由於去年通膨年增率逼近100％，阿根廷最大面額貨幣1000披索，在正規市場僅值約5.6美元，在通常用以規避資本管制的平行市場上則僅值3美元。

"Nowadays it makes sense for me to paint on the largest denominated bill here in Argentina. Once I paint on it, I can sell it for much more than what the bill is worth," said Diaz.

迪亞茲說：「現在在阿根廷，我在最大面額的紙幣上作畫並不奇怪，反而畫在上面可以用比紙幣本身高很多的價格賣出去。」

On the banknotes he has painted pictures ranging from soccer star Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup to satirical images about the peso’s sharp depreciation in recent years.

他在紙幣上作畫的主題很多，從足球明星萊昂內爾‧梅西舉起世界盃獎盃，到對阿根廷披索近年狂貶值的諷刺圖案都有。

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Argentina lakes turn pink but the outlook not rosy, environmentalists say 阿根廷湖泊變粉紅色，但環保人士說不妙

Two lakes in a far-flung coastal region of Patagonia, in Argentina, have turned fluorescent pink, as of yet unexplained phenomena that local environmentalists fear could be harmful and caused by industrial contamination.

2座位於阿根廷帕塔哥尼亞一處偏遠海岸地區的湖泊，變成螢光粉紅色，由於出現此現象的原因尚不明，當地環保人士擔心是工業污染所致，可能有害環境。

Local activist Pablo Lada told Reuters in an interview that the pink color could potentially be the result of a dye typically used to give prawns raised nearby their typically rose-colored hue.

當地環保運動者帕布羅．拉達受訪時向「路透」說，這個粉紅色可能是附近養殖明蝦常用來讓蝦子呈現粉紅色調的染料所致。

"I think that the pink lagoon uncovered a ...lack of treatment of this waste that has become a big problem," Lada said.

「我想，這個粉紅色湖揭露了…這種未經處理廢水已成為一大問題」，拉達說。

Local and regional environmental officials are investigating the cause and potential damage to the lakes but have yet to arrive at any conclusions.

當地和地區環境官員正在調查原因，以及對湖泊的潛在破壞，但尚未有結論。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1563482 ; https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/paper/1470155