美国国家公共电台 NPR--Migrants who work as day laborers are reluctant to ask for government help after Ian

Migrants who work as day laborers² are reluctant to ask for government help after Ian

Transcript³

People in Florida are turning to the government for help after Hurricane Ian. But that's not an option for the many people who work as day laborers or in service industries on the Gulf⁴ Coast.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Residents of Florida's Gulf Coast are struggling to get their homes and lives back together. Many of them are turning to the government. But that's not an option for the many people who work as day laborers or in service industries on the coast. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports.

QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE⁵: Rice and beans and water are being packed into plastic shopping bags by volunteers in East Naples.

YADIRA ORTIAGO: So we're trying to help out as much as possible to get some supplies out to them and for them to have at least a little bit.

LAWRENCE: Yadira Ortiago (ph) is here with her mom. They're sorting the food that was donated from a farm workers association. At the end of the day, they're expecting a rush of people to come after looking for any job they can find.

ORTIAGO: Yeah, construction. Everything having to do with the outside, like landscaping, like yard work, most people don't have - didn't work for, like, a couple of days.

LAWRENCE: It's a contradiction. There's about to be a boom market for day labor¹ here, with all the farms to clean up and the fallen trees to cut down and, eventually, construction. But Ortiago says people also have to clean up their own homes. And many won't get government help with that. By way of explanation, she points us to a nearby trailer park.

(CROSSTALK)

LAWRENCE: Carla Contreras (ph) grew up here in the shade of the live oak trees. And now she's raising her own family across the lane from her parents. Ian was the worst storm of her life.

CARLA CONTRERAS: Everybody, I think, got water inside their house, drywall. We have to replace everything. Everything's been damaged - washer, dryers⁶. So it was pretty bad.

LAWRENCE: She loves the neighborhood and says people are helping⁷ each other clean up. But, she says, many of them won't be asking for government help.

CONTRERAS: FEMA, the first thing they ask for is a Social Security number. So a lot of them can't really get the help, you know?

LAWRENCE: Many people here are undocumented, she says. The FEMA website says if one person in the household, like one of those kids, has a Social Security number, the parents can apply. But folks we asked seemed very hesitant to approach the authorities, like Margarita Avina, standing⁸ nearby, holding a 3-year-old boy half asleep on her shoulder.

MARGARITA AVINA: (Non-English language spoken).

LAWRENCE: She says the kids are legal citizens, but most of the parents don't have documents. So I asked her, what are they going to do?

(Non-English language spoken).

AVINA: (Non-English language spoken).

LAWRENCE: Work, she responds. But that's complicated. On one hand, there's a few cities to rebuild and millions of trees to clear. So there should be good day labor jobs for a while. But half the cars here got wrecked⁹ by the storm. And people are having trouble getting to work. And for jobs that serve the tourists and the snowbirds, it's hard to say when that work will resume. Sergio Virrueta is out of work with a back injury. And he says his wife's job is up in the air.

SERGIO VIRRUETA: (Non-English language spoken).

LAWRENCE: She works in a restaurant near the golf courses and resorts on Marco Island, which he says were completely flooded. He's got no idea when his family will have any kind of income again.

Quil Lawrence, East Naples, Florida.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEQUERBOARD'S "THE SORROW BIRD")

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 dryers   

n.干燥机( dryer的名词复数 )；干燥器；干燥剂；干燥工

参考例句：

• Men also have hair dryers and, if they suffer from baldness, they use a growth stimulator, buy hairpieces, or have hair transplanted from the hirsute part of the scalp to the bare areas. 男士也有他们的吹风机，而且如果他们秃顶的话，还会用毛发生长剂、买假发，或者把头发从密集的地方移植到谢顶的地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dryers can be automated. 干燥机可以自动化作业。 来自辞典例句

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞