时差N小时 儿童劳动法

Child Labor¹ Laws-Today on Congressional Moment：Over a hundred years ago the Industrial Revolution quickened the pace of manufacturing, and businessmen sought cheaper labor. Millions of children worked at dangerous jobs, and the national debate over Child Labor laws began. Listen to these journal entries from the early 1900s...

今日国会时刻——儿童劳动法：一百多年前，随着工业革命到来，制造业的发展步伐加快，商人们要寻求更加廉价的劳动力。数百万的儿童干着危险的工作，关于童工劳动法的争论也愈演愈烈。下面来听听来自20世纪早期的日记条目。

Character Voice 1：On cold, rainy mornings, well before dawn, I have been awakened² by the clatter³ of boots as the half-awake, joyless children hurried not to school, but to the great factory. They are thin and sickly looking...

日记1：在寒冷，下着雨的早晨，黎明前夕，我被一阵哗啦的靴子声吵醒，原来是睡眼朦胧，郁郁寡欢的孩童，他们急促地跑向大工厂，而不是学校。他们身型瘦弱，面容憔悴...

Character Voice 2：I worked in a factory where they made oil cans, and I saw children 8 and 10 years old work like slaves on big machines...most every day it happened that a finger or hand was cut off, but that didn't matter, they were sent home, and others would take their places.

日记2：我在一家生产油壶的工厂上班，我看见八九岁的孩子们在巨大的机器前像奴隶一样干活...几乎每天都有童工的手指、手被机器碾断，但这种情况并没有引起重视，他们被遣送回家，其他的孩子会填补他的位子。

ANNCR: The injustices⁴ of child labor prompted people to organize, in an effort to get Congressional regulation. While many states took it upon themselves to regulate child labor, many did not.

童工受到的不公正待遇促使人们去成立组织，致力于赢取国会的改革方案。许多州主动承担起规范儿童劳动市场的责任，然而其他州却没有。

As national discontent continued to grow, a key challenge for Congress was protecting children in every state without interfering⁵ with state's rights.

随着国内不满情绪日益高涨，国会面临着重大挑战——在不损害各州利益的同时保护童工的合法权益。

Eventually, after years of debate, the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938, and upheld by the Supreme⁶ Court in 1941. It provided basic protections, not only to children, but to all workers in the U.S.

最终，经过几年的争论，《公平劳动标准法案》于1938年出台，并于1941年获得最高法院支持。这条法案不仅是在保护儿童的基本权益，也是在保护所有的美国公民。

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 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 clatter   

v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声

参考例句：

• The dishes and bowls slid together with a clatter.碟子碗碰得丁丁当当的。
• Don't clatter your knives and forks.别把刀叉碰得咔哒响。

4 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

5 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。