2006年VOA标准英语-Child Labor, Working Conditions on ILO Conferen

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
30 May 2006
 

A child holds a small hammer that is used to crush stones in a quarry¹ near Dawhenya, east of Accra, Ghana, Thursday, May 4, 2006  
  
Child labor², worker safety and changing patterns in the international workplace are on the agenda of the annual conference of the International Labor Organization.

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In an increasingly globalized world, old patterns of work are changing and creating many uncertainties³ in the labor force. The ILO director general will open debate at the annual meeting on problems and challenges associated with these changing work patterns.

The conference also is preparing a new Convention on Occupational Safety and Health. ILO Executive Director Kari Tapiola says the goal is to strengthen the existing treaty.

"It still is one of the leading causes of death, and we have serious problems of people falling ill and dying, production being lost and so on," he said.

The aim of the new convention is to lower the toll⁴ of work-related injuries and disease, which the ILO says cause some two million deaths every year.

As in previous years, the conference will hold a plenary discussion on the situation of forced labor in Burma. Tapiola tells VOA, the conference will review possible further action to get Burma's military rulers to comply with the recommendations of the ILO Commission of Inquiry⁵ to end this practice.

"Things have not gone better. I would say they have gotten worse, and we are also facing a situation, where people who have come to us and wanted to get some protection or redress⁶ - saying that they have been subject to forced labor - so, they have been prosecuted⁷, and, in some cases, imprisoned⁸, because they have tried to ask for their rights," he said. "And, this is frankly⁹ an unacceptable situation."

The ILO will devote a day to a discussion of child labor. In a new Global Report, the ILO finds child labor declined by 11 percent between 2000 and 2004. But, it says 216 million children around the world still work, when they should be going to school. Pressure will be put on delegates from the ILO's 178 member states to do more to eliminate child labor.

The president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias¹⁰ Sanchez, and President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will give keynote speeches at the conference.

1 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

2 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。

3 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

6 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

7 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

8 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 arias   

n.咏叹调( aria的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Can you pick out the operatic arias quoted in this orchestral passage? 你能听出这段管弦乐曲里有歌剧式的咏叹调吗？ 来自辞典例句
• The actions are large and colour, there are arias and recitatives. 动作夸张而华美，有唱段也有宣叙部。 来自辞典例句