VOA慢速英语2010年-Development Report - Taking Action Aga

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Delegates from around the world have agreed on a new plan to end the worst kinds of child labor¹ by two thousand sixteen. More than four hundred fifty delegates from eighty countries approved the plan at the Global Child Labor Conference. It was held in The Hague, the Netherlands, last week.

A week earlier, the International Labor Organization released its third Global Report on Child Labor. The report said there are still two hundred fifteen million child laborers² in the world. One hundred and fifteen million of them are working in some of the worst kinds of child labor.

These are often dangerous to their health and safety.

Shoeshine boys working in New Delhi, India, last month. Rights activists³ estimate that twenty percent of India's economy is dependent on children under fourteen.

The ILO notes that child labor is decreasing worldwide, but at a much slower rate than four years ago. The organization also warned that the global economic crisis could slow progress even more. It called for an increase in global efforts in order to reach the goals for ending the worst forms of child labor. Representatives at the conference last week talked about what actions need to be taken.

Patrick Quinn is with the ILO's International Program on the Elimination⁴ of Child Labor. He says there is clear evidence of the kinds of policies and programming interventions⁵ that can be most effective in combating the problem.

PATRICK QUINN: "We know for example that if governments tackle the barriers that stop poor families accessing education, if they tackle the fees which many poor families often have to pay for education, they can encourage children to attend school. So governments putting in place the right education policies. In many parts of the world we've seen that if governments introduce social protection programs, measures for example which give family benefits to families with children, particularly poorer families, this can have an important impact in enabling people to keep their children in school and out of the work force.”

Mister Quinn says efforts to combat the problem must also be increased at the community level. He said the ILO is working with local civic⁶ organizations to change opinions about child labor.

The ILO report notes that several areas of the world are making important progress. They include Latin America, the Caribbean and south Asia. The least progress has been made in Africa.

Mister Quinn says world leaders will discuss the issue later this year at a meeting on the United Nations Millennium⁷ Development Goals. He says there is a close link between these goals and combating child labor.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. Transcripts⁸, MP3s and podcasts of our programs are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.
 

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 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

5 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

6 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

7 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

8 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句