VOA慢速英语2014 土耳其的建设热潮引发安全担忧

 

Safety Is a Concern in Turkey's Construction Boom 土耳其的建设热潮引发安全担忧

Ten years ago, the Turkish capital of Istanbul had no extremely tall buildings called skyscrapers². Today, Istanbul is suddenly the skyscraper¹ capital of Europe, thanks to a national construction boom.  But recent construction accidents in the country have many people angry about worker safety.

土耳其的首都伊斯坦布尔十年前并无所谓的摩天大楼之类的参天建筑。由于国家建设热潮，伊斯坦布尔现如今骤然成为欧洲摩天大楼之都。然而该国最近的建筑事故引发了人们对工人安全的愤怒。                     

So far this year, a record 1,500 workers have died in Turkey. Earlier this month, 10 construction workers were killed when the brakes on an elevator failed. The workers plummeted³ – or fell suddenly – 32 floors down.  

据记录，土耳其自今年以来已有1500名工人死亡。本月初，10名建筑工人死于电梯紧急制动失灵。他们从32楼骤然下跌。                                            

A woman screams for her lost son at his funeral. He was one of the 10 workers killed in September’s construction accident. Two twin teenage brothers who had started working the week before were among the dead. Many workers claimed the accident was very likely.

一位妇女在她儿子的葬礼上悲痛欲哭。她的儿子是在九月建筑事故中罹难的10位工人之一。还有一对双胞胎兄弟也包括其中，一周前他们刚开始这项工作。许多工人声称事故随时都会发生。

The accident was widely reported by Turkish media. Thousands of protestors gathered in downtown Istanbul where the accident took place. They chanted, “It’s not a work accident. It’s murder.”

土耳其媒体对该事故大肆报道。成千上万的抗议者聚集在事故发生现场，即伊斯坦布尔市区呼喊道“这不是事故，这是谋杀”。

But police officers quickly ended the demonstrations⁴ by using tear gas and water cannons⁵. Experts say public concern is growing about the health and safety of construction workers.          

但很快警察借用催泪弹和高压水炮将这次游行镇压。专家分析道公众日益关注的是建筑工人的安全和健康问题。     

Cengiz Aktar is a professor of economics at Istanbul’s Suleyman Sah University. He says that Turkey has among the worst work safety conditions in the world.  

森吉斯阿克塔尔，伊斯坦布尔苏莱曼萨哈大学的经济学教授说道：“土耳其有着世界上最差的安全生产环境”。  

“The lack of control, lack of worker safety and working environment are appalling⁶. And Turkey is ranked number one in Europe in terms of work accidents, and apparently⁷ number three after Algeria and El Salvador in the world. Observers qualify these work accidents as work assassinations⁸.”     

“缺乏管理，缺乏对安全生产和工作环境的担忧是极其可怕的。土耳其工作事故发生率位列欧洲第一，世界第三，仅次于尼日利亚和萨尔瓦多。观察员把这些事故称为工作暗杀.”

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has promised to investigate this and other accidents this year. But he says that trade unions are part of the problem.

土耳其总理亚哈梅特 达乌托格尔鲁已承诺在今年调查这些事故，同时也声称工会组织也是个问题。

Mr. Davutoglu says laws are introduced and then there is nothing done to educate workers about them. He says the trade unions should not raise their voices after these accidents. Unions should inform workers about their rights.

达乌托格尔鲁声称已引进法律但依旧不能在工人自身安全教育上有所作为。他认为工会组织在事故发生后应告知工人们关注自身权益，而非伺机提升自己的话语权。

But trade union leaders say that the government’s ruling AK Party needs to remove old anti-labor⁹ laws, introduced in the 1980s by Turkish military leaders.    

然而工会组织领导表示统治着正义与发展党的政府需要废除1980年军事领导人引进的陈旧的反劳动法。

Professor Aktar says many workers who go into construction are more concerned about simply finding a job than finding a safe job. And many are not members of the trade union.

阿卡塔尔教授说道相对于只是找个工作，众多建筑工人更多关注的是有个安全的工作，并且他们许多人都不是工会组织的成员。

“It’s an industry which employs probably millions of people. These are mainly former peasants. As Turkey is liquidating¹⁰ its agriculture, they have nowhere to go, and they are ready to accept any job. So they don’t look for safety, they don’t look for social security. And, of course, the employers hate labor [trade] unions, and the pool of unemployed¹¹ is very sizable so they can look for other workers to get rid of those who are at the labor unions.”

这是一个动辄需要成千上万员工的产业。许多员工之前皆是雇农，由于土耳其正在清算其农业，他们无可去处，随时准备接受任何一种工作。因此他们的所求并非安全，而是社会保障。当然，雇主也厌恶工会（劳动）组织。由于失业者人数相当大，雇主们便可寻求这些失业工人，以此驱逐身为工会组织成员的员工。

Migrant workers from Turkey’s rural Black Sea area built many of Istanbul’s skyscrapers. Nearly all of the construction workers killed earlier this month came from that area.

来自黑海乡村地区的移民工人们为伊斯坦布尔建造了许多摩天大楼。几乎来自这一区域的所有建筑工人都在本月初的事故中罹难。    

Most workers will return to the job, in 10 to 15 days.

大部分工人将在10到15日内回返工作。

But some will not be returning. According to Turkish media reports, about 20 men who spoke¹² to the media about their safety concerns have been fired. That may mean they will be safe, but for their families back home who depend on them for income, they will likely go hungry.

但有一部分不会回返。据土耳其媒体报道，大约20名向媒体声明对自身安全担忧的工人已被解雇。也许对这些工人自身来说，意味着安全，但对于依赖着他们的家人来说，将意味着饥饿。

1 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

2 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

3 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

5 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 assassinations   

n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most anarchist assassinations were bungled because of haste or spontaneity, in his view. 在他看来，无政府主义者搞的许多刺杀都没成功就是因为匆忙和自发行动。 来自辞典例句
• Assassinations by Israelis of alleged terrorists habitually kill nearby women and children. 在以色列，自称恐怖分子的炸弹自杀者杀害靠近自己的以色列妇女和儿童。 来自互联网

9 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。

10 liquidating   

v.清算( liquidate的现在分词 )；清除（某人）；清偿；变卖

参考例句：

• Liquidating collateral is clearly a second best source of repayment. Why? 抵押品显然并不是获得贷款偿还的最佳方法。为什么？ 来自互联网
• There are often costs and inconvenience associated with liquidating other assets. 这些资产变现时总须花费，也不方便。 来自互联网

11 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。