VOA标准英语2011--N. African Migrants Risk Lives to Reach

N. African Migrants Risk Lives to Reach Italian Island

More than 30,000 migrants have arrived from north Africa on the tiny southern Italian island of Lampedusa, so far, this year. Most of the migrants leave the coasts of Tunisia and Libya onboard rickety fishing boats. Thousands of people have died making the journey. Despite the dangers, the ongoing¹ violence in Libya is forcing many more people to set sail for European shores.
As their boat lies crashed on the rocky shore of Lampedusa, the migrants onboard are forced to jump into the cold waters to save their lives. Italian rescue teams - together with local fishermen - form a human chain to help the migrants onshore.
Among the passengers are pregnant women and even babies who are literally² thrown off the boat to the coast guard divers³ waiting in the waves below.
"We were about 600 passengers in the boat," said Peter Drry from Ghana who was working in Libya. "When our compass got lost [broke], so when we were coming, there was no control. But fortunately we were rescued by the Italian navy. Our boat then hits a rock so we just fell into the water, into the sea, and finally we survived. I don't know how to swim, but when it happened, I just tried my best!"
Drry and some of the migrants were given shelter at a temporary center beside the docks. Drry explains why they took such a risky⁴ journey from the Libyan capital Tripoli.
"Ask my junior brother here. They attacked us in our house,' he explained. "They beat him everywhere so he collapsed⁵ and we took him to hospital. He was in hospital for 2 months and then we took him out of there and we made the journey here."
Guy Picanor is from Burkina Faso.
"Libya is a catastrophe," he said. "There is no security, it is so bad everywhere, so we had to leave."
Many of the migrants' belongings⁶ lie scattered⁷ on the rocks. Among them, medicines, a copy of the Quran, even a ripped-up passport belonging to a citizen from Niger. Italian authorities say the migrants dispose of any identification because they want to claim asylum⁸ in Europe - and will claim they are from an area of conflict like the Ivory Coast.
Lampedusa lies just 200 kilometers from the coast of Tunisia. More than 30,000 migrants have landed here, so far, this year. Their boats are now moored⁹ in the harbor - many of them sinking and clogging¹⁰ the port.
At first, most migrants were Tunisians.
In the last month, the majority have been expatriate workers in Libya fleeing the violence there - most of them sub-Saharan Africans, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.
Eight Libyan boats arrived in one day alone last week. The rising numbers have prompted the European Union's border agency, Frontex, to fund more rescue boats and spotter planes.
Antonio Morana, the commander of the Lampedusa coast guard, says he has overseen¹¹ more than 300 rescue operations since February.
Morana says these operations are dangerous and very complicated. He says the boats are normally between 20 and 25 meters long and usually should have about 50 people on board. But now, he says, they have up to 800. From the point of view of buoyancy and stability, he says, the navigation is extremely dangerous especially if the weather conditions are not good.
Two days after the migrant boat crashed in to the rocks, dive teams found three bodies trapped beneath the vessel¹².
In the darkness no-one had seen them drown.
Despite the dangers of the journey, Italian authorities are preparing for many more migrants to arrive in Lampedusa in the coming months.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

4 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

7 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

8 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

9 moored   

adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London. 该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
• We shipped (the) oars and moored alongside the bank. 我们收起桨，把船泊在岸边。

10 clogging   

堵塞，闭合

参考例句：

• This process suffers mainly from clogging the membrane. 这种过程的主要问题是滤膜的堵塞。
• And you know that eyewitness that's been clogging up the airwaves? 你知道那个充斥着电视广播的目击证人？

11 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

12 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。