VOA常速英语2013--坦桑尼亚儿童黄金矿工工作条件危险

 

Child Gold Miners Work in Hazardous¹ Conditions in Tanzania 坦桑尼亚儿童黄金矿工工作条件危险

The international human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, HRW, warned children as young as eight years old are working in small-scale gold mines in Tanzania, a job that is putting their health and even their lives at risk.

国际人权组织，人权观察HRW警告年仅八岁的儿童冒着身体健康甚至是生命的危险在坦桑尼亚的小规模金矿工作。

The dangers faced by the children were highlighted in a report recently released by HRW after an extensive investigation² into the lives of children who work in small-scale and informal mines.

经过对在小规模，非正式的金矿工作的儿童的广泛调查，人权观察在最近发表的一篇报道中强调了这些儿童面临的危险。

“We found that there are thousands of children working in these small-scale gold mines and they do work in very hazardous conditions.  They risk  injury, for example, when working in very deep unstable³ pits which sometimes collapse⁴.  And we interviewed some children who were actually themselves involved in accidents,” explained Juliane Kippenberg, a senior researcher for HRW.

“我们发现有成千上万的孩子在这些小金矿中工作并且他们工作的环境非常危险。他们面临着受伤的危险，例如：工作在一个非常深的不稳定的随时会崩倒塌的坑里，我们采访了一些的确发生意外受伤的孩子。”人权观察的高级研究员朱莉安基彭贝格解释说。

She also pointed⁵ out that the children carry loads that are far too heavy for their young age, causing damage to their spines⁶, and the children are exposed to the toxic⁷ metal mercury when separating the gold from the ore. 

她还指出孩子们背的石头对于他们这个年龄段来说太重以至于对他们的脊椎造成伤害，而且他们还暴露在有毒的金属汞的环境中当他们从矿石中分离黄金的时候。

Mercury, Kippenberg said, is cheap and easy to use in small-scale mining, and is widely used throughout the world in informal mining operations.  With little training, the child miners mix the metal, using their bare hands into a ground up ore and then it becomes an amalgam⁸ of mercury and gold, which is then burned. The child workers unwittingly inhale⁹ the highly toxic vapor¹⁰ as it is burned.

基彭贝格说汞在小规模金矿开采中既便宜又容易，被广泛的应用于世界各地的非正规的矿开采中，几乎无需培训，孩子们用他们的赤裸的双手把汞和矿石混合起来，然后再进行燃烧。孩子们在它被燃烧的过程中不知不觉的吸入了有毒的汞蒸气。

“The burned mercury is highly toxic. The mercury attacks the central nervous system.  It can cause long term damage, including brain damage, heart conditions, lung conditions and a variety of other health problems.  It can cause life-long disabilities and it can potentially even kill,” said Kippenberg.

“燃烧的汞又剧毒。它会破坏中枢神经系统，它会造成长期的伤害包括脑损伤，心脏疾病，肺部疾病和各种其他的健康问题。它能造成终生残疾和潜在的致命。”基彭贝格说

The report also highlighted the fact that the majority of child miners investigated are orphans¹¹ searching for a way to support themselves.

调查也强调了大部分的童工是为了维持他们自己生活的孤儿的事实。

The HRW report notes that Tanzania has laws prohibiting child labor¹² in mining, though they are not enforced.

人权观察的报告指出，坦桑尼亚有法律禁止童工挖掘，虽然他们不会强制执行。

Kippenberg said there are some programs underway to help protect child laborers¹³, but most of them are still being established, and often do not reach the orphans in the mining areas to the degree that they should.

基彭贝格说有某些程序正在进行中，以帮助保护童工，但大多数仍正在建立，并且往往没有达到他们应该在保护采矿领域孤儿的程度。

“There is really an enormous need for much stronger programming and much stronger support for these vulnerable children,” stated Kippenberg.

基彭贝格表示“这些弱势儿童实在是需要更强大的保护程序和更强大的支持。”

She added that HRW has been in contact with various Tanzanian ministries¹⁴, in particular the ministries of labor; energy and minerals; health and social welfare; and the ministry¹⁵ of community development. The organization urges the government as well as the international community to support steps to end child labor in mining, as well as allocate¹⁶ additional resources towards ensuring more checkups and inspections¹⁷ in the informal mining sector¹⁸.

她补充说，人权观察一直在接触各种坦桑尼亚部委特别是劳动部，能源和矿产，卫生和社会福利部和社区发展部。该组织敦促政府以及国际社会的支持措施来结束童工开采，以及增拨资源，以确保更多的正规开采部门的检查和巡查。

1 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 spines   

n.脊柱( spine的名词复数 )；脊椎；（动植物的）刺；书脊

参考例句：

• Porcupines use their spines to protect themselves. 豪猪用身上的刺毛来自卫。
• The cactus has spines. 仙人掌有刺。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

8 amalgam   

n.混合物；汞合金

参考例句：

• To counter this myth,we explained that we're really an amalgam of little guys.为了打破这个神话，我们解释说，我们确实是由一群小小的老百姓所组成的混合体。
• American literature is to our eyes a curious amalgam of familiar and strange.我们认为，美国文学把我们所熟悉的和陌生的东西奇妙地结合起来了。

9 inhale   

v.吸入(气体等)，吸(烟)

参考例句：

• Don't inhale dust into your lung.别把灰尘吸进肺里。
• They are pleased to not inhale second hand smoke.他们很高兴他们再也不会吸到二手烟了。

10 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

11 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

12 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。

13 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

14 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

15 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

16 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

17 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。