VOA常速英语2021--数千名儿童孤身穿越美墨边境

This is VOA news. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton. Thousands of unaccompanied children crossing the Mexican border into the United States have quickly reignited the contentious¹ immigration debate in Washington. Republicans and Democrats³ are at odds⁴ over who is to blame for what both parties describe as a crisis. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy led a group of Republican lawmakers to the border Monday to condemn⁵ policies of Democratic President Joe Biden that McCarthy said have opened the border to unfettered illegal migration².

欢迎收听美国之音新闻。我是玛丽莎·梅尔顿，为您远程报道。数千名举目无亲的儿童越过墨西哥边境进入美国，这一事件迅速在华盛顿重新引发了有争议的移民辩论。针对谁该为两党所谓的危机问题负责，共和党人和民主党人意见相左。众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡星期一率领一批共和党议员前往边境，谴责民主党总统拜登的移民政策。麦卡锡表示，拜登的政策为那些不受限制的非法移民开放了边境。

McCarthy told reporters at the border in El Paso, Texas, quote, "The security of our nation and our border is first and foremost the responsibility of our president." He said, "This crisis is created by the presidential policies of this new administration." Upon taking office in January, Biden stopped construction of the border wall championed by former President Donald Trump⁶ and has advanced what he says are more humanitarian⁷ immigration policies. The Biden administration has stopped short of calling the influx⁸ of migrants a crisis, instead calling it a challenge. The migrants included nearly 30,000 unaccompanied children in February alone. The Biden administration has been hard-pressed to keep thousands of impoverished⁹ Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran migrants from traveling on a dangerous trek¹⁰ through Mexico to what they believe will be a safer, more prosperous life in the United States. The children are being kept in makeshift facilities at the border. They're already at 94 percent capacity before they can be sent to relatives already living in the United States or to vetted¹¹ families willing to take care of or adopt them. On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters "the Biden administration is trying to fix the broken system that was left to them by the Trump administration." This is VOA news.

麦卡锡在德克萨斯州埃尔帕索的边境对记者说，“我们国家安全和边境安全的责任首要在于我们的总统。”他说，“这场危机是由新政府的总统政策造成的。”拜登今年1月上任后，停止了前总统特朗普倡导的边境墙建设，并推进了他所谓的更加人道主义的移民政策。拜登政府没有将移民潮称为危机，而是称之为挑战。仅在2月份，移民群体中就包括近3万名孤身儿童。拜登政府一直在艰难阻止成千上万贫穷的危地马拉、洪都拉斯和萨尔瓦多移民进行危险的跋涉，穿越墨西哥，前往他们相信能够过上更安全、更繁荣的生活的美国。移民儿童们被关在边境的临时设施里。在他们被送到已经在美国生活的亲戚或愿意照顾或收养他们的经过审查的家庭之前，他们已经有94%的生活能力了。周日，众议院议长佩洛西对记者说，“拜登政府正试图修复特朗普政府留给他们的破碎的移民系统。”欢迎收听美国之音新闻。

1 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

2 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

5 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

9 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

11 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句