VOA慢速英语2012 Technology Report - Inspections at Apple's Suppliers in China

Technology Report - Inspections¹ at Apple's Suppliers in China

科技报道 - 公平劳动协会对富士康中国工厂展开调查
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
A labor² group has begun investigating working conditions at the Chinese factories where many Apple products are made. Apple officials ordered the investigation³ after the New York Times newspaper described poor working conditions at the factories.
一家劳工组织已经开始对制造苹果产品的中国工厂的工作条件进行调查。在纽约时报描述了该工厂的恶劣工作条件后，苹果公司有关人员下令展开调查。
The Foxconn Technology Group owns the manufacturing centers in Shenzhen, Chengdu and Zhengzhou.
富士康科技集团拥有这些位于深圳、成都和郑州的制造中心。
Angela Cornell is a professor at the Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York. She says many issues were raised last year after a number of suicides at the Foxconn factories.
安吉拉·康奈尔（Angela Cornell）是位于纽约州伊萨卡市的康奈尔法学院的一名教授。她说，在去年富士康工厂多人自杀后，许多问题浮出了水面。
One issue is the number of hours that employees are required to work. Other concerns are pay, living conditions and even reports of violence against workers.
问题之一是员工工作时间的长短。另一个问题是薪酬、生活条件，甚至是针对工人的暴力行为报告。
The New York Times reported that employees sometimes worked seven days a week. The newspaper said some stood so long that they had trouble walking. Widespread criticism of Apple followed publication of the report. Mark Shields organized a campaign calling for better working conditions.
纽约时报报道称，工人有时候每周要工作七天。该报纸表示，一些人由于站立太久而行走困难。报道公开后苹果遭受了广泛批评。马克·希尔兹（Mark Shields）发起了一场要求改善工作条件的运动。
Workers at a Foxconn factory in China
MARK SHIELDS: “Workers lives are really hard and really severe, and there’s terrible stories about people losing the use of their hands because of horrible repetitive motion injuries, and suicide rates that are so high that they have got to hang nets off the sides of the buildings to prevent workers from killing⁴ themselves.”
希尔兹：“工人们的生活非常艰难。骇人听闻的是，由于可怕的重复性运动损伤，一些人失去了手部功能。自杀率如此之高，工厂只能在建筑物外侧挂上防护网以防止工人自杀。”
Professor Cornell says the conditions at the Foxconn factories had to have been really bad.
康奈尔教授表示，富士康工厂的条件一定非常糟糕。
ANGELA CORNELL: “Just imagine how dire⁵ the working conditions would have had to be for those workers to sacrifice their lives.”
康奈尔：试想一下工作条件要有多糟糕，这些工人才会放弃自己的生命。”
Professor Cornell says even Apple’s own reports noted⁶ issues at some of its factories. These included involuntary labor and underage labor.
康奈尔教授说，即使是苹果公司自己的报告也注意到了一些工厂的问题。其中包括非自愿劳动和未成年人劳动。
ANGELA CORNELL: ”These are important issues. The involuntary [laborers] are indentured⁷ migrant workers. And that is a crucially important issue. I mean that’s basically slave labor.”
康奈尔：“这些都是很重要的问题。非自愿劳动者是合同制民工。这是一个至关重要的问题。我的意思是这基本上是奴隶劳工。”
More than two hundred thousand people have joined Mark Shields’ campaign for better working conditions. The American admits he loves his Apple products. But, he says, he wants them to be made without human suffering.
超过二十万人加入了希尔兹要求改善工作条件的运动。美国人承认自己喜欢苹果产品。但他表示，他希望这些产品在制造时没有民众受难。
The company announced last week it had asked the Fair Labor Association to investigate the conditions at its Foxconn factories. The FLA was established in nineteen ninety-nine to investigate working conditions around the world. Apple joined the not-for-profit group earlier this year.
该公司上周宣布已经要求公平劳动协会（简称FLA）调查富士康工厂的条件。公平劳动协会成立于1999年，致力于调查全球劳动条件。苹果今年早些时候加入了这家非营利组织组织。
Last Friday, the Times reported that the president of the FLA has begun praising the factories. But the group’s second-in-command suggested delaying judgment⁸ until a report on the investigation is finished.
上周五，纽约时报报道称，公平劳动协会总裁开始赞扬这家工厂。但该协会的第二号命令建议推迟认定直到调查报告完成。
Also on Friday, Foxconn said it was raising the pay of its workers in China. It was the company’s third pay raise since twenty-ten.
同样是在上周五，富士康表示，公司已经提高了中国工人工资。这是该公司自2010年以来的第三次加薪。
And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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》

2 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。

3 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。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 indentured   

v.以契约束缚（学徒）( indenture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Africans became indentured servants, trading labor for shelter and eventual freedom. 非洲人成为契约上的仆人，以劳力交换庇护及最终的自由。 来自互联网
• They are descendants of indentured importees. 他们是契约外来工的后代。 来自互联网

8 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。