VOA慢速英语2013 澳大利亚的候选人寻求限制难民

 

AS IT IS 2013-09-01 Australian Candidates Seek to Limit Refugees 澳大利亚的候选人寻求限制难民

Hi there, and welcome back to As It Is. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

You have probably heard of Doctors Without Borders and maybe even Reporters Without Borders. Today we bring you Counselors² Without Borders.

也许你听说过无国界医生，又或许你听到过无国界记者，但今天我们要给你介绍的是无国界顾问。

But first, we take you to Australia as the country prepares for elections.

首先，我们将带你来到将要举行大选的澳大利亚。

Immigration is becoming one of the important themes in the Australian election campaign. Since January, more than 16,000 illegal migrants have arrived in Australia by boat. 

移民已经变成了澳大利亚大选过程中一个重要的主题，从1月至今，已有超过16000名非法移民坐船来到了澳大利亚。

The country’s two major parties are promising³ stronger measures to limit these migrants.

澳大利亚两个主要执政党都会采取强硬措施来限制这些非法移民入境。

But critics say stricter measures hurt people who already need help. In recent months, several boats carrying asylum⁴ seekers from Indonesia have sunk. Many people have drowned.

但是一些批评者认为过于强硬的措施会伤害那些真正需要帮助的人。近几个月，一些载着来自印度尼西亚的寻求庇护者的船只沉没了，很多人淹死在海中。

Labor⁵ Party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wants to send asylum seekers who come by boat to a nearby country, Papua New Guinea. He says they will not be able to move later to Australia. His plan, he says, is about saving lives, not winning votes. 

劳动党总理Kevin Rudd想将这些坐船来的寻求庇护者送到周边国家巴布亚新几内亚去。他说这些人以后将不能再到澳大利亚来，他的打算是救人，而不是赢得更多的选票。

“Australians have had enough of seeing asylum seekers dying in the waters to our north and northwest. They’ve had enough of people smugglers profiting from death.” 

“澳大利亚人民已经见过太多的难民被淹死在北部及西北部，而走私者从他们的死中获益。”

Mr. Rudd’s opponent is Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott. Mr. Abbott wants to use Australia’s military to stop the boats.

Rudd的反对者，自由党领袖Tony Abbott想借澳大利亚军方之力来阻止非法船只入境。

“We are announcing today that under a coalition⁶ government that we will swiftly implement⁷ Operation Sovereign Borders.”

“我们今天宣布，在联合政府的领导下，我们将迅速实施对边界主权的维护行动。”

Many voters across Australia express strong feelings about the government’s plan to stop asylum seekers. Some say those who come by boat to seek asylum are just trying to get ahead of legal immigrants. Others say Australia is a rich nation that should treat asylum seekers more humanely⁸.

政府阻止寻求庇护者入境这一措施引起了很多澳大利亚选民的共鸣。有些人表示这些坐船而来的寻求庇护者这是想获得合法移民的身份，另一些人认为澳大利亚是一个富饶的国家，它应该更加人性的对待这些难民。

 “I feel sorry for them because they are coming from third world countries.” “What about coming by boat?  Around here people seem quite angry about that.”

“我对他们表示同情，因为他们来自第三世界的国家，坐船来又怎么样？很多人对这一点表示了强烈的不满。”

“They shouldn’t be angry. Just put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you were back at their country and they can’t live in their own country. They have got no choice but to come by boat.”

“人们不应该感到气愤的，设身处地的为这些难民想想。假如你就身处他们的国家，而他们又不能在本国继续生活。坐船而来只是他们迫不得已的选择。”

Riz Wakil came to Australia by boat more than a decade ago. He is from Afghanistan. Mr. Wakil now runs a successful printing business in Sydney.

来自阿富汗的Riz Wakil十多年前坐船来到了澳大利亚，他现在在悉尼成功的做着打印生意。

He says the major political parties are not being fair about the issue. Mr. Wakil says the politicians are trying to say that refugees are bad people who are destroying Australian society. Instead, he says, politicians should be trying harder to improve education, retirement⁹ programs and other issues that he sees as more important.  

他说澳大利亚的主要政党没有公平的对待这项问题，这些这些政党试图说明这些难民是会扰乱澳大利亚社会秩序的坏人。相反，他认为政客们应该将注意力更多的放在提高教育质量，退休计划和其他问题上才是更更重要的。

The elections are on September 7.

大选将在9月7号开始

Counselors Without Borders

无国界顾问

Fred Bemak and his wife, Rita Chung, are world travelers. But they are not tourists. They are therapists. The two mental health experts are professors at George Mason University in Virginia. They bring emotional support to people recovering from natural disasters, war  or long-term abuse. Mario Ritter has the story.

Fred Bemak和他的妻子Rita Chung都是世界旅行家，但他们并不是游客而是理疗师。他们两位教授是来自弗吉尼亚州乔治·梅森大学的两位心里健康专家。他们为那些在自然灾害、战争或是长期受到辱骂中回复的人给与情感上的支持。Mario Ritter就是这样一位受害者。

Fred Bemak and Rita Chung have traveled to almost every continent. Since 1982, they have worked in over 55 countries. 

Fred Bemak和Rita Chung几乎到过每一块大陆，从1982年起，他们在55个不同国家工作过。

Eight years ago, the two worked with survivors¹¹ of Hurricane Katrina in the southeastern United States. After that, they established a non-profit group called Counselors Without Borders. It works with people living in post-disaster and emergency situations.

8年前，他们在美国东南部帮助那些在卡特瑞纳飓风中幸存的人们。在这之后，他们建立了一个叫“无国界顾问”的非盈利组织并与那些生活在灾后和紧急情况下的人们共同工作。

Mr. Bemak usually works with a translator. But he says language has never been a barrier because understanding someone's pain goes beyond words.

Bemak先生通常有一位翻译同行，但他说语言从来都不是障碍，因为理解一个人的痛苦是用言语无法表达的。

“When someone is talking and their voice gets low, when someone looks sad, when someone uses inappropriate language, I am always asking the translator, 'Please clarify for me why they just folded their arms and became very tense.  Why they raised their voice.  Why they seemed to become defensive¹².”

“当正在说话的人声音逐渐减弱，当人看起来沮丧，当有人用了不恰当的言语，我总是询问翻译‘请向我阐明，为什么他们会交叉双臂变得很拘束，为什么他们会提高声音，为什么他们看起来变得有排斥感。”

Mr. Bemak says he is always surprised at how hungry people are for mental and emotional help. After the major earthquake in Haiti three years ago, for example, he visited a camp where 30 displaced victims were living. There he met a woman who seemed extremely sad.

Bemak说他总是好奇，那些还吃不饱的人为什么会寻求心理和情感上的帮助。在三年前海蒂地震发生后，他探访了一个有30个受害者居住的营地，在这里他遇到了一个看起来极度悲痛的妇女。

“She had lost part of her leg. She had refused to get out of bed for the past three months. And she hadn’t changed her clothes. And we sat with her and talked with her about her life, about her feelings about what was happening.  At first, she was very resistant¹³, but then she began to talk. At the end of this encounter she was smiling. She sat up, changed her shirt and held her newborn grandchild for the first time and started to come alive.”

“她失去了腿的一部分，在过去的三个月里他拒绝下床，而且从未换过衣服。我们与她坐在一起，谈论着她对她的生活和所发生的事的感触。起初她很抗拒，但不久她开始说话。在谈话结束时她露出了笑容，站起身，换了她的衬衣，并第一次抱了她刚出生的孙子，她开始渴望生活了。。

Meeting with a counselor¹ can help people in crises to face their losses and fears. Rita Chung recalls the group's trip to Burma a week after Cyclone¹⁴ Nargis hit in 2008. One survivor¹⁰ was a man who had lost his wife and baby.

与顾问交流能帮助那些在极度悲痛中的人们去面对他们的失去和恐惧。2008年，在热带风暴纳尔吉斯登陆Buram一周后，Rita Chung召集了组织成员并赶往那里。其中一个幸存者失去了他的妻子和孩子

Ms. Chung said he held his baby very tightly when the waves came in. But when the water went back, he looked down and saw that the child was missing. She said he blamed himself for not holding tightly enough. But she said others in a group said to him, "It is not your fault. The water was so strong that it pulled up trees, and buildings were washed away."

Chung说当巨浪袭来时他紧紧的抱着他的孩子，但是在巨浪退去时他发现孩子不见了。他责怪自己没有抱紧孩子，但同她一组的人对他说；“这不是你的错，浪的力量他大了，大到树和房子都被冲走了。”

The counselor said the group did an exercise in which the man held onto a stuffed animal while the others pulled very hard. The man came to understand that the storm was too strong for any man to hold onto a child. Ms. Chung said he was able to deal with some of his guilt¹⁵, and began to heal.

顾问说小组做了一个实验，让这名男子抱着一个类似小动物之类的东西然后其他人使劲推他。男人渐渐明白暴风雨太强大了，任何人都不可能抱住一个孩子的，他开始慢慢平复内疚，恢复了起来。

The professors take a group of their students with them on those counseling trips. Involving their students in such activities, Rita Chung says, gives the next generation of counselors a new way to think about their work. 

两位教授带着他们的一组学生共赴这种辅助之旅，这其中不乏对此很有激情的学生，Rita Chung说这给让下一代顾问们的工作提供一条新路。

She says they will not just wait in an office for people in crisis to come to them. Instead, they will go out into the community and help wherever it is needed.

他们不会只在办公室等待那些在危机中的人上门找他们寻求帮助，相反，他们会走出去到社区去帮助需要帮助的人。

I’m Mario Ritter.

And I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

1 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

2 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

3 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

4 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。

5 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。

6 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

7 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

8 humanely   

adv.仁慈地；人道地；富人情地；慈悲地

参考例句：

• Is the primary persona being treated humanely by the product? 该产品对待首要人物角色时是否有人情味？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In any event, China's interest in treating criminals more humanely has limits. 无论如何，中国对更人道地对待罪犯的兴趣有限。 来自互联网

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

10 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

11 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

12 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

13 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

14 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

15 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。