VOA慢速英语2019 阿富汗陷入贫困的泥沼：小孩子也要被迫工作

Facing Poverty, Afghan Children Forced to Work

Every day before the sun rises, 10-year-old Kamran goes to work with his father and other family members at a building materials factory outside Kabul.For Kamran and other children in Afghanistan, going to school is not a possibility.

每天天不亮，10岁的卡姆兰都会跟父亲还有其他家人一起去喀布尔郊外的一家建材工厂工作。对卡姆兰等阿富汗儿童来说，上学是不可能的事情。

Kamran’s father, Atiqullah, supports his family of eight as well as others. One of Kamran’s uncles is sick and another has died, leaving their families in his father’s care.

卡姆兰的父亲阿迪古拉要养活自己的8口之家，也要养活别的家庭。卡姆兰的一位叔叔生病了，还有一位叔叔已经死去，他们的家人就由卡姆兰的父亲来照顾。

My children wake up early in the morning and right after prayers they come for work, so they don’t have time for school, Atiqullah told the Associated Press.

我的孩子们早上起得很早，祷告后就来工作了，所以他们没有时间上学，阿迪古拉在接受美联社采访时这样说道。

These days if you don’t work, you cannot survive, he said.

目前的情况是：如果不工作，就活不下去，他这样说道。 

The United States and its allies¹ have given billions of dollars in aid to Afghanistan since their invasion² to remove the country’s Taliban leadership from power 18 years ago. But the country remains³ severely⁴ affected⁵ by poverty.

自从18年前美国及其盟友通过入侵的方式让阿富汗的塔利班政权下台以来，他们已提供大量援助金给阿富汗。但阿富汗依然深受贫困所扰。

Signs of it are everywhere. Children beg in the streets. Entire families, including children as young as 5, work at places like brick⁶ factories in the heat.

阿富汗贫困的迹象是处处可见的。许多儿童在街上乞讨。很多家庭全员都在高温环境下在一些场所工作，比如在砖厂里，其中也包括只有5岁的小孩子。

Atiqullah’s family comes from the eastern Nangarhar province. It is an area that the Taliban as well as an Islamic State-linked group operate in. The area has seen heavy fighting in recent years.

阿迪古拉一家来自于东部的楠格哈尔省。该地区有塔利班和IS相关的组织活动。近年来，该地区战乱不断。

Brick factory owners travel to the small communities and offer loans⁷ to help families cover basic needs. They then force families to repay⁸ the loans through work during the summer months. Workers say a family of 10 can bring in about $12 to $18 a day, depending on how much they produce.

许多砖厂老板会去往一些小社群，提供贷款来帮助一些家庭满足基本需求。然后，这些老板们会强迫这些家庭通过夏季给他们干活的方式来还贷。工人们说，10口之家每天可以带来12美元-18美元的收入，这取决于他们生产量的多少。

We always think about our future, he said. We don’t know how long we will live with economic problems like this, when we will be able to live our own lives, when we will be able to breathe in freedom. Right now we live like slaves.

他说，我们总是会去思考未来。我们不知道在有这些经济问题的情况下我们能活多久，不知道我们什么时候才能过属于自己的生活，也不知道什么时候才能自由地呼吸。现在我们像奴隶一样活着。

1 allies   

联盟国，同盟者； 同盟国，同盟者( ally的名词复数 )； 支持者； 盟军

参考例句：

• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。
• A number of the United States' allies had urged him not to take a hasty decision. 美国的一些盟友已力劝他不要急于作决定。

2 invasion   

n.入侵，侵略，侵犯

参考例句：

• They are ready against the possible invasion.他们防备可能的入侵。
• It is our duty to shield our country from invasion.保卫祖国不受侵犯是我们的责任。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 brick   

n.砖；vt.用砖砌，用砖堵住

参考例句：

• She stared blankly at the brick wall in front of her.她面无表情地瞪着面前的砖墙。
• I bought a brick of ice cream for my daughter.我给女儿买了块冰砖。

7 loans   

n.借出物，借款( loan的名词复数 )v.借出，贷与（尤指钱）( loan的第三人称单数 )；出借（贵重物品给博物馆等）

参考例句：

• They are offering loans at extortionate rates of interest. 他们在放高利贷。
• Government loans have been the salvation of several shaky business companies. 政府的贷款救活了几家濒临倒闭的公司。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 repay   

v.偿还，报答，还钱给

参考例句：

• I feel honor bound to repay the money I borrowed.我觉得有责任归还我借的钱。
• I must repay her for her kindness.我必须报答她的恩惠。