VOA标准英语2011--India's Circus Owners Banned From Using

India's Circus Owners Banned From Using Children Performers

India's traditional traveling circuses remain widely popular across the country, although attendance has been falling in recent years. Despite their popularity, there have long been concerns about their treatment of child circus performers, many of whom are trafficked from Nepal.
Starting this month, India's Supreme¹ Court banned circus owners from using child performers and demanded that youngsters already working under the big top should be released. This correspondent recently traveled with a child welfare group that rescues minors² from the circus life.
The circus has come to Dehradun, the state capital of Uttarakhand here in northern India. It is a big event in the town's social calendar. Hundreds of families have turned out to enjoy the festive³ atmosphere.
Child welfare organizations also are here. They believe that 23 children, some as young as seven, are being held against their will and being forced to perform five times a day.
Philip Holmes is director of the Esther Benjamins Trust. His team has rescued more than 400 abused and underage performers from Indian circuses since 2004.
"These are children essentially⁴ sold by their families to trafficking agents, who sell them on to circuses - effectively to a life of bondage⁵ and modern-day slavery," said Homes. "Training of the children is fueled by beatings. Sexual abuse has been extremely common - little girls, eight, nine [years-old] being raped⁷. Those kids are under total control of the circus owner."
In April, India's Supreme Court found in a case brought by the New Delhi-based non-governmental organization, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, that such abuses are "rampant⁸" in the circus industry.
This claim was denied by the owners of the country's 30-or-so travelling circuses that collectively are believed to employ more than 1,000 children below 18 years of age.
The court ordered that the government rescue every underage child performer in India, and rehabilitate⁹ them from treatment it referred to as "inhuman¹⁰." The government had until the end of June to agree to comply.
Civil rights lawyer Nandita Rao said, "The Child Labour Act broadly prohibited the employment of children under 14 ‘in industry' ... and ‘industry' didn't include circuses. Now, the Supreme Court has recognized children working in circuses as completely illegal and ... raised the age from 14 to 18 - children under-18 cannot be employed in a circus. In many ways, that's radical¹¹."
In India, where many children work to support their families, there is still skepticism about the severity of the problem. When activists¹² met with officials in Dehradun, some pondered the necessity of rescuing the children if, as the ringmasters claim, their performing financially supports families struggling to make ends meet.
Aditi Kur with Child Line India said the Supreme Court's ruling shuts down such excuses.
"Perhaps they're not aware of what child labor¹³ actually means, which is huge," said Kur. "The State has to come in and support these children so that they stop working, then ensure the children have some sort of education [to] be able to carry on a better life for themselves."
Two days later, the district magistrate¹⁴ has been advised that arrest warrants exist for the Dehradun circus owner on rape⁶ and assault charges, but an operation to rescue the children still has not taken place. Rao said involving local authorities can sometimes undermine the rescue operation.
"Certain states in the north and northeast of India, there is a lot of lawlessness. These circus criminals conduct a lot of other nefarious¹⁵ businesses," said Rao. "It's not difficult for them to make the children disappear ... with the connivance¹⁶, possibly, of government officers."
On day three, the local authorities decide to act. But to the dismay of child welfare groups relegated¹⁷ to observing events from outside the circus, officials have no police backup to ensure the safety of the children - or to prevent the owner from spiriting them away:
One official said, "They've seen us..." [car door slams]
The correspondent elaborates on the unfolding scene. "We're running across the field. Government officials are inside the circus - we've just stopped six young girls who were being led out the back door."
During the chaos¹⁸ of the authorities' bungled¹⁹ operation, two circus employees attempt to secretly take seven of the youngest girls away from the circus compound, through a side gate. Staff from the Esther Benjamins Trust rush to stop and apprehend²⁰ them.
The girls will be looked after at a government refuge before undergoing training to help rehabilitate them back into society. However, remaining unaccounted for are more than 12 other young performers.
After they are rescued, many children's parents cannot be located. For those left on their own, Holmes said the Esther Benjamins Trust has formed south Asia's first contemporary circus, with performances that combine traditional circus skills with dance and other performing arts.
"We've got kids we rescued, who were brutalized in the circuses, coming forward to take part," said Holmes. "They are thrilled to use this as a form of rehabilitation²¹. They're confronting demons²²; getting a chance to live the dream that was sold to them falsely by traffickers many years ago."
The troupe²³ - named Sapana after the Nepalese word for "Dream" - will be touring the Middle East later this year.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 bondage   

n.奴役，束缚

参考例句：

• Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。

6 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

7 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

8 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

9 rehabilitate   

vt.改造(罪犯)，修复；vi.复兴，(罪犯)经受改造

参考例句：

• There was no money to rehabilitate the tower.没有资金修复那座塔。
• He used exercise programmes to rehabilitate the patients.他采用体育锻炼疗法使患者恢复健康。

10 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

11 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

15 nefarious   

adj.恶毒的，极坏的

参考例句：

• My father believes you all have a nefarious purpose here.我父亲认为你们都有邪恶的目的。
• He was universally feared because of his many nefarious deeds.因为他干了许多罪恶的勾当，所以人人都惧怕他。

16 connivance   

n.纵容；默许

参考例句：

• The criminals could not have escaped without your connivance.囚犯没有你的默契配合，是逃不掉的。
• He tried to bribe the police into connivance.他企图收买警察放他一马。

17 relegated   

v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类

参考例句：

• She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
• I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

19 bungled   

v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• They bungled the job. 他们把活儿搞糟了。
• John bungled the job. 约翰把事情搞糟了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

20 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

21 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

22 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。