2013年自考英語(yǔ)(二)課文譯文:家門(mén)口的奴隸制
家門(mén)口的奴隸制
There are estimated to be more than 20,000 overseas domestic servants working in Britain (the exact figure is not known because the Home Office, the Government department that deals with this, does not keep statistics). Usually, they have been brought over by foreign businessmen, diplomats or Britons returning from abroad. Of these 20,000, just under 2,000 are being exploited and abused by their employers, according to a London-based campaigning group which helps overseas servants working in Britain.
據(jù)估計(jì)在不列顛工作的外籍家庭傭人有兩萬(wàn)之眾(確切的數(shù)字尚不得而知,因負(fù)責(zé)這一事務(wù)的政府部門(mén)內(nèi)政部沒(méi)有做這方面的數(shù)字統(tǒng)計(jì))。這些傭人通常都是由在英國(guó)的外商、外交官或從國(guó)外回來(lái)的英國(guó)人帶來(lái)的。根據(jù)一個(gè)總部設(shè)在倫敦旨在幫助在英國(guó)工作的外國(guó)傭人的政治團(tuán)體的說(shuō)法,在這兩萬(wàn)人中有近兩千人正遭受到雇主的剝削和虐待。
The abuse can take several forms. Often the domestics are not allowed to go out, and they do not receive any payment. They can be physically, sexually and psychologically abused. And they can have their passports removed, making leaving or "escaping" virtually impossible.
虐待有幾種形式:家庭傭人常常不允許外出或不給工錢(qián);可以受到肉體、性或精神方面的虐待,可以被沒(méi)收護(hù)照,使他們根本不可能離開(kāi)或是“逃跑”。
The sad condition of women working as domestics around the world received much media attention earlier this year in several highly publicised cases. In one of them, a Filipino maid was executed in Singapore after being convicted of murder, despite protests from various quarters that her guilt had not been adequately established. Groups like Anti-Slavery International say other, less dramatic, cases are equally deserving of attention, such as that of Lydia Garcia, a Filipino maid working in London:
今年早些時(shí)候,由于幾樁廣為人知的案件,世界各地女傭人的悲慘處境受到了輿論界的極大關(guān)注。案件之一是一位菲律賓女傭因證明有謀殺罪在新加坡被處死,盡管各地紛紛抗議,說(shuō)這名女傭的罪名還不完全成立。像“反奴役國(guó)際”這樣的組織聲稱(chēng),其他一些不太顯眼的案件也同樣值得關(guān)注,例如在倫敦工作的菲律賓女傭莉迪亞?加西亞一案:
"I was hired by a Saudi diplomat directly from the Philippines to work in London in 1989. I was supposed to be paid $ 120 but I never received that amount. They always threatened that they would send me back to my country.”
“1989年,一名沙特外交官直接把我從菲律賓雇到倫敦工作。說(shuō)好了每月給我120英鎊,但我從來(lái)沒(méi)有拿到那么多,而且他們還常常威脅要把我遣送回國(guó)?!?/STRONG>
Then there is the case of Kumari from Sri Lanka. The main breadwinner in her family, she used to work for a very low wage at a tea factory in Sri Lanka. Because she found it difficult to feed her four children, she accepted a job working as a domestic in London. She says she felt like a prisoner at the London house where she worked:
再就是斯里蘭卡的女傭庫(kù)馬里一案。她家主要靠她掙錢(qián)維持生活,她曾在一家斯里蘭卡的茶廠工作,收入微薄。因難以養(yǎng)活自己的四個(gè)孩子,庫(kù)馬里便同意到英國(guó)當(dāng)女仆。她說(shuō)在倫敦那幢房子里做活,感覺(jué)像個(gè)囚犯:
"No days off -- ever, no breaks at all, no proper food. I didn't have my own room; I slept on a shelf with a spad0 of only three feet above me. I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody. I wasn't even allowed to open the window. My employers always threatened to
“沒(méi)有節(jié)假日。甚至沒(méi)有歇息的時(shí)間,也沒(méi)有一口像樣的飯菜。我沒(méi)有自己的房間,睡在擱板上,在我上方只有三英尺的空間。不允許我同任何人講話(huà),甚至連窗戶(hù)都不允許我開(kāi)。我的雇主總是威脅要向內(nèi)政部或警察局告我的狀?!?/STRONG>
At the end of 1994 the British Government introduced new measures to help protect domestic workers from abuse by their employers. This included increasing the minimum age of employees to 18, getting employees to read and, understand an advice leaflet, getting employers to agree to provide adequate maintenance and conditions, and to put in writing the main terms and conditions of the job (of which the employees should see a copy).
1994年底,英國(guó)政府采取了新的措施,以保護(hù)家庭傭人不遭受其雇主的虐待。這些措施包括:把受雇人的最低年齡提高至18歲,讓受雇人讀懂并理解建議手冊(cè),責(zé)成雇主同意提供足夠的生活費(fèi)用和適宜的工作條件,把工作的主要項(xiàng)目和條件形成文學(xué)(受雇人應(yīng)該看到文字本的復(fù)印件)。
However, many people doubt whether this will successfully reduce the incidence of abuse. For the main problem facing overseas maids and domestics who try to complain about cruel living and working conditions is that they do not have independent immigrant status and so cannot change employer. (They are allowed in the United Kingdom under a special concession in the immigration rules which allows foreigners to bring domestic staff with them.) So if they do complain, they risk being deported.
但是,許多人對(duì)此能否有效地減少虐待發(fā)生仍懷有疑慮。因外籍女傭和家仆想對(duì)惡劣的生活和工作條件提出申訴所面臨的主要問(wèn)題是,他們沒(méi)有獨(dú)立的移民身份,因此不能改換雇主(英國(guó)移民法中規(guī)定,外國(guó)人有攜帶家仆的特權(quán))。所以,傭人如果真想抱怨的話(huà),他們就面臨著被遣送回國(guó)的危險(xiǎn)
Allowing domestic workers the freedom to seek the same type of work but with a different employer, if they so choose, is what groups like Anti-Slavery International are campaigning the Government for. It is, they say, the right to change employers which distinguishes employment from slavery.
允許家庭傭人有根據(jù)自己意愿尋找同種工作但是不同雇主的自由,是“反奴役國(guó)際”這類(lèi)組織正促使政府去實(shí)現(xiàn)的事情。這些組織說(shuō),正是有權(quán)更換雇主的權(quán)力使雇用與奴役劃清了界線(xiàn)。
?2013年7月各省市自考成績(jī)查詢(xún)?nèi)肟趨R總
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