国家地理-2008-09-04 非洲采矿童工状况堪忧

Every week, more children arrive to work in the hundreds of primitive¹ mines in the bush. Here they endure long hours at dangerous jobs, wringing² flecks³ of gold from the dirt with mercury.

 One of them is a 12-year-old boy named Saliou. Momodou is just 13 years old. This is a region of Africa where boys of Saliou's age are expected to earn money for their families. He works in a bush mine on the Senegal-Mali border in the village of Tenkoto. Senegal prohibits anyone under 18 from doing hazardous⁴ work. And mining is among the most hazardous of jobs. According to the UN, mining is one of the worst forms of child labor⁵. However, the laws are seldom enforced.

 Children travel from mine to mine, moving with the gold. The AP reports that 6 months after Saliou arrived in Tenkoto, it was decided⁶ that the mine was nearly depleted⁷. So he and the boys walked for more than a week, crossed the Senegal border and arrived at another mine in Mali. It's the same story here as at the mine in Tenkoto. Teenage boys clamber down mine shafts⁸ 30 to 50 meters deep. Younger teens then yank the rocks up with a pulley. Squatting⁹ next to a plastic tub, boys of school age pour mercury onto their bare hands. Mercury attracts gold like a magnet.

 The World Health Organization says that mercury is a potent¹⁰ nerve toxin¹¹ and can affect the brain. It's especially dangerous for children since their nervous systems are still developing. Typical symptoms of mercury poisoning include mental retardation¹², loss of balance, tremors¹³, blindness and loss of hearing.

 “In addition to the actual work that they do is that they carry very heavy loads, they are exposed to chemicals like mercury which cause extreme danger to the, which pose an extreme danger to the nervous system, kidneys, the respiratory system, reproductive system.”

 Once the tiny flecks of gold have been extracted, the buyers step in offering roughly $19 per gram. Once the deals are done, the gold is taken to the capital of Mali. Here the price for gold from Tenkoto is almost $23 a gram, nearly $4 more than the buyers pay the miners.

 United Nations mining experts estimate that 10-20% of the thousands of mine workers in West Africa are children.

 “Frankly, it's a, it's a very serious problem. We estimate about one million children worldwide are involved in small-scale mining.”

 Precisely which products contain child-mined gold, no one can say for sure. Unlike a diamond, gold does not keep its identity on its tortuous¹⁴ journey from mine to market. The AP reports one prominent retailer¹⁵, Tiffany & Company, has expressed concern about child labor and frustration¹⁶ that it can't certify¹⁷ its products are free of gold mined by youngsters. Because bush mines, where child labor is ubiquitous, supply a fifth of the world's gold according to the UN, the company realizes its supply lines may well be compromised. Tiffany & Company is part of the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices which was formed to seek ways to help reduce the market for gold mined by children. But the council has found no effective way to enforce compliance¹⁸.

 For Saliou, the work in the mines goes on. He says he dreams that one day he'll own something made of gold.

1 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

2 wringing   

淋湿的，湿透的

参考例句：

• He was wringing wet after working in the field in the hot sun. 烈日下在田里干活使他汗流满面。
• He is wringing out the water from his swimming trunks. 他正在把游泳裤中的水绞出来。

3 flecks   

n.斑点，小点( fleck的名词复数 )；癍

参考例句：

• His hair was dark, with flecks of grey. 他的黑发间有缕缕银丝。
• I got a few flecks of paint on the window when I was painting the frames. 我在漆窗框时，在窗户上洒了几点油漆。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

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 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

8 shafts   

n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等）

参考例句：

• He deliberately jerked the shafts to rock him a bit. 他故意的上下颠动车把，摇这个老猴子几下。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Shafts were sunk, with tunnels dug laterally. 竖井已经打下，并且挖有横向矿道。 来自辞典例句

9 squatting   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
• They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

11 toxin   

n.毒素，毒质

参考例句：

• Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
• Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。

12 retardation   

n.智力迟钝，精神发育迟缓

参考例句：

• Asbestos reinforcement confers excellent flame retardation properties on a composite. 石棉增强材料使复合材料具有优异的防火性能。
• The theory confirms the increase in the retardation effect with decrease in particle size. 理论证实，随着颗粒尺寸的减小，这一减速效应将增大。

13 tremors   

震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动

参考例句：

• The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。
• The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。

14 tortuous   

adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的

参考例句：

• We have travelled a tortuous road.我们走过了曲折的道路。
• They walked through the tortuous streets of the old city.他们步行穿过老城区中心弯弯曲曲的街道。

15 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

16 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

17 certify   

vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给

参考例句：

• I can certify to his good character.我可以证明他品德好。
• This swimming certificate is to certify that I can swim one hundred meters.这张游泳证是用以证明我可以游100米远。

18 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。