商业周刊:最后雇佣却先遭解雇(8)

Cold, Crowded, Deadly: How U.S. Meat Plants Became a Virus Breeding Ground

寒冷、拥挤、致死：美国肉品厂如何成为病毒滋生地

With thousands of workers sick, plants are closing and the food supply is faltering¹.

由于成千上万的工人生病，工厂关闭，食品供应持续衰退。

This is by Peter Waldman, Lydia Mulvany, and Polly Mosendz.

作者：彼得·沃尔德曼、莉迪亚·穆尔瓦尼和波利·莫森兹

By late March, Rafael Benjamin's family was pleading with him to stay home from work even if it cost him his job.

到了三月底，拉斐尔·本杰明的家人恳求他待在家中，不要再去工作了，即使这会让他丢掉工作。

He promised he would, but not until after April 10.

他答应这样做，但要等到4月10日以后。

That would be his work anniversary, his 17th at Cargill Inc.'s pork and beef processing plant in Hazleton, Pa.

这天将是他的工作周年纪念日，也是他在位于宾夕法尼亚州哈兹尔顿市的嘉吉公司猪牛肉加工厂工作的第17个周年纪念日。

—a milestone² for topping up his pension when he retired³ in October.

他10月份退休时，这可以是他补足养老金的一个重要事件。

So Benjamin, 64, soldiered on, a second-shift worker earning $15.35 an hour.

于是，64岁的本杰明继续留守，他是一名两个班次轮班的工人，每小时挣15.35美元。

Around him, colleagues were falling ill; on the employee grapevine, people said it was the coronavirus.

他周围的同事都在生病；员工中传着的小道消息，说是因为新冠病毒。

Supervisors⁴ said that wasn't true and told workers not to discuss who might be infected.

主管们说那不是真的，并告诉工人们不要讨论谁可能受到感染。

But before long, Covid-19, the illness caused by the virus, ran through entire departments.

但是不久，新冠病毒引发的疾病在整个部门传播开来。根据联合食品与商业工人国际工会的数据，

By April 7, 130 of the plant's 900 employees had tested positive, according to the workers' union, United Food & Commercial Workers International,

根据联合食品商业工人国际工会的数据，截至4月7日，该工厂900名员工中有130人检测呈阳性，

but neither Cargill nor local officials were disclosing any numbers.

但嘉吉和当地官员均未透露任何数字。

Amid the information void, Benjamin kept working, with growing unease.

在缺乏信息的情况下，本杰明继续工作，但心里却感到越来越不安。

March was a time of spreading disease and denial across the U.S. meat and poultry⁵ industry.

三月份是疫情在美国肉类和家禽业传播，但遭到否认的时期。

Laborers⁶ in the immense slaughterhouses and packing houses passed the contagion⁷ on processing lines and in locker⁸ rooms, then in their homes.

巨大的屠宰场和包装厂的工人在加工生产线上接触到传染病，然后又把病毒带回各自的家中。

Plants began to slow or to go idle. The toll⁹ on workers and the nation's food supply is only now becoming clear.

工厂开始减产或设备闲置，工人和国家食物供应的损失现在才变得明显。

By mid-March there were reports of panic buying, and President Trump¹⁰ and other federal officials sought to reassure¹¹ the public that the food supply was sound.

到3月中旬，出现恐慌性购买的报道，特朗普总统和其他联邦官员试图向公众保证食品供应是可靠的。

"You don't have to buy so much," he told Americans on March 15. "Take it easy. Relax."

“你不必购买那么多物品，”他在3月15日告诉美国人说，“别紧张”。

Plants were running overtime¹² to meet the surge in demand.

为了满足需求的激增，工厂加班加点。

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue weighed in on April 15: "In the United States, we have plenty of food for all of our citizens."

4月15日，美国农业部长桑尼·珀杜表示：“在美国，我们所有公民都有充足的食物。”

1 faltering   

犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的

参考例句：

• The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
• I canfeel my legs faltering. 我感到我的腿在颤抖。

2 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

5 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

6 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

7 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

8 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

10 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

11 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

12 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。