新闻周刊:牛仔裤的真实成本(4)

Much of the work is jeans finishing. In 2012, jeans production turnover¹ in Vietnam was $600 million; by 2021, it is expected to double.

大部分的工作是牛仔裤的整理。2012年，越南的牛仔裤生产营业额为6亿美元；到2021年，这一数字预计将翻一番。

On the industrial outskirts² of Ho Chi Minh, at a run-down, warehouse-like plant behind an unassailable gate, about 200 young Vietnamese labored³. The fluorescent⁴ lighting⁵ was poor and it was 100 degrees, easy. Large fans whirred to try to cool the room. It didn't work.

在胡志明市的工业郊区，在一扇无懈可击的门后，有一家像仓库一样破旧的工厂，大约200名越南年轻人在那里劳动。荧光灯很昏暗，达到100度很容易。大扇子呼呼地扇动着，想给房间降温。但并不管用。

Pristine⁶ midnight-blue jeans were piled high on metal tables and dollies. Young men in T-shirts, trousers—usually jeans—and knee-high rubber boots stuffed them into two dozen monster-sized washing machines. An inch of navy-blue water stood on the floor. The men did not wear gloves, and their hands were stained black.

崭新的深蓝色牛仔裤高高地堆在金属桌子和洋娃娃上。穿着t恤、裤子(通常是牛仔裤)和高筒胶靴的年轻人把这些衣服塞进24个怪物大小的洗衣机里。地板上有一英寸深的深蓝色废水。男人们没有戴手套，他们的手被染黑了。

Some of the machines were older types that require five gallons of water to wash one kilogram—three pairs—of jeans. Others were less piggy, using only a bit more than one gallon of water per kilo of jeans. Manufacturers "know how wasteful⁷ this is," my guide told me.

有些机器是老式的，需要五加仑的水来洗一公斤的牛仔裤——三条。其他机器则没那么贪心，每公斤牛仔裤只消耗一加仑多一点的水。我的指导告诉我，制造商“知道这有多浪费”。

"Their business is about washing, not about worrying about the planet," a jeans expert told me.

“他们的工作是洗衣服，而不是担心地球，”一位牛仔裤专家告诉我。

In the distressing⁸ room, young men and women were sanding jean knees and thighs⁹ by hand, like a carpenter works on wood. Some wore medical masks to prevent inhalation of denim¹⁰ dust, but most did not.

在这个令人痛苦的房间里，年轻的男男女女正在用手打磨牛仔裤的膝盖和大腿，就像木匠在木头上干活一样。有些人戴着医用口罩，以防止吸入丹宁布粉尘，但大多数人没有。

The verve with which they attacked their assignment was alarming: Each pair went from virgin¹¹ to wrecked¹² in under a minute. The workers' focus was intense. One slip-up and their pay would be docked. At the time I visited, sanders processed at least 400 pairs of jeans a day, six days a week, not including overtime¹³.

他们攻击这项任务的气魄是惊人的；每条裤子都在不到一分钟的时间里从处女地变成了废墟。工人们的注意力很集中。只要出一点差错，他们的工资就会被扣掉。在我访问的时候，桑德斯每天至少加工400条牛仔裤，每周6天，不包括加班。

And that was the hand distressers. The machine distressers worked even faster. I watched one woman—unmasked—tackle cutoff shorts with what looked like an oversized dental drill that emitted a scream so high-pitched it could crack crystal. She ground the front and back pockets and hems¹⁴ of those shorts to a fashionably holey state in 10 seconds. Six pairs a minute. All day long.

这就是手的苦恼。机器的解缆器工作得更快。我看到一个女人穿着一条没有遮盖的短裤，手上拿着一个看起来像大号牙钻的东西，发出一声尖锐的尖叫，声音高得可以震碎水晶。她在10秒内将前后口袋和短裤的边磨成时尚的洞状。一分钟六条。一整天都是如此。

1 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

2 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

3 labored   

adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing. 我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。 来自辞典例句
• They have labored to complete the job. 他们努力完成这一工作。 来自辞典例句

4 fluorescent   

adj.荧光的，发出荧光的

参考例句：

• They observed the deflections of the particles by allowing them to fall on a fluorescent screen.他们让粒子落在荧光屏上以观察他们的偏移。
• This fluorescent lighting certainly gives the food a peculiar color.这萤光灯当然增添了食物特别的色彩。

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

7 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

8 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

9 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。

11 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

12 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

13 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。

14 hems   

布的褶边，贴边( hem的名词复数 )； 短促的咳嗽

参考例句：

• I took the hems of my dresses up to make them shorter. 我把我的连衣裙都改短了。
• Hems must be level unless uneven design feature is requested. 袖口及裤脚卷边位置宽度必须一致（设计有特别要求的除外）。