British Vision Issue 34 英国移民劳工的真实现状

Welcome to the worlds of the migrant worker. 30 hours or so from Cracow in southern Poland to Victoria bus station. Most here have followed what they hope is the money trail to the UK, expectations are low, but then again, anything here is better than home.

"There's no compare. Um, maybe, um, I'm, I haven't done my degree yet. But it's still much easier to find a job here."

"With my profession, I could earn in Poland about 100 pounds per month. So here I can earn about 100 -200 per week, so far. That is why I'm staying here is...

The trouble is, while 100 pounds a week might seem a lot in Poland, no one seems to have told them that it's not enough to make ends meet in London.

This story is by no means a one-off. Too embarrassed to show his face on television, this man was prepared to show us what he has been reduced to. (So this is where you live in, yep) The man who lives here gave up his own company in Poland to try his luck in the UK.

"You can hear the ceiling creaking, can't you? (Yeah) And you can hear the water. (That's the water I think.) It really feels like it might collapse¹."

Somehow it's all fell apart for him. He spends several months on the streets, and now he moves from squats to condemned³ squats², simply surviving. So exhausted⁴, he can hardly get the energy to look for work. There's no water in here, or electricity, it's about as low as you can think.

The man who lives here, has qualifications from Poland in finance⁵ and banking⁶, speaks very good English, and he ended up in conditions like this, so you can imagine how difficult this is for many Pols coming over here trying to find a work who don't have those sorts of qualifications, and who don't speak the language.

Of course if you've got a car, you've also got somewhere to sleep, there isn't danger of being torn down around you. And that's what some others do. What is startling⁷ about this is that even though it must feel like a broken dream, some simply will not give up trying.

"I know it's ur~a lot of jobs. And~and I~ur~you know~I have a good chance for job, because I'm a first-class lorry driver. When I called to my family, I never said for my situation. I'm homeless, I sleep in my car."

The pattern of many people's day takes on a depressing routine, hang around on street corners early in the morning and wait for someone, anyone probably to offer some work. If you don't get it, then simply take to the park and get drunk. So it's probably a good job that they have the kindness of strangers to fall back on. At this center they offer advice on food, housing, medical support, and they simply offer comfort.

"The~the saddest thing that we've seen is that the clients are arriving in a country with high expectations, with fantastic work ethic~um~you know, genuinely want to do well, want to succeed, want to, er, want to be a part of the community, want to earn some money to help their, to help their families back home, and they're ill-equipped to do that.

Much has been said and made about Polish plumbers⁸ and others taking over jobs in cities like London. But Pols make up some three-quarters of the clients in this soup kitchen as well. This is the direct effect of the world at the 21st century. A world of the mass movements of people across borders, bringing victims as well as survivors⁹, Lawrence Lee Sky News.
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one-off
[Chiefly British] Something that is not repeated or reproduced¹⁰.
一次性事物不能重复或不可以再生的事物
lorry
[Chiefly British] A motor truck.
机动卡车

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 squats   

n.蹲坐，蹲姿( squat的名词复数 )；被擅自占用的建筑物v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的第三人称单数 )；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：

• The square squats in the centre of the city. 广场位于市中心。 来自互联网
• Various squats, lunges, jumps and sprints are incorporated for the humans. 主人们还要进行下蹲、弓步、跳跃和短跑等各项训练。 来自互联网

3 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

4 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

5 finance   

n.财务管理，财政，金融，财源，资金

参考例句：

• She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
• A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。

6 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

7 startling   

a.令人吃惊的，惊人的

参考例句：

• He asked us to be quiet and then made a startling announcement. 他叫我们安静下来，然后宣布了一条令人吃惊的消息。
• We should draw a moral from the startling fact. 我们应当从这些触目惊心的事实中吸取教训。

8 plumbers   

n.管子工，水暖工( plumber的名词复数 )；[美][口]（防止泄密的）堵漏人员

参考例句：

• Plumbers charge by the hour for their work. 水管工人的工作是以小时收费的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Plumbers, carpenters, and other workmen finished the new house quickly. 管道工、木工及其他工匠很快完成了这幢新房子。 来自辞典例句

9 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

10 reproduced   

复制( reproduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 重现； 再版； 生殖

参考例句：

• a manuscript reproduced in facsimile 精确复制的手稿
• The article was reproduced by the special permission of the President. 由于总统的特殊允许，这篇文章被复印了一份。