【英语语言学习】一次危险的旅程

MICHEL MARTIN: 

Every year, tens of thousands of Central Americans from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador make a perilous¹ overland journey to the United States. They travel north through Mexico to the U.S. border, riding on top of rusty² cargo³ trains, collectively called La Bestia, or The Beast.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVAL RECORDING)

 

OSCAR MARTINEZ: (Speaking through translator) What is The Beast? The Beast is a myth in the immigrant world. The Beast is one of the most intense moments of the journey of an undocumented immigrant coming in through Mexico.

 

MARTIN: That's the voice of Salvadoran journalist Oscar Martinez speaking through a translator. Martinez has ridden The Beast eight times himself, interviewing people on their way to the U.S. In 2010, his reporting resulted in a book called "The Beast," which has just been published in English. And NPR's Jasmine Garsd sat down with Martinez in Mexico City. And she's with us from there to tell us more about their conversation. Jasmine, welcome.

 

JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE⁴: Thank you so much for having me, Michel.

 

MARTIN: Now we're used to hearing about Mexicans crossing the border into the U.S. and what that journey is like. But what about the trip through Mexico? Is the trip that Oscar Martinez describes that these Central Americans making very different?

 

GARSD: Oh, absolutely. I mean, depending on where you're coming from in Central America, you have to cross three borders. And these Central American migrants are especially targeted here in Mexico by drug gangs like the Zeta gang that really control a lot of these areas through which La Bestia runs. And they're especially prone⁵ or targeted for kidnapping and increasingly for human trafficking. And in the best-case scenario⁶, you get mugged and - but a lot of times, it's the worst-case scenario for them.

 

MARTIN: Well, if the journey is difficult for men - and Oscar Martinez follows a number of men making the trip - you have to imagine that, for women, it is particularly horrendous⁷. And could you talk a little bit about that?

 

GARSD: Yes. You know, one of the most difficult reads of this book is the sheer amount of sexual assault. I've read estimates by NGOs of 6 out of 10 women who embark⁸ on this journey being sexually assaulted. And that's really just what gets reported, and obviously, because of the circumstances, the clandestine⁹ nature of these people, they don't report these crimes. And one of the difficult things about what he writes in his book is that the women who embark on this journey - and they are many - they see this as inevitable¹⁰. There's this attitude of, well, I hope this doesn't happen. But it will. Increasingly, gangs like the Zeta gang have created this whole apparatus¹¹ for trafficking of women and forcing them into prostitution.

 

MARTIN: I understand that you have a clip from your conversation.

 

GARSD: Absolutely. I asked him, you know, how it was to talk to these women who go on this journey. And here's what Martinez had to tell me.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVAL RECORDING)

 

MARTINEZ: (Speaking through translator) And you discover - when they finally tell you that they were raped¹² - you discover the profound desire they had to tell someone and for someone to listen to them. And they tell you once and then again, and they start remembering details. And they can't stop the flow of words, even when you think you can no longer endure their story. It's obvious that these people want to tell their stories, but nobody is waiting for this battered¹³ community on the other side. Nobody is asking, hey, what happened to you?

 

MARTIN: I think that the level of violence that many people in Mexico are experiencing - or have been experiencing over the last five years or so, or even perhaps going back further - is horrific. I think a lot of people understand it, even if they don't necessarily want to engage in it that often. But is there anything that surprised you?

 

GARSD: No matter how many times I hear this story, I'm always surprised by - or just taken aback by - what people will go through to achieve what they perceive as a better life. The stories told in this book, in "The Beast," they indicate a level of violence that is even shocking for someone who has been following the news coming out of Mexico. Basically, what he says in the book is that, you know, back in the '80s - it's never been a safe trip. There was a very high chance that you would be mugged on the train, in the southern area, especially by - I don't know - La Mara Salvatrucha. And there was a very high chance that you could fall off the train and get hurt. Nowadays, it's very probable that you can get kidnapped, your family will have to pay a ransom¹⁴ or that, you know, you'll get stuck in a brothel, forced into prostitution.

 

MARTIN: Is there any move in Mexico to try to offer some protection for people who are going through this? Recognizing a fact that this is illegal transit¹⁵, I mean, that this is not something that's obviously sanctioned. This is not something that they want to encourage, but is there any effort to stop it?

 

GARSD: From a government level, there's very little response. And one of the things about this book is that he very much points the finger at the governments of Central America, as well, I mean, what he calls the sheer laziness to organize, and also, just governments that have become bloated off of remittances¹⁶. So there's not an effort to do that. You know, a good example is, not so long ago - a few months ago - the La Bestia, one of the trains, it derailed. And he pointed¹⁷ that out as an example of - nobody, you know, the representatives from different Central American governments went to visit the site, and there were a lot of public displays of sorrow. But, no, there was not an organization. I mean, what is happening is that you have religious and civil organizations that have stepped up and try to help people and try to offer some protection. But what he points out is, you know, yes, this is illegal transit. This is not sanctioned, but you know what? The fact is it's happening, and hundreds and thousands of people a year are passing through your country. So what he's saying is you need to step up and take care of that situation.

 

MARTIN: NPR's Jasmine Garsd is speaking with us from Mexico City where she's been reporting. You can hear Jasmine's entire interview with journalist Oscar Martinez in its original Spanish-language version or with English translation on NPR.org/AltLatino. Jasmine, thanks so much for speaking with us.

1 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

2 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

3 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

6 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

7 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

8 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

9 clandestine   

adj.秘密的，暗中从事的

参考例句：

• She is the director of clandestine operations of the CIA.她是中央情报局秘密行动的负责人。
• The early Christians held clandestine meetings in caves.早期的基督徒在洞穴中秘密聚会。

10 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

11 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

12 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

13 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

14 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

15 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

16 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

17 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。