VOA慢速英语2019 南非女孩取水溺亡引发骚乱

Girl Drowns Getting Drinking Water, Causing Riots² in South Africa

Eight-year-old Musa and her older sister Moleboheng walked slowly downhill to get water from a dirty waterway. The girls really wanted a drink and were tired of waiting for trucks to bring water to their neighborhood. The trucks never came.

八岁的穆萨(Musa)和姐姐Moleboheng慢慢地走下山坡，到一条肮脏的小溪边取水。两个孩子十分口渴，她们已经不想再等着卡车给社区送水了。送水卡车从来没来过。

But Musa never returned from the stream, her mother Phindile Mbele remembers, trying not to cry. The little girl drowned in the stream, which is thick with mud and pollution. A strong underwater current probably pulled her down.

但是小穆萨却一去不返，她的母亲Phindile Mbele回忆道，努力压抑着悲痛的泪水。小女孩最终丧命于泥泞和肮脏的小溪中。一股强大的水下水流可能将她拖了下去。

"We rushed down there. She was still under the water... Two boys from the neighborhood went in and one carried her out," Mbele said. "The house is empty without her. She was such a sweet, quiet child".

“我们连忙赶过去。她还在水里……邻居家的两个男孩跳入水中，其中一个把她捞了上来。”“孩子走了，家里空荡荡的。穆萨很可爱、也很听话。”

Musa's death last month angered people living in Mandela Park Township, near Qwaqwa, in South Africa. What had been off-and-on protests³ over water shortages⁴ became a week-long riot¹.

穆萨上个月的溺水事件激怒了居住在南非夸夸瓦附近曼德拉公园镇的居民。此前，断断续续的水资源短缺抗议演变成了持续一周的骚乱。

Protesters burned businesses, overturned⁵ government vehicles and threw bricks⁷ and bottles at riot police. The police reacted by firing rubber bullets⁸.

抗议者们烧毁商店，掀翻政府车辆，向防暴警察投掷砖块和瓶子。警察用发射橡皮子弹作为回应。

South Africans have protested⁹ for years because they cannot depend on water and power supplies. Their long-term mismanagement and a lack of rainfall last year made the situation worse. Climate change is thought to be the cause of the drought¹⁰.

多年来，因为无法依靠水和电力供应，南非人民一直在抗议。政府的长期管理不善加上去年的降雨不足使情况变得更加糟糕。气候变化被认为是干旱的原因。

"It rains here all the time but they say there's drought. Then how did that little girl drown because that stream was full?" said Malgas "Skinny" John. He used rocks and burning tires during the January riot to block the road leading into Qwaqwa.

马尔哈斯的约翰表示：“这里一直在下雨，但他们却说遭遇了干旱。那么小女孩又是如何在小溪涨潮时溺水的呢?”在1月份的暴乱中，他使用石块和燃烧的轮胎来封锁通往夸夸瓦的道路。

"We have to strike and burn things, only then do we get water," John said. A father of two, he stood in line with neighbors to fill his container from a water truck.

约翰说:“我们必须进行罢工和破坏行动，只有这样才能有水喝。”作为两个孩子的父亲，他和邻居们一起并肩而战，好让自己家的水桶装满水。

"We'll do it again, we'll keep burning things if we have to," he added.

“我们不会就此罢休，如有必要，我们会继续焚烧行动，”他补充道。

Officials fear riots like the one at Qwaqwa could be a sign of more social problems related¹¹ to climate change in the future. The dams and water pipes get older and sometimes break down while the population and the demand for water continues to grow.

官员们担心，像夸夸瓦这样的骚乱可能是未来更多与气候变化相关的社会问题的迹象。随着人口的增长以及对水资源需求的增长，水坝和水管会出现甚至是故障等问题。

South Africa's water minister Lindiwe Sisulu has promised 3 billion rand, or $203 million, to end the shortages in Qwaqwa. The local government owes about 500 million rand for water.

南非水利部长西苏鲁(Lindiwe Sisulu)承诺提供30亿兰特（或2.03亿美元），来结束夸夸瓦的水资源短缺问题。当地政府欠下5亿兰特的水费。

Sisulu's own department needs 3.5 billion rand more to carry out maintenance¹². Without those repairs, there could be what the government calls harmful effects on the national economy.

西苏鲁管理的部门仍需要35亿兰特来进行维护。如果不进行维护，可能会对国民经济造成政府所说的有害影响。

"We've been drinking this brown, filthy¹³ water since 2016," said Musa's mother Phindile Mbele.

“自2016年以来，我们一直在饮用这种褐色的污水，”穆萨的母亲芬德尔·姆贝里(Phindile Mbele)说道。

"Nothing will change. I know, soon, I will have to go the same stream where my daughter died to get water."

“这种现状不会改变。我知道，很快，我还得去女儿溺亡的那条小溪继续取水喝。”

Words in This Story

stream – n. a natural flow of water that is smaller than a river

rush – v. to hurry

brick⁶ – n. a building material; a small block used in building

drought – n. long period of time during which there is very little or no rain

tire – n. a rubber covering for a wheel

mismanagement – n. the process of leading or something very badly or wrongly

filthy – adj. very dirty

1 riot   

n.暴（骚）乱，（色彩等）极度丰富；vi.聚众闹事

参考例句：

• They had to call the police in order to put down the riot.他们只得叫来警察以平定骚乱。
• Flowers of all sorts are blooming in a riot of colour.百花盛开，万紫千红。

2 riots   

n. 暴乱, 骚乱, 暴动 vi. 骚乱, 闹事

参考例句：

• the instigators of the riots 煽动骚乱的人
• The riots are a clear manifestation of the people's discontent. 骚乱清楚地表明了人们的不满情绪。

3 protests   

n.[体]抗议；抗议，反对( protest的名词复数 )v.声明( protest的第三人称单数 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• The protests have forced the government to back-pedal on the new tax. 抗议活动已迫使政府撤销新的税目。
• Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。

4 shortages   

n.不足( shortage的名词复数 )；缺少；缺少量；不足额

参考例句：

• Food shortages often occur in time of war. 在战争期间常常发生粮食短缺的情形。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• At the same time, worldwide food and fuel shortages eased. 同时，世界性粮食和石油短缺的现象终止了。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 overturned   

adj. 倒转的 动词overturn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。
• When a bird's nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact. 覆巢之下无完卵。

6 brick   

n.砖；vt.用砖砌，用砖堵住

参考例句：

• She stared blankly at the brick wall in front of her.她面无表情地瞪着面前的砖墙。
• I bought a brick of ice cream for my daughter.我给女儿买了块冰砖。

7 bricks   

n.砖( brick的名词复数 )；砖块；积木；可靠的朋友

参考例句：

• He compounded water, sand and soil and formed bricks. 他用水拌和沙和泥土做成砖块。
• The United Auto Workers hit the bricks against General Motors. 联合汽车工人工会举行罢工，反对通用汽车公司。

8 bullets   

n.弹药；军火

参考例句：

• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。
• The bullets and cannon-balls were flying in all directions. 子弹和炮弹到处乱飞。

9 protested   

v.声明( protest的过去式和过去分词 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• He protested he was being cheated of his rightful share. 他提出抗议说他被人骗取了他依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Amy protested she was being cheated of her rightful share. 艾米提出抗议，说有人骗取了她依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 drought   

n.旱灾，干旱，久旱

参考例句：

• The plants are growing in again,despite the drought.尽管干旱，植物又长出来了。
• The ground is as hard as stone after the drought.长期干旱后土地硬得就像石头一样。

11 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

12 maintenance   

n.维修，保养，扶养费，维持，保持

参考例句：

• His small farm provides maintenance,but not much more.他的小农场能使他们维持生活，但仅此而已。
• He has to pay maintenance to his ex-wife.他必须给前妻赡养费。

13 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。