VOA慢速英语2022--德克萨斯州至少50名移民死于被遗弃的卡车

"Tonight, we are dealing¹ with a horrific human tragedy."

That is Ron Nirenberg, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

He spoke² to reporters on Monday night after the discovery of dead bodies inside a truck abandoned by the road outside his city.

A San Antonio city worker heard a cry for help coming from the back of the truck. The worker opened it to find 46 people dead inside. Officials said sixteen people, including children, were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses, with four later dying.

Heat is a serious problem as summer temperatures can easily reach 38 degrees Celsius³ in south Texas. Inside cars and trucks, the temperature can be much higher.

The city's fire chief said the truck's cooling system was not working and they were suffering the effects of extreme heat without water. Three people were taken into custody⁴, but it was unclear if they were related to human trafficking.

Nirenberg added that the people who died "had families who were likely trying to find a better life."

The tragedy is one of the deadliest incidents in recent years involving migrants crossing the Mexico border into San Antonio.

Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a Walmart store in the city. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a truck southeast of the city. More than 50 migrants were found alive in the back of a truck in 2018. The driver said he was to be paid $3,000 for the job. The man was sentenced to more than five years in prison.

U.S. President Joe Biden in a statement on Tuesday called the incident "horrifying⁵ and heartbreaking." He added that his administration was working to crack down on human trafficking networks.

Analysts⁶ who study immigration said they had been worried about something like what happened on Monday in Texas. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick works for the American Immigration Council. In a tweet, he wrote: "With the border shut ... for migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, people have been pushed into more and more dangerous routes."

Migrants have been expelled more than 2 million times under a pandemic-era rule in effect since March 2020. The rule denies migrants a chance to seek asylum⁷ but does not punish them for getting caught. So, they attempt to cross the border repeatedly.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 557 deaths on the southwest border in the 12-months ending Sept. 30. That number is more than double the 247 deaths reported in the previous year and the highest since it began keeping records in 1998. Most are related to heat illnesses.

Words in This Story

abandon–v. to leave something and not come back for it

horrific– adj. very sad or difficult to think about

tragedy –n. a very bad event that causes sadness and often involves someone's death

custody – n. the state of being under control of someone else, or kept in a prison or jail

traffic–v. to illegally sell something

route – n. a way to go get from one place to another

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。