纪录片《美国商业大亨传奇》 喋血工厂（26）

The industrialists¹ of that period of time are people who are out for themselves to make large fortunes as quickly as possible,

当时的工业资本家是一群只顾自己的人 只想尽可能快地赚取大量财产

even if it means pressing the envelope of what they have to do.

为了实现目的 他们不惜采取任何手段

Frick begins squeezing all that he can get out of the workers at Homestead.

弗里克开始尽一切可能压榨霍姆斯泰德工人的每一滴血汗

Frick decided² that the only way to keep the plant running efficiently³ was with a 12 hour day, six days a week.

弗里克认为要想让工厂高效运行 工人必须一周工作6天 每天12小时

What that meant was intolerable working conditions.

这意味着难以忍耐的工作条件

No one could work 12 hours a day.

没人一天能工作12小时

If you're working in an office,you'd fall asleep at your desk.

如果是在办公室 你肯定会累倒在桌上

If you fall asleep in a steel mill,you end up dead.

如果累倒在钢厂里 你会死掉

You know back when Carnegie was building his empire,obviously there were no labor⁴ laws, it was a free for all.

在卡内基建立钢铁帝国时明显不存在劳动法 这些做法都是允许的

And looking back it seems horrific in a lot of different ways that workers were taken advantage of

现在看来这很糟糕 工厂竟然能够通过各种方式压榨工人

But that was the game that was played back then.

但在当时的游戏规则下 这无可厚非

The conditions are dangerous.

工作条件很危险

And a small group of men bands together to raise their concerns.

一小群人团结到一起提出他们的忧虑

Many of the workers at the steel mill felt that change in working conditions was a necessity.

钢厂的很多工人感觉到改善工作条件是必须的

They were exhausted⁵ and they wanted wages that were livable.

他们工作得精疲力竭 他们希望工资能够过得去

Unions are relatively⁶ new in America.

工会在美国才刚刚出现不久

And Frick isn't about to let them take root on his watch.

弗里克可不愿让他们在自己的眼皮子底下扎根

But before acting⁷, he seeks his boss' counsel.

在行动之前 他请示过他的老板

1 industrialists   

n.工业家，实业家( industrialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This deal will offer major benefits to industrialists and investors. 这笔交易将会让实业家和投资者受益匪浅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has set up a committee of industrialists and academics to advise it. 政府已成立了一个实业家和学者的委员会来为其提供建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 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。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。